South Abutment Pavilion
This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 28 of the next 30 nights read 15:27 UTC
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 1 notices
In the agency’s own words
South Abutment Day Use Area sits along Arkabutla Lake and Dam in the hills of northwest Mississippi. The dam project is on the Coldwater River and offers some of the best sailing east of the Mississippi River. Keep reading
Recreation
Water is nearby, but no designated swim areas. PFDs are required to be worn while swimming.
Facilities
Two pavilions, two restrooms, a playground, and plenty of parking for everyone.
Natural Features
Located on a bluff overlooking the dam and lake. Playground for kids, and plenty of additional picnic tables and grills in the area.
Nearby Attractions
Arkabutla Lake is situated about 30 minutes south of Memphis. We have three class A campgrounds nearby that will support RV's or tent camping with electric, water, and sewage hookups on site. We also have an additional three primitive campgrounds for tent camping only.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations may be made up until the day before the day of reservation.
What the agency tells you
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reminds all visitors that coast guard approved personal floatation device is required when conducting activities on or in the waters of Arkabutla Lake. These activities include but are not limited to swimming, waterskiing, riding on personal watercraft, kayaking, and other boating related activities. If vessel is under 16 feet in length a PFD is mandatory at all times. If vessel is over 16 feet in length, PFDs are only required while making way under main propulsion.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 1 of 2 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE FLUSH TOILETS on 1 of 2 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 1 of 2 campsite records, ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 1 of 2 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 1 of 2 campsite records, WATER (SEASONAL) on 1 of 2 campsite records
- Playground
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River
- Picnicking
- Water access
Something open on 28 of the next 28 bookable nightsread 15:27 UTC
The agency files 2 records here and marks every one of them day use, not overnight. On its own record there’s nothing here to spend the night in.
OpenBookedNot reservable
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
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We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
“Cancellations may be made up until the day before the day of reservation.” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 15:27 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 records · the site map
All 2 records
| South Abutment - 734 | day use | 193 ft | $75 |
| South Abutment - 821 | day use | $75 |
The agency files 2 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
South Abutment Campground0.3 mi
Outlet Channel Day Use0.7 mi
Dub Patton Campground1.9 miKelly's Crossing Campground2.5 mi
Hernando Point Campground3.5 mi
Hernando Point Pavilion3.6 miSouth Abutment Day Use is located on top of the hill between the South Abutment Campgrounds and the west side of Arkabutla Dam.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Arkabutla, MS
Typical weather
Typical October night 50°F, day 74°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 30°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Augusts are colder than the August line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
South Abutment Pavilion is in Mississippi’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Trent Kelly (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
The agency’s own record files sites here and marks every one of them day use. The draft asks whether any could open to overnight camping, and if not, why.
- The member who votes the moneyTrent KellyU.S. Representative · Mississippi’s 1st district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationCindy Hyde-SmithU.S. Senator · Mississippi
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRoger F. WickerU.S. Senator · Mississippi
Read the draft, or change the wording
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject South Abutment Pavilion has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Trent Kelly, I’m a constituent in Mississippi’s 1st district. South Abutment Pavilion, Mississippi carries 2 records on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about South Abutment Pavilion (Mississippi) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject South Abutment Pavilion has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Cindy Hyde-Smith, I’m a constituent in Mississippi. South Abutment Pavilion, Mississippi carries 2 records on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about South Abutment Pavilion (Mississippi) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject South Abutment Pavilion has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Roger F. Wicker, I’m a constituent in Mississippi. South Abutment Pavilion, Mississippi carries 2 records on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about South Abutment Pavilion (Mississippi) via campanac.com