Isaac Creek Campground

     We broke camp Saturday morning, November 28, and got on the road at 10:15am. We drove south on U.S. Highway 43 to the small community of Grove Hill then turned east on U.S. 84. There was a rough patch of road on U.S. 43 south of the town of Linden for about 3 miles, but it eventually smoothed out. This route is all two lane U.S. highway with some occasional passing lanes on U.S. 84. After crossing the Alabama River on U.S. 84 we turned north on AL39 and travelled about 10 minutes to CR17.

     AL39 (aka Lena Landegger Hwy) took us past the large Alabama Cellulose plant, one of largest employers of the area and a subsidiary of Georgia Pacific. The gentleman we met while camping with his son at Foscue Creek (near Demopolis) is employed as a welder at this plant. We encountered numerous full log trucks enroute to the plant as we travelled. CR17 is a typical secondary road. It is narrower than the U.S. Highway or even a state road. It is in rougher shape with numerous patched potholes. The road winds and twists up and down some minor hills. We travelled for about 5 miles to then turn onto a smaller local road for about ¼ mile until we arrived at the entry road to the campground called Lock and Dam Road. This road was also narrow, winding and twisting with a couple of minor hills to climb and descend. After about 5 miles we arrived at the campground facility. The trip from Foscue to Isaac Creek took us about 2.5 hours and that included stopping one time for a breakfast biscuit prior to leaving Demopolis.

     Upon arrival to Isaac Creek we located the campground host to complete our check-in process. Although we had reservations and I had pre-registered the week before, we have learned the campground hosts are very conscientious about their duties and want campers to check-in prior to set up. So after a few minutes and locating the camp host on another site attending the pre-game Iron Bowl festivities, we got checked-in. It was a very minor delay and worthy of just being patient to get off on the right foot with the hosts, who can be very helpful with local information.

     In case you don’t know campground hosts are usually retired couples who regularly RV and travel around the country. In exchange for watching over the facilities, completing minor maintenance (cleaning restrooms, blowing off walkways, cleaning grills and fire circles), staffing the campground entrance station, and a few other projects depending on skill level, they camp for free. We have found that most of the hosts are from northern states (for me that’s any state north of Tennessee and usually plan their 3-4 month stay at a particular facility in conjunction with weather gradually working south for colder weather. During summer months some return home while others go to work at campgrounds in Oregon, Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas. We find that many hosts stay with one type of facility. For example state park hosts tend to stay with state parks and the COE or National Parks (NPS) hosts tend to stay with COE or NPS. The only drawback is to understand although the majority of these folks are fulltime RVers, they are from different states and different cultures. Most of the time they are just good folks, so be patient they are a really good information source and can serve as significant help if/when you experience a minor mechanical crisis with your rig. 

         Okay…back to the review of Isaac Creek. This is another Corp of Engineer (COE) campground. My grandparents camped a lot at COE facilities, and now I know why. So far we have camped at three different COE campgrounds.  All three have been clean and well maintained. The locations had absolutely beautiful views of major waterways and usually some pretty good fishing. The campgrounds have been designed and laid out with enough space between sites, some with small wooded buffers. Sites are level with poured concrete driving/backing pads and a large patio area composed of small pea gravel. Each site contains a large heavy duty picnic table, park type grill on a stand, lantern stand and a circle fire circle. The campgrounds are usually quiet. Our view from the camper door at Isaac Creek:

      We first visited Isaac Creek last July during a recon trip and located the sites we wanted to reserve along the river. As you can see we have a site with a beautiful view. When we arrived on Saturday all the sites, except for the one next to us to the north were taken. On Sunday, morning all campers broke camp and headed out. So from Sunday evening through our departure on Thursday morning, we had the strip along the river completely to ourselves. The wooded loop with most sites on the creek had only 5 sites occupied after Sunday afternoon.

     Saturday, when we arrived, you could tell we were in BAMA country as every site along the river had their BAMA game day flags flying and all campers including kids were outfitted in various Roll Tide clothing. Several game day parties were in what could only be described as a controlled full swing. We set up, I had my feet up and watching the game day countdown by 1:30pm. Many of the sites along the river had their tailgater dish up and running. Luckily, our camper antenna located channel 5 out of Mobile, Alabama so we were able to watch the game. Speaking of t.v. reception, we are able to pick up channel 3 (ABC) out of Pensacola, 5: Mobile, 35: Pensacola, MeTV, Cozi TV, and Get-TV.

     For Verizon service I have 2-3 bars and could access Facebook, AccuWeather, Goggle Maps, and my YouVersion Bible app. I limited my electronic use in order to conserve my data usage, so I wrote this draft while at the campground, but waited to post until we returned home. I was able to make phone calls and text while at the campground.

     The only con with this campground is its remote location. Although it is not a con for me as I like the isolated setting, it might be for others. The nearest town with a Walmart is Monroeville, Al, which is about a 40 minute drive one way. The nearest country store is about 15-20 minutes away in the little community of Finchburg. They have milk, bread, ice, fuel (including propane refill) at this store. Additionally, they have a small kitchen inside and make/sell typical southern country store fare like homemade cat-head sized biscuits filled with salt pork, fried chicken, tater logs, etc. Hours of operation is 5am - 6pm daily, but it is closed on Sunday as most everything is in this part of Alabama. The best thing is to just plan properly so you have no worries.

Our site on the Alabama River:

Wooded loop, sites on Isaac Creek:

Gazebo:

 Restroom in wooded loop:

Foggy early morning walk with Dakota, view of the dam.

     While at Isaac Creek the first week in December, we experienced temperatures of: average low was 58 and average high was 74. Winds were calm to slight breeze out of the northeast at 3-5mph. Nights and early morning were foggy with the fog burning off by 9am. 

     We ended up checking out a day early. We woke up Wednesday morning to no power. After checking the obvious breakers, I checked with the camp host who confirmed the power was out for the entire campground. We waited for 2 hours but no word on possible repairs. Storms were moving in with expected temperatures to fall to mid 30s together with not knowing when and if power would be restored, we decided to break camp and come home. 

     All in all we would return to this campground for future trips. Very relaxing and enjoyable camping experience.