Good places for overnight camping within 4-5 hours of Baton Rouge.

Black Creek trail. I think it's in the DeSoto National Forrest.
The guy who runs the canoe rental place in that area will shuttle you down the trail however far you want to go to do a hike back towards the car or whatever you want.

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I guess I would need water around somewhere to purify if im going to stay over night.

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If you are using a proper back pack you should have no problem carrying enough water for a one night trip.

I used to back pack a little a long time ago, but another nice option is a one or two night canoe camping trip. I did an overnight on the black creek by myself that was pretty cool. You can bring more stuff so I ended up setting up on a sandbar and using a small 12 inch grill to cook a steak. It was damn nice to sit out there under the stars and eat that steak and drink wine without a care on the world.

Which part of the trail did you follow? Where did you park?

It's been a loooong time. Go to this site and look around some. Call them with questions and I'm sure they will give good suggestions. LINK

I back packed with an outfitter group out of Nola and I can't remember how we did logistics but it was a nice over night trip.

When I did the canoe trip, I parked at the canoe rental place and he brought me somewhere and picked me up at a certain time the next day and brought me back to my car. I'm sure there are lots of options.

I've had some friends tell me that in the milder months the camping is nice along the Bama and Florida coast is nice, so I'm looking into planning a little trip soon just to get away for a few nights.

Black creek is fun hiking. Flat for the most part. Some parts of the trail weren't maintained great but I've heard it's in good shape now.

Wild azalea in Kisatchie is great. You can also make a 28 mile Loop with the backbone trail, Caroline Dormon, and sandstone trail. Really fun easy two day hike. Many creeks to get water from. I never even carry water just stop at the creeks and filter a liter and drink it.

Chicot state park has a 20 mile Loop with campsites but it's my least favorite. Tuxachanie trail in Mississippi is easy but not many good campsites.

Check out Chicot in Evangeline parish