West Bay WMA camping area -- Spikes Camp Site

public land records

Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.

Designated camping area on West Bay WMA, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. LDWF's own page (https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/west-bay, read 2026-09-28) states: "LDWF maintains two primitive camping areas on the area." 59,189 acres, Allen Parish, near Elizabeth; reached by state highways, parish roads and timber company roads. West Bay is LEASED land (LDWF's WMA polygon attribute Own_Lease = 'LEASE'); the private owners are not named here -- LDWF manages it as a WMA. Map label beside the symbol reads 'Spikes Camp Site'. LDWF WMA CAMPING RULE (2026-2027 Louisiana Hunting & WMA Regulations, https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/assets/Resources/Publications/Regulations/26LAHD.pdf pamphlet p.52, re-read 2026-09-28): 'Camping on WMAs, including trailers, houseboats, vessels, recreational vehicles and tents, is allowed only in designated areas and for a period not to exceed 16 ... consecutive days, regardless of whether the camp is attended or unattended. At the end of the 16-day period camps must be removed from the area for at least 48 hours.' (The elided words are the Bodcau WMA exception, which does not apply here.) First-come, first-serve unless otherwise specified. Where no public restroom exists, tent campers 'shall have and shall utilize portable waste disposal units and shall remove all human waste from the WMA upon leaving'; campers in a camper/trailer must use an attached disposal system. Burning of trash prohibited; glass containers prohibited on campgrounds; only hunting dogs allowed in WMA camping areas; firearms may not be kept loaded or discharged in a camping area. PERMITS (https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/wmarefugeconservation-area-licenses-and-permits, re-read 2026-09-28): a free Self-Clearing Permit (check-in/check-out) is required for ALL activities on a WMA; a WMA Access Permit is required of users 18+ -- 'Annual permit: $20 for both residents and nonresidents; 5-day permit: $5' -- included with the Sportsman's Paradise, Senior Hunting/Fishing and Lifetime licences. SEPARATELY, 'Camp in a LDWF-operated campground' requires a WMA Camping Permit, '$7/night for up to five adults who are camping together'. LDWF publishes no list of which camping areas count as 'LDWF-operated', so this row is recorded as free-camping-with-access-permit; verify with the region office before advertising it as free. COORDINATE PROVENANCE -- READ BEFORE PUBLISHING: LDWF publishes no GIS layer of camp points (re-checked 2026-09-28 across its whole ArcGIS org and its Outdoor Explorer app). This point was DIGITISED FROM LDWF'S OWN WMA MAP: the map PDF (https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/assets/Conservation/WMAs_Refuges_Conservation_Areas/Files/West_Bay.pdf) was registered to LDWF's own WMA boundary polygon (layer LOE_LDWF_WMAs_09262025_WGS84_WMAS) and the tent symbol's centre was converted to lat/lon. Map scale ~9.262 m/pixel at 200 dpi; 99% of LDWF's boundary polygon falls within 3 px of the map's red WMA line. ACCURACY: the same method on LDWF's Bodcau WMA map, checked against the Corps of Engineers' own GPS points for the same camps, was off by 20-614 m (median ~216 m, n=12) -- treat this pin as 'within a few hundred metres', NOT as a surveyed spot, and confirm on the ground or against the map before publishing a precise location. The symbol was checked by eye; it is not an OpenStreetMap feature (no OSM campsite lies within 2 km). No drinking water is stated for this site by LDWF. Treat all natural water as non-potable. This is an active hunting area. Check LDWF season dates and area closures before you go and wear hunter orange in season. Nearest town: Oakdale ~7.0 mi -- STRAIGHT-LINE distance to the nearest OpenStreetMap place=city/town/village (snapshot 2026-08-15), NOT a driving distance. Ingest 2026-09-28. | nightshift-verified 2026-09-29 (fire 2820): RE-CHECKED. https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/west-bay re-fetched (HTTP 200) and still says "LDWF maintains two primitive camping areas on the area.". The WMA map PDF was re-fetched and is byte-identical (sha256) to the 2026-09-28 copy; on it the pin sits on a camping symbol (checked by eye against the map legend). 26LAHD.pdf was re-fetched, is byte-identical, and the p.52 camping rule is unchanged. Live LDWF polygon query (LOE_LDWF_WMAs_09262025_WGS84_WMAS): point is INSIDE 'West Bay WMA'. Nearest published/approved camp 36.1 km ('Ahtus Melder'); none within 2 km, so not a duplicate. Per-WMA rule (26LAHD): 'AREA CLOSED: Oct. 24-25, to all EXCEPT youth and physically challenged deer hunters.' FEE CORRECTED (was fee=0 / free-camping): the 2026-09-28 note left open whether the $7 WMA Camping Permit applies here, because the regulations say 'LDWF-operated campground'. Two other LDWF pages read today settle it the plain way: the fee list says the permit is 'Required to camp on a WMA (where camping is permitted)', and the public-lands page (https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/visiting-ldwfs-public-lands-nonconsumptive) says 'Are You Camping? Purchase a WMA Camping Permit' with no qualifier. With an access permit also required, this is not free camping under the site rule either; recorded as fee=1, tag paid-camping. DECISION: APPROVED -- agency page, agency map and agency regulations agree today. Coordinate is still map-digitised: within a few hundred metres, not a surveyed spot. | Fee 2026-09-29: $7 per night WMA Camping Permit per camping party of up to five adults (17 and under exempt), on top of the WMA Access Permit ($20 a year or $5 for five days, included with some LDWF licences). Source: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/license-and-permit-fee-list (LDWF fee list, footnote to the WMA Camping Permit: 'Required to camp on a WMA (where camping is permitted)'; figure verified on that page).

On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.