Camping at Lakepoint State Park on Eufaula is a mixed bag. In six days and five nights there last week, I had to fight gnats, mosquitoes and ants constantly. But I was almost the only one in the waterfront campground area, with about four of the 50 sites occupied.
The showers there are great, with some of the highest water pressure in any campground or motel I have used and plenty of hot water. That is a good thing after a hot sweaty day fishing on the lake. The only bad thing is the hard water – it seems impossible to get all the soap film off your skin.
The staff is very friendly and helpful, unlike some Alabama State Parks where I have camped. They seem very happy to have you there and do everything they can to make your stay pleasant and convenient.
As I loaded to leave Monday morning a staff member drove up to my campsite and asked if I had a good time. He asked if there was anything they could do to make my experience better in the future. We talked a long time and he said they wanted to do everything they could to make visitors have a great experience.
The wildlife is amazing. On mornings I did not get on the water early, I sat in my screen room set up over the picnic table drinking coffee and watching a constant parade of animals and birds.
Birds came right to the edge of the screen room looking for their breakfast. Adult Canada geese with their half-grown goslings chipped among themselves as they pecked at the ground. Grackles, blue jays, cardinals, bluebirds, crows and one very pretty red-headed woodpecker, with its white breast and wing tips, red head and black body visited daily.
Blue herons and white cranes glided over the lake and waded the shoreline in front of my campsite, keeping a wary eye out for the alligators that slowly eased by looking for something to eat. Those ugly prehistoric lizards added a mystique unlike most other Georgia lakes. Big signs in the campground warn “Alligators Present Swim At Own Risk.”
Squirrels scampered around, digging for hidden food and fighting with the birds. Bullfrogs serenaded me each morning and evening, and spring peepers kept up their song all night.
Fishing Eufaula is on fire right now, especially for bass. But in my four days on the water I caught a gar, bowfin and chain pickerel as well as some bass. Lots of other fishermen filled their stringers with shellcracker, bluegill an d crappie each day.
Even in the hot summer Lakepoint, about three hours away, is a great destination, if you have and air-conditioned camper, screen room, Sevin dust for ants and plenty of bug spray.