A few miles south of Hattiesburg, MS on Highway 49 you will find Paul B. Johnson State Park. It is a gem in the rough. We stopped for a single night’s rest and were amazed at what we found. After some hesitation while driving over the spillway (no problem), we found a great pass site. This was important to us because we didn’t want to unhitch the car and tow the dolly.

The best thing about staying in some sort of secluded State Park may be the scenery and the price. Paul B. Johnson State Park certainly offered both. This is the kind of park you could spend a night in, but it would be much more relaxing to spend a week.

There are 125 sites that essentially surround the 300-acre Geiger Lake. The lake was originally excavated by German POWs in the 1940s. The lake itself has been called Lake Shelby and Lake POW in the past. All 125 developed sites have full connections including sewer, as well as 30 and 50 amps. In addition, there are 25 primitive sites. The roads are paved and all the sites we saw have concrete pads.

While we didn’t have time to review every aspect of the park, they do have a disc golf course, nature trail, picnic facilities, and a visitor center with meeting rooms. I can attest to how nice the visitor center is with seating overlooking the lake. Of course, there is fishing, swimming, and boating on the lake. You will need a Mississippi fishing license.

You can make reservations at 800-GO PARKS. There are some 2 and 3 day stay requirements that you may want to check, however if a site is available you can stay overnight. Rates range from $ 14 to $ 24 per night. We paid $ 14 for the above-mentioned mining site on a concrete pad. We saw very large rigs and ours is 32ft plus dolly and car so it should be safe for most people.

The park does not have WiFi or cable TV, but other than that it is complete in all respects. I would definitely like to go back to Paul Johnson State Park.

Paul B. Johnson State Park is located at 319 Geiger Lake Road, Hattiesburg, MS 39401. The phone number is 601-582-7721.