meeman-shelby forest state park

We drove out on a pretty February Saturday and enjoyed a short walk near the nature center and lake. We spent an hour or so. Spring/Summer/Fall are probably the best seasons to visit. This park has a variety of amenities- a lake with boat tours/fishing, playgrounds, 5 miles of bike trails, hiking trails, horse trails, frisbee golf, hunting, cabins, picnic shelters, and so on. I have ridden the horse trails in the fall and they are excellent- about 8 miles long with a picnic table stop for lunch that over looks one of the lakes. I spent an afternoon riding up and down the trails. Excellent! They also have a raptor rescue next to the nature center. The enclosures were clean and birds well cared for. All ages would enjoy this exhibit. I would love to kayak the larger lake. For folks who love the great outdoors, there is plenty to do here. You could spend a weekend or an hour depending on the season and what you wanted to do. Check out their website on the TN State Parks for more current info and special events.

I called the evening prior to arrival, ensuring they do open early. The woman on the phone stated the gates open at 6:30am. I arrived just after 6:30, and made my way to the disc golf course. As I was practicing my putting at 18, a ranger drove by. I figured they would stop and say hello, but they didn't. This ranger drove by without stopping again as I was teeing up on hole one.As I was on hole three, in the woods to where she couldn't see me, the ranger pulled up next to my vehicle and started to peer in from the windows. The reason I know this is because I ran back out seeing if I was not parked where I needed to be. To say the least, I caught her off guard. She said she was concerned that I was out there so early, and she wasn't used to early guests. I told her whoever answers the phone told me I could arrive at 6:30, to which she said that was wrong. The point is she had ample opportunities to speak with me, and took the coward's way to the situation. I don't believe it was a coincidence that I was st the disc golf course.

We stayed in the cabins. The cabin was older and clean. There is a view of the lake from all the cabins. They are located just outside downtown Memphis about 30 minutes drive. The park is great for hiking, fishing and biking. There is also hunting allow in certain areas. This is also a fantastic place for kids. At the lake there is a great brand new playground set. You can also show the kids a caged hawk and owl that are outside the nature center. Bring picnic items and grill stuff. There are picnic tables and grills next to each cabin and numerous others by the lake. We took paper towels, extra toilet tissue, hand soap, extra garbage bags and dish soap that helpful. There isn't wifi and sketchy cell service. The tv is air digital but no cable. There were lots of channels though. There are two cabins that allow pets so make sure to request a pet cabin if your bringing pets. There are fireplaces and the park provides daily firewood. Close to the outside of the park is the general store that sells a variety of items. They also have awesome homemade hamburgers and Friday night is steak night. If your around on a Friday try steak night!

We decided on a quick overnight camping trip close to home. I was very concerned after reading the last 2 reviews. We stopped at the general store as recommended. Super nice and seems like they have everything you might need. The campground was nice with several great sites for tent camping. Bathrooms were old and a haven for Mosquitos, but better than some I have seen. There are many things to do in the park. We went fishing and rode our bikes. The park itself needs some TLC, but overall was a nice place for an overnight adventure.

We stayed at this campsite on our honeymoon. Unfortunately, we had a very bad experience. The campsite is really remote and really dark. We didn't have any service on our cellphone. There is no staff on the campsite, only at the entrance. The first night the campsite was noisy with people playing music. The second night there was an attack at the campsite. In the middle of the night a group of 4-5 men started shouting "get out of your RV" and "we are going to shoot you all". Eventually the park ranger and state trooper arrived. However they couldn't catch all the men. We had to drive away in the middle of the night.Overall, Memphis doesn't feel safe at all. Take really good care if you want to visit this area! The General Store near the campsite is super though! Really nice people.

We looked at this park on the web and it looked great till we arrived! The park is a nightmare roads are crap and signs are not legible. We have small kids and we looked towards the playground, and the there was no SWINGS. We trailered our bicycles there and there was no where to ride them. I do not recommend this place to anyone. I should have figured that it would be like this due to it's almost in Memphis tn. Worst park of all and mad that I wasted $45 getting there. Total dump!!!

This was my first visit to the park. The scenery driving thru the winding roads was nice. The lake area was very relaxing with people fishing and picnicing. You can rent small boats for fishing. The visitor center was nice and informative. A few cabins are available, but have not stayed in them. Visited the General Store which was a treat.

Meenman-Shelby Forest State Park is a great place to enjoy the outdoors so close to the greater Memphis area.I went to enjoy a hiking tour on one of the more popular hiking trails (it was a free event). There are several hiking trails and a bike trail in the park.There's so much to do here. In addition to hiking, boat ramp access to both the Mississippi river and Poplar Tree lake, hunting, fishing,camping, cabins, and swimming pool (summer season only).At the visitor center, notice of upcoming ranger led programs that look like they are fun items to do.This time of year, early spring, the hiking trails not crowded. Groups like ours, runners, couples and families were out enjoying. On the roads, quite a few bikers around the park.Poplar Tree lake had a few families out enjoying the picnic area and a few fishermen. It's a stunning spot and when the tree have leaves even more so.Drove the road to the boat ramp for the Mississippi river. Nice place to view the river and see the barges going up and down the river.The roads are narrow in alot of places and also need to be aware of bikes,esp as the weather warms. Not a hunter,but a group was checking in at the visitor center, so that option is open.The visitor center is small with a info desk (close for lunch noon to 1 p..m.) A very "small" gift shop (honestly just a few items). The bathroom at the visitor's center is very basic,but was clean.There are several Picnic Shelters in the park and groups were enjoying the ones that I past. There's also alot of picnic area around the park. Quite a few with small grills for cooking.There are cabins for rental with several with a great view of the lake.Plan to enjoy this park more as the weather gets warmer.

I have loved this park for years. You can access the MS river, a lake, hiking, fishing, disc golf course and much much more. I stayed at the cabins for the first time ever this fall and absolutely loved it. They are clean and sturdy, there is a fire place and pets are allowed in several. they have fishing boats available for renters. It is just a piece of heaven near Memphis. The General Store is one of the greatest places around. You can get great food, listen to live music for free and make some friends. I just love it.

The park itself at Meeman-Shelby was great! Wonderful interpretive programs -- the deep swamp canoe tour was awesome! Tried out the dic golf course too (be careful for snakes). We stayed in cabin #6 which was adequate but could use a really good cleaning. The bathroom and kitchen were okay though (although they need to spray for bugs). A jon boat came with the cabin which is great for fishing! The pool itself is quite large and nice. They are closed on Monday's & Tuesday's (when they clean it). So by the weekend the pool isn't quite as clean and the restrooms were only used out of necessity. If staying in a cabin - bring bugspray - extra blanket if you get cold at night - charcoal if you want to grill out as they don't have a campfire ring at the cabins.

My husband and I stayed two nights during the Fourth of July weekend. This park is everything a State Park should be, and I was very impressed with the staff. Lots of activities to take part in, from swimming in the huge pool ($4 a person), guided canoe tours on a Bald Cypress swamp ($5 per person), pontoon tour ($1 per person) and many interpretive hikes, talks, and classes (free!). DEFINITELY bring your bug spray, mosquitoes are frequent but not overwhelming. Hiking trails are great. Recommend:- camp sites 25 and 26 for tent camping, as they are slightly more private and have lots of space-trip to the General Store (steak night on Friday was great!)-don't know about the previous comment about it being near a "bad neighborhood"... it's in the middle of nowhere surrounded by lovely homes!

Nice scenic and laid back area. Bring your bug spray and ensure you call ahead if you plan a trip around the shows etc. they may be closed and you won't know it until you show up.

Although this place is beautiful, it is just outside of an awful part of town so we do not go there anymore. They have cabins for rent and campsites and all that other fun stuff, but you just never know what is hanging out in the woods. :(

Getting there is not exciting, but nice when u get there. Nice trails and frisbee golf and lakes. Needs more geocaches.

I took my husband and 3 children (ages 9, 2 and 8 months) to this park. Most of the things to do in the park is free. My husband loves disc golf and I play with him sometimes so we did that first. I knew it could be challenging with a stroller, because other courses in the past have been....well, it was! We have a double stroller and amazingly most of the holes weren't bad, but there were a handful where we had to lift the stroller to get over a ditch or very large branches/ roots. I do not recommend bringing a stroller on the disc golf courses. There's a map of the courses at the entrance, but they don't really specify which ones the beginner and intermediate. The first hole that's in the open is the beginner though. If you start in the woods, you're on the more advanced course. It was a very nice course! Watch out for poison ivy though. There are bathrooms and a shelter with picnic tables at the courses. We went to the nature center, which has animals to look at, but the door was locked even though it was within open hours so I'm not sure what's up with that. It's something to do with the kids though. A lot of people were fishing near the nature center. We then went swimming in the outdoor olympic size pool! It cost $4 for people over 3. The pool was pretty massive and was split up nicely with a kiddie area within the pool roped off. They do not have hardly any chairs/ loungers, but I think they will let you bring your own so do this!! You are allowed to being in coolers and pool floaties also. The bathrooms are pretty gross, but they had plenty of stalls for changing that have a little shower in the corner. They do have lifeguards, also and a diving board in 12ft water. We went on a Saturday afternoon in summertime and it was packed! Try to go on lighter days, because we didn't even want to stay long due to being splashed and kids being rough. It was just too many people. It was a "mixed" crowd relating to race and types of groups, like families, couples, etc. There were a lot of kids of course though. There's not much shade at all. There's no trees in the pool area. The pool is not heated (probably due to it's size) so it's cold at first and it was fairly dirty with what looked like tree bark/ leaves. It backs up the forest so that's probably why. I just kept an eye on my stuff, but I think they have baskets to keep your stuff for you, like a locker for a fee. Overall we had a good day though. I'd love to go back and ride the bike trail or hike.