Old Lock 1 Park In Alabama

Date Stayed: February 2-9, 2020

Address:  Old Lock One Rd, Salitpa AL

GPS:  31.573343, -88.034218

Price:   Free

Stay Limit: 14 days

Pets Allowed: Yes

Reservations: No reservations required

Restrooms:  Flush Toilets

Trash Cans: Yes

Hookups: No

Water: Potable water

Cell Service: Had 4G with Verizon & 4G with our AT&T booster.

ALWAYS research campgrounds before visiting.

Rules and regulations may have changed since we stayed there.

In the late 1800’s improvements were made to the Black Warrior – Tombigbee River System and 17 locks were constructed along these rivers.  Work began on Lock One in 1893 and it remained in operation from September 6, 1908 till November 1960. Of the 17 original locks made only the chambers of lock 1 and lock 17 are still visible above the water line.

Old Lock 1 Park is operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers and has a 14 day stay limit.  There are clean restrooms with flushing toilets and running water. There is a spigot located behind the restrooms where you can get potable water for drinking. Beside the restrooms there is a covered pavilion with lights and electrical outlets to charge your devices. You can also find trash cans scattered throughout the campground.

There are primitive sites located here which include a picnic table, lantern holder, grill and fire ring. You kinda of just drive up to the tables and park your vehicle on the grass.  Any size rig will fit and there are 6 table spots total, maybe more. On the other end of the park there is a large grassy area which you could probably park or tent at also.

During the winter they have a camp host with full hook-ups at the start of the park. While we were there the host was named Bob and this was his eighth year doing it. He does drive around and sit it the parking lot a lot and may even take a little nap. He was super nice though and very informative about the park and area. If you have any questions about the park rules stop by and give him a holler.

Jackson, Alabama is 20 to 30 minutes away and has a super Walmart and anything else you might need.

Camp in designated areas only and quiet hours are between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.  Place campfires in rings only and please don’t leave them unattended. ALWAYS follow the Leave No Trace Seven Principles.

As with all these parks way out in the middle of nowhere there seems to be local traffic that just strolls through for a look and then leaves even after dark. Why do they do this? It has happened in almost every campground we have been at. I just don’t get it lol.

Old Lock 1 is right on the Tombigbee River and it has a boat launch for you to use. We pulled out our inflatable kayaks and spent over an hour on the river playing around the old lock. Bob did tell us there are alligators present in the water though. We didn’t see any, but Bob said that’s because the river was up. I just want you to know that if you do take your boat out for a trip to be aware of the local wildlife.

Now we loved this place and were planning on staying the full 14 days, but Mother Nature had other plans. We spent almost a month in Alabama and it rained like 50% of the time we were there. Everything was flooding and so was Old Lock 1. When we got there you could see the lock above the water. By the time we left none of it was visible and the waters had risen to almost the sidewalk.

Bob yelled to us at 6:30 in the morning and said the road was flooding and it was time to leave. We packed up as fast as we could, which well with a pop up can only be done so fast. So we loaded up Frankenstein, threw Dexter in the Envoy, waved bye to Bob and went to find a new spot to camp.

Our first campground evacuation was quite an adventure.

BEWARE the fire ants!

These little buggers have mounds everywhere in the area. Was gathering wood for the fire when I felt some stings. Unfortunately one of the pieces of wood had ants on it and they got me multiple times. It was the only time I was bothered by them and I didn’t have much of a reaction just some little red marks. I know some peeps can have severe allergic reactions though so I just wanted to give you a heads up.