When we first heard about Toledo Bend lake we didn’t realize just how beautiful it would be or how much fun we were going to have there. Our visit to Toledo Bend State Park was a great time for the entire family and we will definitely be visiting again as soon as we can!
Fishing at Toledo Bend Lake
One thing that Toledo Bend State Park is super popular for is fishing. With over 12,000 miles of shoreline and coming in at over 65 miles long, this is a great spot for casting off and enjoying some relaxing time by the water.
Many of the pitches are located right next to little fishing piers. This is great if you want to roll out of bed and get right to it. Do remember that the piers don’t belong to the pitch and can be used by anyone else, it’s best to arrive early if you want to set up a good spot.
While there is a lot of shoreline to explore, a lot of it is covered in dense reeds that make fishing harder. Don’t bank on rolling up late and getting a prime spot on busy days.
For the best fishing opportunities, you’ll probably want to bring or rent a boat. This also gives you access to several floating piers located on the lake.
Does Toledo Bend State Park get busy?
While it might not be the most famous State Park in North America, Toledo Bend State Park gets very busy at peak season time. People come from all over to enjoy the fishing, boating, and beautiful nature that the park has to offer.
If you’re looking for peace and quiet try visiting midweek or out of season. The weekends are peak visiting time!
One nice thing is that the park allows for reservations in advance of your stay. This is what we did and it allowed us to pick out our site using a map. Don’t worry about picking out the “best” site though, they are all very nice.
The only thing I would mention is that some sites are located directly next to the little fishing piers. That means that you’ll likely have fishermen walking backward and forwards past your camp all day. If that’s something that bothers you then try to reserve one of the sites away from those piers.
Camping at Toledo Bend State Park
Toledo Bend State Park is broken up into two different campsites. There is a site for RV pitches and also a separate site for people who would rather go old school and pitch up a tent.
There are also cabins that can be rented directly from the state park website. We saw some kind of iffy reviews on them and decided not to go for that option.
We decided to take our RV and make use of that part of the site. I would think that if you are the kind of person who values a peaceful connection with nature you would prefer to take a tent. That’s not to say that our campground was noisy or anything, but it obviously has more foot and vehicle traffic from excited campers.
What amenities are there at Toledo Bend State Park?
Just like all good campsites, there’s water and electric at Toledo Bend State Park campsite. While this is something we normally expect as a baseline for a decent campsite, not everywhere offers it so I thought it was worth mentioning here. While there is water and electric this isn’t a full hookup campsite and you’ll be making your way over to the dumping site in the campground to dispose of any sewage.
The shower and restroom facilities are great. They are high quality and the staff do a really good job keeping them clean. There is also AC for those super hot days! A very nice touch in our opinion.
One of the best things about Toledo Bend Lake is the fact that there are coin-operated washer and dryer facilities. We found this to be an absolute lifesaver when it came to spills and stains that would otherwise sit in our bags until we got home (and would probably have set in and ruined our clothes by then!)
What we liked about Toledo Bend Lake (final thoughts)
Toledo Bend State Park is one of the most beautiful areas of natural Louisiana that I’ve personally ever seen. It’s no surprise that it draws in the crowds like it does.
The amenities here are really great. It’s obvious that the hard working team of staff put in an absolute ton of effort to keep things looking and running as awesomely as possible. The fact that the restrooms were so well maintained was a big plus for me as camping can often lead to needing to make use of less than pleasant facilities.
The lake is absolutely huge and offers a ton of space for activities. There is room for fishing, watersports, and boating for a huge number of people. We wished we had more time to take advantage of all that open water space and I think that when we come back next time we’ll book in for a slightly longer stay just to pack more time on the water in.
What didn’t we like about Toledo Bend Lake?
Our time at Toledo Bend Lake was really great, but not everything was perfect (is it ever?)
The roads are very very poorly maintained. We’re talking gigantic potholes and cracks here. This can make some of the roads very difficult to navigate for people who don’t have a big truck or SUV (like us!). These roads could really do with a proper resurfacing at this point and it’s something we hope they can find the budget to do.
There are a lot of dog owners visiting Toledo Bend State Park at all times. That’s not normally a problem, we love dogs! However, many of these dog owners allowed their pets to go potty wherever they wanted and didn’t bother to clean up after them! Gross! We didn’t feel like getting into a verbal altercation while we were on vacay so we didn’t pull people up on it, it would be nice if the staff were able to do that so that campers don’t feel like they have to police other people.
The boating crowd can get kind of out of hand at Toledo Bend Lake. Parking can already get difficult during busy hours, but there were so many people with boats dumping them everywhere instead of using the designated boat dock part of the site. You may come back to your campsite to find a boat where you had parked just the night before!
This isn’t really a big con but there aren’t any stores or restaurants here. In fact, the nearest restaurant is over 30 minutes drive away. This isn’t something that bothered us because we don’t go camping to eat out in restaurants, but it did mean that we had to make sure to stop off and get all our groceries before we arrived. Again, not a big con but just something that you should keep in mind.
Again, not a big con but something to consider when making your travel plans is the fact that the park office closes at 5.00 pm. Try to arrive before this to avoid causing yourself any hassle.
