Reviews written by jsummers

The main thorough-fare to the base & to drive to the RV park (Patton Rd) was closed. Bridge out. Should be fixed by now but I would call ahead to ask. There are so many gates into Redstone, isn't possible to describe them all. We entered thru' gate 9 after telephone directions to 2 other gates proved useless. Normally the RV park is at least 7 miles from main base. With Patton Rd out-it's longer. Yes, it is a small park with narrow roads. But it is pretty. Right on the Tennessee River. Bathhouse is a concrete block, ancient bldg but it is clean. Lots of hot water. Several RV's were being lived in by day-workers on post. About 5 RV's were on site but totally vacated. Water & electric in all sights, but no dump on site. It's 1 mile down the rd. When we arr'ed I called the Outdoor Rec office and a nice man offered to drive out to pick-up our registration & $$, saving me a long drive onto base. It's not for an over night stop. Too far from main hwy's, no facilities anywhere close & the only a small children's playgnd for entertainment. But it IS pretty. If you can camp w/out sewer for a few days and want to watch birds or play golf on Redstone, it's a nice, remote and pretty place.

Camp Carlson is a jewel. 1st -directions to the park. If you're coming up I-65 from the South there is no longer any need to drive North of Eliz'town and take the East-West Hwy 313. You can exit I-65 below Eliz'town, directly onto a 31W (which goes due North believe it or not) bypass around Eliz'town. Just stay on 31 W all the way to Ft Knox. Follow signs (past the first few gates) to the Brandenburg gate. But BEFORE you are at the gate you'll see brown signs on the right side of the road, indicating a left turn to Camp Carlson. Renovations on the showers, bathhouse, laundry room and lounge are complete. What a beautiful set-up. Lots of new machines in the laundry, and a lounge that we haven't seen the likes of in RV parks. Brand new color dish TV, and a complete kitchen. Can't tell how many residents are full-timers or PCS personnel, but there were plenty of open slots when we arrived. Wi-Fi does work great and like stated we couldn't get any cell phone reception here but up the hill (on base) it was fine. Actually it was a gift. No one can call in to us, but we can call out if we want to, ha! Camp hostess couldn't be nicer. We were charged $12 a night (Over 55 discount). Pads and roads are gravel but level and easy to navigate. Base facilities are great and easy to find. We've loved Camp Carlson used it as a base to explore central KY. If it were a bit warmer, we'd say another 5-7 days; no discussion.

Back at BAFB Famcamp again. Since my last visit in Dec 2006, a lot of work has been done on the new pads, hook-ups and bathhouse BUT nothing on the existing sites. Base Services manager says they lost a LOT of time due to rains. After the new pads, etc are completed (est June 2007) they will rework all the old pads and hookups (which are mostly on the wrong sides). Voltage is below 120 volts according to the sign & we did have significant fluctuation's. Be careful... The Famcamp was pretty empty, all full-timers are gone and there was plenty of room. All else remains the same. BTW- the easiest entrance to the Famcamp is from I-20. By-pass the Airline Dr. Barksdale AFB exit on I-20 and look for "Industrial Blvd". That takes you to the little used, back gate w/ no barricades, nearest the Fampcamp, avoiding all the main base traffic. If you are heading East on I-20 the "Industrial St." exit is 1 exit beyond the Airline Dr BAFB exit. Westbound- you'll come to the "Industrial St." exit first.

We were confused reading about Mid-South or Navy Memphis or whatever it's called. There are 2 RV parks here at Navy Memphis. The "Midway" RV park that is ON BASE (behind the gates) has NO facilities. No bathrooms no showers. There was 1 Motorhome marked "host" but no one was home. There were 15 identical Keystone Hornet TT's with no tags set out thru' out the park, but no one was using them ?? It's right behind the base commissary. To get to "Midway" there are barricades to weave thru' at both gates and I don't think I could make it thru' either one. I couldn't get a cop to tell me how to get on base to that RV park without having to make the barricades. We inspected this "Midway" RV park w/out our TT, after we settled into a spot at the "other" RV park.

It's called Navy Lake. It's across the street and about 3 miles from the main base. No gates on barricades to get into this one. It's on a pretty little lake, but is very sparse. The 8 paved (back-in only)sites with W/E & sewer hook-up were really just parking lot spots. We opted for a gravel site 100 yds down the road. The bath-house nearest the gravel pads has some old, old bathrooms & no showers. The showers are down the road near the paved sites. I resisted making jokes about "Navy" showers until our neighbor who was USN retired made them himself. I have never seen a shower that narrow. He told me they were smaller than on board a Navy ship. I knew they were small since my shoulders touched the walls. They worked; had good hot water, but were poor in cleanliness and maintenance. Main base Navy PX & commissary are first class. No library. For internet hookup take your own Wi-Fi 'puter to the Rec Center (Single Sailors Center)on the opposite side of the base Gym. Or use their computers to check email, like we did. Very friendly. Pharmacy is in the PX mall. They weren't allowed to re-fill my civilian prescription but gave me an emerg 30 day supply- gratis!! Great folks.They can re-fill military 'scripts. Golf course was very nice. Brand new HUGE clubhouse under construction. The drive into Beal Street (Memphis) takes about 45 minutes, but we loved Navy Lake's quiet, secluded location and didn't mind the drive into the Big city.

Arnold AFB Famcamp is NOT on the base proper. I mean there is no gate or barricade to contend with in order to get in the Famcamp. We were somewhat confused reading the info in the Military Living RV park guide. The Arnold complex is 1000's of acres but very, very few are behind gates. If you want to use any Famcamp free coupons you will have to go thru' 1 gate to Arnold Village(requiring Military ID) to get to the Community center, and the same is req if you want to use the Commisary/BX @ Gate 1(both closed Sun & Mondays). The Fampcamp is all gravel pads & roads, laid out helter skelter on a pretty little penisula of land that sticks out into Woods Resevoir. We watched geese, ducks, wild turkeys, deer and hawks from the campground benches. Boat launch and marina are at hand as well. Camp hostess Charlene lives on premises & does a great job of welcoming you. Her Small store has a good supply of must haves. The Services chief there at Arnold told us by Sept 07 they would be paved and completely redone. I'm thinking that means construction through-out the summer. Hopefully construction will include at least 1 campsite dump. No sewer now-none. Bathhouse/shower was clean and well looked after. 2 stalls & 2 showers per side. I think my wife & I must be the only folks using these showers/bathroms. Most of our stays this Spring we've seen no one ever in-side them except us. We pay close attention to them however since showering in out TT gets a little tedious. Arnold has a BOQ/VOQ 1 mile from the Famcamp that lets Fampcamp guests use their washers/dryers for free. (BYO detergent !!) VOQ manager Greg says "pls spread the word", they're open and dying for business. The club is next door to the VOQ and open for Lunch M-F and Dinner Fri & Sat nights. After 1 April, most Arnold facilities go to a summer schedule w/longer operating hours. Arnold's pretty little 9 hole Golf course is 4.5 miles from the Famcamp. Arnold Famcamp is off the beaten track for sure. It's quiet, laid back and secluded. Arnold itself has only 1000 military & 2500 Civilians. But for a restful stay it's a jewel. We'll be back.

Before I begin I must say that major upgrades were in progress during our stay. We were told they were due to be completed by Christmas `06. I hope the management of the camp improves with the facilities. No full-time host is on site, but some one was in the small office duty daytime duty-hours most days.

The FAM camp is full of long-term campers that are homesteading. My neighbor was a PCS'ed NCO at Barksdale and lives full-time in the FAm CAmp. He said he'd be there for 2 FULL YEARS !! I heard that some of the residents were re-located retirees from southern LA fleeing from Hurricane Katrina, but I came to see first hand, that there were few (if any ) of those left. Every day there were 3-4 RV'ers in the overflow, waiting on someone to check-out. I never saw anyone leave for 2 wks except myself. I don't want to seem snooty but the camp has taken on a trailer park look & feel and NOT a FamCAmp for RV'ers or short-stay active duty families. Reservations are NOT taken. Now I know why. There are seldom any vacancies.

The bathhouse is a dump. One shower only, 2 toilets & 2 sinks; of which, only one worked. Dirty walls and floors & huge spiderwebs inside, like that Indiana Jones movie. The trashcans were full to overfilling that entire time we visited. Campground visitor walk their dogs in the grass near the bathhouse. You couldn't walk off the sidewalk anywhere near the bathhouse, without stepping in feces. It was EveryWhere. No signs were posted about pets and no one picked up after their dog. One guest even took his dog inside the Men's bathroom/shower.

I know that hook-ups on the wrong side of the back-in sites are old news to FAM CAmpers, so lets just say Barksdale has them too. The new sites are suppossed to correct this. Campground roads were dirt that turns to rich, red mud in the rain. We'll be there again in Feb `07, so I'll report back then. Shreveport is my childhood hometown, so I'd really love to see Barksdale clean up & effectively manage this beautiful site.