Covid-19 has put an end to most of everyone’s travel adventures. My husband is immunocompromised and that has left us mostly at home in New Orleans for the past 6 months. I decided the safest thing we could do right now would be camping.
We usually camp at the state and national parks. In a normal world, the parks are an amazing resource. The main reason we decided not to do that is many people are staying close to home these days and the state parks near us are often full of RV and trailer campers, not so many traditional tent campers. They have also been crowded as of late with everyone wanting to find a getaway that is safe and outdoors.
I started searching online for private campgrounds and came across HipCamp, a service I had never heard of. It’s like the Airbnb of tent camping. Landowners can rent their lands to those of us looking to get away without as many people. The difference between HipCamp and a state or national park is that the land you stay on may not have many amenities. Many of the places do not have restrooms or showers or picnic tables. You pack it in and pack it out, primitive camping style.
I decided to make reservations at a place 2 hours north of New Orleans, known as Camp Topisaw in Summit, Mississippi. They have 6 tent camping sites and a home that you can rent. We were going to be going on a weekday to be around fewer people and I felt that 6 sites would allow us the safety of space. We chose site #3 which is their one spot that you can drive right into instead of having to hike in.
Site #3 ended up being the perfect choice for us. We were able to pull up and get set up immediately. The spot does include a firepit. The owners will deliver wood to your site for $20. We spent two nights and went through two deliveries of wood for $40. It might be cheaper to bring your own, but this worked out for us as it was one less thing we had to pack.
We brought our own potty with compost bags and Eco gel. We packed that in and out as they don’t want you to bury on site due to the location next to the creek. We happen to have this potty because as you may remember, 2 years ago I fell while hiking into a creek bed and broke my ankle in 3 places and am now rebuilt as the bionic woman with metal and they gave me that potty for the first few excruciating days. We still had it in our attic. I think a bucket with a lid would work just as well.
Site #3 has private creek access. It has both an overlook of the creek and you can hike down to the creek itself. The hike down is a bit narrow and steep, so make sure you have some good shoes on. Since I have previously fallen, I was nervous, but I made it down in Tevas and was able to walk around in the creek. The creek itself is quite rocky, so water shoes would be recommended. The water was crystal clear while we were there, which is rare in the South’s brown water. We spent hours down here with a blanket reading books and dipping our feet in the creek. There is a sandbar on the other side if you want to walk through the creek, upstream a few feet and sit there with less rocks.
You can also do some hiking around the land by sites #4, #5, and #6. These spots are lovely as well and shaded by the trees and also have creek access that you can walk to. These sites you need to hike a bit into, so you can’t just drive up and unload. The trail was well marked and cleared.
When you end the hike, you come out near site #6 and into a pasture. There is a road that goes around the pasture that you can walk on. In the pasture are some bulls and donkeys. Sometimes the donkeys even bray loudly at sunset, lol.
One last tip, must love dogs. We love dogs and got to greet four of them. There were two that would follow the owner while he was working in the field and another that came when the wood was delivered and finally for our last 24 hours, we had our own dog. She mostly slept at our site and was super well-behaved. She really enjoyed belly rubs. She actually stayed at our site when we went to bed and slept outside our tent.
Where:
Camp Topisaw
Summit, Mississippi
Approximately 2 hours north of New Orleans
https://www.hipcamp.com/mississippi/camp-topisaw/camp-topisaw
What to Bring:
Bring everything you need for camping. Water, food, toilet, tent, water shoes, towel, etc. I travel with a chef y’all. We bring a lot. We brought our own 5-gallon jerry can of water, but ask the owners because I believe they have a hose you can use for drinking water if you have a container.
Final Thoughts
We enjoyed our first adventure leaving the house in the middle of a pandemic. It felt safe and there was only one other camper on-site each night we were there. The sites have a lot of distance between them to keep you safe. The views of the moon and stars were amazing. This would be a good spot to bring the telescope. Two thumbs up! We would definitely go again.
