Gadsden Campground & Tubing — Hotel in Attalla

We just went for our first time last weekend and had a BLAST! Me, hubs, and two young daughters loved being right on the creek (pretty much all camping sites are right on the creek so you can keep your floats or kayaks just steps from the water.) It doesn't look like much when you first drive through the gates, but once you get to your campsite by the creek, you realize what a paradise this is! I was afraid our girls would miss having a pool to swim in...NOPE! That creek had a great spot for wading/swimming but it's best if children have on a life jacket since the current can be pretty strong in spots. My kids never once complained about wearing the life jackets, they were too busy having fun to complain! They had stretch golf carts to pick people (and their floats) up at the end of the line and take them back to the top or back to their campsite. But if your party has an extra vehicle, you can leave a vehicle at the end so you can drive yourself back (Our friend's truck and trailer worked great for that). We had full hookup for our camper on our site and it was directly up the bank from where you start tubing which is also the wading/swimming spot (which also has trees that are perfect for hammocks!). We can't wait to go back! The only suggestion I would make is putting in another shower house closer to the farthest campsites so you don't have to go so far to shower if you're primitive camping. Also, the people running this place are soo nice and accommodating, especially Rodney!! He led us to our campsite and helped my husband back into the spot. Our black lab was able to play in the water too and we even took her down the creek on a tube with us once! I'm glad there aren't as many stuffy rules at this place than at other campgrounds. You can pretty much do what you want as long as you aren't hurting or bothering anyone obviously. When you call to book a spot, they actually assign you to a spot right then instead of like other places where you have to choose from whatever spots are left when you arrive. They also have floats to purchase at the office/store but we had already bought ours from Amazon. I would suggest taking a paddle (not a pole or stick, it's too deep for that in most spots) with you down the river so you can paddle away from tree limbs or other people if you need to. There's also a fishing pond so don't forget your poles! I'm booking our...

I was looking for a tubing location that offered camping. The internet directed me to Big Wills. I’d never heard of it but it offered all that I needed. My friend and I booked a little cabin for two nights. Because of work and the 75 minute commute, we would be arriving around 9pm. I called ahead of time and explained. The owner, a doll of a southern woman, made accommodations for our late check in and had the AC running in our cabin when we arrived. My GPS directed us there with long, dark back roads. We felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. When we woke up the next morning with sunlight, we discovered we were camping right on the water and breakfast options were only 5 minutes away. The shuttle for tubing is a large trailer with wrap around seating and plenty of space for floats pulled by a truck. Very nice. The walk in (and take out) for the water is an easy one and the water itself was refreshingly cold, yet slow and steady. No falls, no rushing, no massive boulders to dodge. The float itself takes about an hour and we went again and again until the sun started to set. On a Saturday evening, it was not crowded at all and there was never an issue of finding quiet. In fact, the last time I went, I was completely alone on the river. Absolutely peaceful. The evening wrapped up with 90s country karaoke on the covered back patio of the main building with a small crowd of very welcoming and friendly campers and staff. Feeling recharged from life, we packed up and headed home the next morning. I got home, and immediately made more reservations. My grandmother has been wanting to go tubing and I know this is the place to take her. The water does not cause me any concern for her safety here, and the slow pace of life and sense of community just sealed the deal for me. 10/10 recommend this place. But not to too many folks. I like the...

Not going to lie, when we first looked into booking a spot at Big Wills we were highly reluctant because we weren't sure if we were getting much more than a dirt parking lot in the woods, but since it was the only campground in a 3 hour radius that was available for Labor Day weekend we decided to go for it. Our worries changed the minute we got there. We arrived at night and our spot backed up to the creek and it was incredible to step out of the RV and hear the sound of the rushing creek water. The daytime revealed that we in fact had a very nice spot, much nicer than expected. The staff was incredibly friendly despite being very busy. Tubing on the creek was one of our favorite parts of the weekend. If you bring your own tube you can tube for free as much as you want so that was awesome! They had a food truck there though I'm not sure if that was a holiday weekend thing or an all the time thing. The spots were a little closer than we would have liked but no closer than your average RV park. All said, It's not the prettiest campground you'll ever see but it is spacious and there is a lot of things to do for kids and adults besides just sit at your spot all day so definitely worth the stay (I would recommend the "C" spots as those are the ones that back up to the creek and are the prettiest/most spacious). We spent 3 days there and at the end of it we agreed that we would happily have stayed there a couple weeks and would like to come...