Paul B Johnson State Park
This park felt dialed in the moment we pulled in. Newly paved roads, wide turns, and a layout that makes navigation easy with any rig. Setup was quick and uneventful, with flat concrete pads that took the usual leveling guesswork out of the process.
The standout was how calm it stayed all week. Only a few rigs were scattered through our loop, and the quiet held from morning into the evening. Most of what we heard were birds and the usual background sounds of the trees, which made the whole park feel settled.
The weather cooperated. Mid-sixties days made it easy to be outside, even if we were mostly using the park as a place to live and work rather than a place to range out from. The park is not built around big trail time, so the rhythm here naturally leans toward camp life, lake views, and photo breaks outside.
🧭 The Lay of the Land
- Location: McLaurin, Mississippi · 31.1414, -89.2372 · [Google Maps]
- Official site: [Paul B. Johnson State Park]
- Landscape: Geiger Lake impoundment · Rolling pine-and-oak hills
- Vibe: Scenic, Quiet
- Our stay & conditions: Feb 2026 · 5 nights · mild, clear days (60s°F) with cooler nights
🏕️ Camp Setup
- Site types: RV back-in · RV pull-through · Tent · Cabins
- Arrival & setup: Easy
- Hookups: 💧 / ⚡ / 🚽 | 🧻
- Connectivity: 📶 AT&T 🟢 | 📶 Verizon 🟢 | 📶 T-Mobile 🟢 | 📡 Starlink 🟢 | 📶 Park Wi-Fi ⟂
- Facilities: Restrooms · Showers · Laundry
Legend:
🚽 = sewer at site · 🧻 = dump station
🟢 = solid for work · ⚠️ = usable with limits · ❌ = unusable
🚴 On the Ground
- Activities available: ○ 🥾 Hiking | ● 🚴 Biking | ● 🐕 Dogs | ● 🚣 Paddling | ● 🎣 Fishing | ● 🐦 Birding | ● 🏊 Swimming | ● 📸 Photography | ● 🏕️ Camp-centric | ● ⛳ Disc Golf (36 holes)
- Trail mileage available: 🥾 0.5 miles | 🚴 2-3 miles
- Crowd level: Quiet
Legend: ● = available · ○ = not available
Park Highlights
The lake is the point. Even when you are not actively boating or fishing, the water gives the park structure. Even on a simple week, the lake sets the rhythm. Short walks naturally drift toward the shoreline, fishing piers become a default destination, and the best moments happen when the light drops across the water in the evening.
The lake has a unique backstory. It was originally known as Lake Shelby, built in the mid-1940s, and sources commonly note that construction involved German prisoners of war from Camp Shelby. Over time, the name shifted to Geiger Lake, and today it functions as the park’s centerpiece for fishing, boating, and swimming.
The park’s name is straightforward too. Paul B. Johnson State Park is named for Governor Paul B. Johnson, tying the site to a civic-era idea of parks as public recreation infrastructure. The park stays calm when it’s not crowded, and that calm becomes the feature. There is a small trail, but the park is not a hiking destination. It reads more like a practical lake park built for families, fishing, and easy weekends, with enough quiet during the week to make it a strong stopover for RV travel.
⚡ TL;DR
- Park highlight: Full-hookup, work-friendly base on Geiger Lake
- Best for: Clean, easy stays with water access and downtime
- Skip if: You want substantial hiking or biking trails
- Worth planning around?: Probably
Final Takeaways
Paul B. Johnson State Park is the kind of place that just works. The campground is clean, the roads and pads make setup easy, and the whole loop stayed quiet with plenty of open sites. The lake is the anchor, especially at sunset from the piers, and on the clearest night it was good enough to practice shooting stars and star trails. We left thinking this is an easy repeat stay when you want a calm, comfortable lake stop.
