Where to go night camping in central Louisiana with a tent?

Kisatchie Nat Forrest. Plenty of campsites to drive up to.

Or wild azalea trail and backbone trail to hike in a few miles and get away from the noise.

Do you want a campground or something in the middle of the woods? Either way you can start at Valentine Lake. You can camp at the campground on the north shore of the lake for $10 a night. It has bathrooms, running water, and a fire pit.

If you want in the middle of the woods then start at the Wild Azelea Trailhead just south of Valentine Lake. There is a campsite a couple miles in. It might be six or seven miles, I'll have to look it up. Valentine Lake is about 15 miles West of Alexandria.

You also have Kisatche bayou which has toilets but no running water. Again if you want middle of the woods then look at the backbone trail. There is an amazing campsite about 4 miles in. Both the backbone and Kisatche bayou are just south of Natchitoches.

Not very secluded. The closest is the primitive sites on the curve. Tons of deer though.

India creek primitive area

Red dirt also a good option

You can hit the Wild Azalea and just hike in a half mile or so. Park at the Evangeline campsite. There is a creek less than a mile north on the trail. Good camping spot. Or just find a spot along the trail and camp.

ETA- I remember Lake Kinkaid had some nice primitive camping. The sights were fairly big so you wouldn't be right next to other tents. I think they were only $15 a night or so.

My Dad used to take me to a small campground in Alexandria called Stuart Lake. It's on a small lake in the Kisatchie National Forest.

Check it out here: LINK

Between family and jobs it was the only time we could find. We were desperate for an escape and we both have an all or nothing attitude. Never again in July!

My hiking buddy (college roommate) always makes me go first because his eyesight isn't the best. Well now he always tells the story of the banana spider landing on my forehead at Chicot State Park. We were a few miles into the trail and I had knocked down all of the webs for the past few hours. Apparently I missed one and walked straight in to a banana spider and it positioned itself right in the middle of my forehead. He claims I did some karate chops as well as stop drop and roll action to get the demon off of me. He tells the story every chance he can get.

frick spiders.