We were making our way to Montgomery, AL to visit family and I contacted one RV park on US 231 on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 26 and the gentleman who answered the phone informed me they were closed. Not sure why, it was neither a Sunday or a holiday, but nonetheless, we needed a place for that evening in the Montgomery area, so I reached out to Jackson Lake Island. The gentleman who answered the phone was very cordial, and asked me a few questions (what type hookups, size camper, etc.). He said they had 3 sites available - two on the island and one on the ridge overlooking the island. He instructed me to call him when we arrived at the gatehouse.
We arrived and contacted the man. He asked that we fill out an envelope with our information (name, tag number, etc.) and he would meet us and take us to see the available sites. He arrived and we followed him through the gate. He showed us the site on the ridge - it was full hookups but was pretty close to campers on either side. My wife wanted to look at the sites on the island. He took us to the Island to the full hookup site that was available. The third site was on the island, but it had no sewer hookup plus another camper had come in earlier that day and taken it. We choose the site on the island, which is the site where the movie Big Fish was filled and it still had some of the buildings there from the movie set. Also, there are about 50 goats that roam free on the island also. We have two dogs, but we always keep them on a leash, so that was not going to be a problem.
We really enjoyed our stay. There is one issue(!) that campers need to be aware regarding the sewer hookup. As I was hooking up our black/gray tank hose, I noticed that there was toilet paper remnants around the sewer connection. I wasn't sure what had happened with the previous camper, until we were dumping as we prepared to depart 3 days later. It appears the septic system that you hook to was either a septic tank that was nearly full and field lines that were plugged or maybe because it had been raining earlier in the week, the field lines were saturated - nevertheless, when dumping, the sewer line would fill and then slowly go down. In fact, I was unable to dump our gray tanks due to the sewer line not draining. When unhooking our lines from the sewer connection, sewer water backed up onto the ground for a moment. THIS IS UNSANITARY and hopefully the owner will address.
Otherwise, we had a wonderful stay. The location was convenient for us to visit with family in east Montgomery and the site was very peaceful. The old movie set was neat, as well, and there were a few visitors who came during the day to walk around the movie set and take pictures of the goats.
We might stay again - I will probably talk to the owner about the sewer issue to make sure it has been addressed before we come back.
All in all, it was a very neat experience and we would recommend - just be aware of the potential sewer issue. read more