THE SOBER WITCH BLOG

THE SOBER WITCH’S CAMPING LOGS

One of the things that brings my little sober, witchy heart the profoundest of joys is camping. It produces a natural high that I seek out over and over again. There is truly no better way to get in touch with the numinous parts of myself than being out in the woods sitting next to a campfire looking up at the stars.

I try my best to select what looks like the most secluded camping spot that’s available when I reserve a spot online. However, as some of you might already know, it’s not really until we get to a campground that we get to see what each spot offers. So I started to make notes a few years ago about the different campgrounds and their sites—the sites we stayed in as well as the ones we drove by that made me think, “Damn, I wish we’d gotten that one.”

Now, to be sure, “The Best Camping Spot” is quite a subjective statement, so to clarify what it means to me: The Best Camping Spot (to me) is one that offers ample privacy, is naturally gorgeous, and is so secluded it makes me forget other people exist for a moment. That’s it! Which means I don’t factor in the proximity of the bathrooms (because to be honest, if I’m just urinating, I am not above pissing in the woods) nor do not I consider the closeness or accessibility of any bodies of water in relation to the spot (though, it is definitely a plus.)

Now that we got all that explanatory stuff out of the way, let us begin the very first of what I hope will be a sporadic side series for The Sober Witch Blog, tentatively called, “The Best Camping Spots in Such and Such State/National Park.”

We shall begin with Caddo Lake State Park!

THE BEST CAMPING SPOTS IN CADDO LAKE STATE PARK

My husband and I had a 5-day stay at Caddo Lake State Park this past October. This was our second visit, the first being in April 2018 which is when we had one of THE BEST spots. That spot was Site #60 in the Mill Pond Camping Area. It was fantastic and one of those that you could easily forget anyone else existed.

The other primitive spots that I made note of were 63, 64, and 65 as they are right next to Saw Mill Pond. I have tried to get one of those spots, but, as you can imagine, they are very popular. If you are lucky enough to obtain one of them, just be mindful of any small children or doggies you might bring with you as the pond, like the rest of Caddo Lake, is home to alligators.

For our most recent stay, my husband and I opted for a shelter due to the limited availability of primitive campsites. We stayed at Shelter #12 in the Squirrel Haven Camping Area, which suited us well enough, but did not offer much privacy. If we stay in a shelter again, I’ll definitely be bringing a big sheet, tarp, tapestry, etc. that I can hang over the front screened windows of the shelter.

The way the shelter is set up (as you can see from the photo) is that the windows go all around the structure with half of the shelter having slanted boards covering the windows. This offers some privacy. And to a certain extent it’s a good thing the slanted boards don’t go around the entire shelter as it does tend to get hot and stuffy inside. Those exposed windows allow for more air flow through the shelter, thus cooling it a bit too. Though, bringing a plug-in/battery operated fan with you might not be a bad idea when staying in one of these. I believe all of the shelters are equipped with electricity and water so a plug-in fan would work well too!

One feature of Shelter #12 that I appreciated was that it had a direct path to a short nature trail that led to the closest bathrooms to us. It was nice to take that more naturalistic path rather than walking on the concrete road passing by the other shelters and RVs.

The best shelter spot that I saw while I was there was Shelter #17 in Squirrel Haven Camping Area. There were no RV spots directly in front of it like the rest of the shelters, so it offered the most privacy in that regard. Plus, it was super close to the nicer bathrooms (which, again, isn’t super important to me, but would be a plus for some.)

In summary (and just in my humblest of opinions,)

The Best Camping Spots at Caddo Lake State Park, ranked from best to least best:

The Best Primitive Camping Spots: 63, 65, 64, and 60, all of which are in the Saw Mill Pond Camping Area.

The Best Shelter Spot: #17 in Squirrel Haven Camping Area

Honestly though, wherever you stay at Caddo Lake State Park  you will be able to indulge in the lusciousness of its swampy, marshy scenery by visiting Saw Mill Pond, the boat ramp, or hiking on the park’s three scenic trails. If you haven’t been yet, you must! It is such a gorgeous park that offers so much natural eye candy.

TO BOAT OR NOT TO BOAT

When we visited Caddo Lake State Park in 2018, my husband and I brought our kayaks and explored the pond and as much of the bayou as we could. However, the Big Cypress Bayou is rightly named because It. Is. BIG! It’s long and expansive, with many little nooks and crannies to investigate

If you have the option to bring your boat or rent a motorized boat, do it! My husband and I kept going back and forth on whether to bring ours this time, and in the end, I am so glad we did. Our boat is just a little flat-bottom Jon boat, nothing to write home about, but it was perfect for that bayou and the shallower sloughs we travelled down. There is so much cryptic beauty that we missed during our first visit solely because it was just not attainable for us in our kayaks (or, at least, for us at our kayaking skill levels.)

If you do bring your boat (or if you are just a badass kayaker,) there is a particular slough that you can take to get to Carter Lake. The slough gets extremely shallow, the shallowest being about a foot, and then it opens up to Carter Lake—a beautiful, swampy little lake that feels so prehistoric you’ll feel like you’re in Jurassic Park.  

Oh, how I hope to have many more camping trips to share with you very soon. And, please, let me know if you have a favorite camping spot at Caddo Lake State Park or a particular area of Caddo Lake or the Big Cypress Bayou that you’re particularly fond of.

Until next time though, keep your sobriety strong and your witchcraft powerful!!