North Toledo Bend State Park — Hotel in Zwolle

As of mid February 2023, the following are not disclosed ahead of time online before booking cabins:

Wifi is unavailable in all cabins. Drinking water is hazardous due to a disinfectant byproduct. One of two hiking trails are closed. Ice is unavailable at the front office. Playground and picnic area is closed due to maintenance. A $40/pet fee is required on entry paid by credit card only even when specifically booking a pet friendly cabin over the phone. Towels are provided for 2 days worth and must be traded out at the front office for new ones You are expected to sweep, mop, and take out trash before checking out

This is by far the nicest state park cabin we've stayed at as they have been renovated recently and their maintenance crew is phenomenal. The grounds are exceptionally well maintained and I don't think I saw one piece of trash on the ground the entire time.

That said, there are some annoyances to be aware of. If you bring a boat, you'll be required to unhitch it every night as you're only allowed 2 parking spots per cabin. One for your trailer and one for your truck.

Coffee machines are provided but filters are not. Salt, pepper, sugar, and paper towels are also not provided unlike other parks we've stayed at.

The aluminum pots provided no longer have flat bottoms so they are quite unstable to cook on the glass top stove. The large nonstick skillet was scratched like crazy and should not be in use anymore while the small skillet looked perfect.

I will say, the electric stove is the fastest stove I've ever cooked on. It got water up to a boil very fast. The outdoor grill is not great. There isn't a way to open air vents underneath so there's no way to get your coals ripping hot for searing thinks like steak. I just wouldn't plan on using them unless you bring a grate you can pour the coals on to get proper airflow.

The utensils are adequate but the knives are as sharp as butter knives. We were smart and brought our own chefs knife.

The largest bed is a full sized mattress which is about impossible for 2 people to sleep on. We brought an air mattress and slept in the living area instead as we are much too tall for such tiny beds.

Speaking of being tall...the shower head is installed at a laughably low height. I think it would be too short even for someone 5'5". Taking a bath is not much of an option either as the tub only allows a few inches of water because the overflow drain is installed so low too. Miserable all around.

The ceiling fan in the living area can not...

GenX Glamping Guy here!

Beautiful park off the beaten path.

Upon arrival my first order of business was to collect fallen limbs for a fire. It was 54 degrees and dropping. I picked up a mix of pine, cypress, and swamp oak limbs at various stages of decay.

I wondered which tree type would burn best and separated the limbs to conduct an experiment. I had a hunch the more dense Cypress would burn the longest.

After cracking my first beer and enjoying the sunset, I began working the kindling wood into a decent flame. To celebrate, I cracked a second beer and felt the warm embrace of the fire as the moonless sky quickly became pitch black. I was drawn in like a buzzed moth.

It was time to launch the experiment. But first, I cracked open one more beer and as I sipped it, alone in the darkness, I realized what a treat it was to be in front of a fire, bathed in the scent of pine, enjoying a peaceful break.

I added the first few limbs from one of the three separated stacks. They quickly ignited and the fire was kicking.

I added more limbs from the second stack and they too quickly burst into flame. Sparks were flying and a light breeze made the fire move, groove, and sway like Elaine doing the little kick dance.

It was time to test the final stack of limbs. Sure enough, they too fueled the fire, that was roaring at this point.

Now it was time to analyze the data to understand which limb type burned best.

Unfortunately, I was too focused on the warm and playful flame to remember which limbs were which. I was having too much fun enjoying the playful fire, beer, and time alone...

I want to start off by saying thank you for giving a gift card for the return of the money we spend to reserve a cabin at this beautiful park, that was a nice gesture. I don’t want your gift card, I wanted the money returned to the account that it was purchased from since we don’t even know when we would EVER return. It has a 5 year to use on it.. great. Again, when in the hell am I going to return to this park? This was a one time trip that we were going to have down at the park. We don’t even live in Louisiana. I had to fax you my medical records in order to even get a refund since I was admitted to the hospital a few days before our reservation so I wasn’t able to go and had to cancel. Luckily, the hospital still has a fax machine in this day in age. I just return home from the hospital more than 6 weeks later to receive a letter and a GIFT CARD letting me know it can only be used at the state park. What Am I supposed to do with this gift card?!?! It’s almost $200.00, or should I say $196 since there is a non-refundable $6 charge. That’s fine keep the $6. But seriously almost $200!!! You mine as well have just kept the gift card sent since Again, I don’t know when I’d EVER return to this park since this was a one time trip. This is AWESOME, thanks a...