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Reviews for Paul M. Grist State Park
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Selma, AL

Overall TRAIL RATING with 11 votes:
Overall CAMP RATING with 11 votes:

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Individual Reviews

Trail Rating: 
Camp Rating: 

Camp Grist, as the locals call her, is a wonderfully place for EVERYONE! NO ATV'S or HUNTING ALLOWED! open 365 days a year. There is a great group of volunteers helping maintain and keep all the trails clear and open, Back Country Horsemen of West AL. They have been at the park since 2021 and can be found on facebook. This is a multi purpose trail system, geocaching, biking, hiking, birdies and horse back Riders. There is a 100 acres lake that's great for fishing, swimming, kayaking. There is John & paddle boat rentals, or you can bring your own small flat bottom boat ( trolling motors used only). Play ground, 2 pavilions ( big and small) picnic tables throughout the camp grounds and a few places along trails. Trails are rollings with a few climbs & flats, bridge & creek crossings, 99% SHADED & horses DO NOT need shoes. Great for all levels or riding horses & bikes. Roughly 21-23 miles. Camp Grist has 11 full hook ups, 5 primitive camp sites. The BCHA of West AL, is working hard on having a separate horse camping area with water for horses!!! Currently horses are allowed to camp in ANY AREA, primitive or full hooks up! There are no stables, but picketing and portable fences are allowed. The park is WELL MARKED with color markers and has colored maps located inside & outside the office door for anyone to grab quick. Bikers, these trails are great for even bikers! So y'all come on and give Camp Grist a spin. Birdies, there are some bald eagles the call Camp Grist their home, among a large variety of native birds. Geocaching, let the hunt begin! You will love the finds. This place is peaceful and QUIET! Park fees.... Day use 6 under free 6-65 $3 over 65 $2 camping fees need to call the park as she fills up quick.
Reviewed by: KatanaBay18 on 9/16/2022 7:57:20 PM
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Experience: Expert Ride Date: 9/14/2022 Hometown: Maplesville, AL

Trail Rating: 
Camp Rating: 

Camp Grist, as the locals call her, is a wonderfully place for EVERYONE! NO ATV'S or HUNTING ALLOWED! open 365 days a year. There is a great group of volunteers helping maintain and keep all the trails clear and open, Back Country Horsemen of West AL. They have been at the park since 2021 and can be found on facebook. This is a multi purpose trail system, geocaching, biking, hiking, birdies and horse back Riders. There is a 100 acres lake that's great for fishing, swimming, kayaking. There is John & paddle boat rentals, or you can bring your own small flat bottom boat ( trolling motors used only). Play ground, 2 pavilions ( big and small) picnic tables throughout the camp grounds and a few places along trails. Trails are rollings with a few climbs & flats, bridge & creek crossings, 99% SHADED & horses DO NOT need shoes. Great for all levels or riding horses & bikes. Roughly 21-23 miles. Camp Grist has 11 full hook ups, 5 primitive camp sites. The BCHA of West AL, is working hard on having a separate horse camping area with water for horses!!! Currently horses are allowed to camp in ANY AREA, primitive or full hooks up! There are no stables, but picketing and portable fences are allowed. The park is WELL MARKED with color markers and has colored maps located inside & outside the office door for anyone to grab quick. Bikers, these trails are great for even bikers! So y'all come on and give Camp Grist a spin. Birdies, there are some bald eagles the call Camp Grist their home, among a large variety of native birds. Geocaching, let the hunt begin! You will love the finds. This place is peaceful and QUIET! Park fees.... Day use 6 under free 6-65 $3 over 65 $2 camping fees need to call the park as she fills up quick.
Reviewed by: KatanaBay18 on 9/16/2022 7:56:49 PM
More reviews by KatanaBay18
Experience: Expert Ride Date: 9/14/2022 Hometown: Maplesville, AL

Trail Rating: 
Camp Rating: 

Camp Grist, as the locals call her, is a wonderfully place for EVERYONE! NO ATV'S or HUNTING ALLOWED! open 365 days a year. There is a great group of volunteers helping maintain and keep all the trails clear and open, Back Country Horsemen of West AL. They have been at the park since 2021 and can be found on facebook. This is a multi purpose trail system, geocaching, biking, hiking, birdies and horse back Riders. There is a 100 acres lake that's great for fishing, swimming, kayaking. There is John & paddle boat rentals, or you can bring your own small flat bottom boat ( trolling motors used only). Play ground, 2 pavilions ( big and small) picnic tables throughout the camp grounds and a few places along trails. Trails are rollings with a few climbs & flats, bridge & creek crossings, 99% SHADED & horses DO NOT need shoes. Great for all levels or riding horses & bikes. Roughly 21-23 miles. Camp Grist has 11 full hook ups, 5 primitive camp sites. The BCHA of West AL, is working hard on having a separate horse camping area with water for horses!!! Currently horses are allowed to camp in ANY AREA, primitive or full hooks up! There are no stables, but picketing and portable fences are allowed. The park is WELL MARKED with color markers and has colored maps located inside & outside the office door for anyone to grab quick. Bikers, these trails are great for even bikers! So y'all come on and give Camp Grist a spin. Birdies, there are some bald eagles the call Camp Grist their home, among a large variety of native birds. Geocaching, let the hunt begin! You will love the finds. This place is peaceful and QUIET! Park fees.... Day use 6 under free 6-65 $3 over 65 $2 camping fees need to call the park as she fills up quick.
Reviewed by: KatanaBay18 on 9/16/2022 7:56:48 PM
More reviews by KatanaBay18
Experience: Expert Ride Date: 9/14/2022 Hometown: Maplesville, AL

Trail Rating: 
Camp Rating: 

UPDATES: They currently have 21 miles of trails. WAHOO! 21... state maps have yet to be updated, so dont be fooled. They are all colored marked and there is a map at the park office for free! Lots of shaded trails, creek crossings, some bridges, new picnic areas along different trails. Bring your breast collar, your going to need it on SOME trails, not all, but there are a few GOOD climbs! These trails also offer some great flat trails, which are great for beginners or folks wanting to cruise along. They are working on a Primitive HORSE camping area with a water spickett. They are renovating the old YMCA Lodge, its HUGE GYM, and camper cabins. This place is the place to go! Park use fee for Adults is $3 or $4, kids under 6 I think is free.
Reviewed by: Jaime Ruff on 5/2/2017 10:37:53 AM
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Experience: Expert Ride Date: 4/30/2017 Hometown: ,

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Love love love this location!!! It's always gorgeous here! The lake and campground are just gorgeous! The trails are awesome. They range from difficult to easy so you can choose which path you want to take. It is one of my favorite places to go.
Reviewed by: TreBamberg on 12/19/2016 12:20:24 PM
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Experience: Expert Ride Date: 11/5/2016 Hometown: Millbrook, AL

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Easy riding with good rv sites. Only problem is there is not many sites. Wish there were more. Friendly personnel. RV sites on water, so the view is pretty also. Also, wish there were more trails, but so grateful for what we have.
Reviewed by: lucille carpenter on 11/18/2014 9:00:43 PM
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Experience: Expert Ride Date: 9/15/2014 Hometown: demopolis, al

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LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!. Camped out in primitive this weekend with some friends and our horses, just us gals. A group of gaited horse folks came in Sunday for a day ride. Other than them, there was no other horse folks. This place is just perfect. They have added another 2 trail loops ontop of the mountain behind the lake. Decent climbs on that trail. PLUS they have added another trail across from the main gate. They are working on a big day use parking area near the "HONOR PAY BOX". Plus there are 2 other trails listed new on the map as well. I am guess with the 8-12 miles they started with, I bet you there is about 22-25 miles now. Great terrain for every level. This park is growing in leaps. Remember to keep your camp site cleaned of horse manure when you leave. It is a shared park with non- horsey folks. This campground is nice and we want them to continue to allow us to ride and camp.
Reviewed by: Jaime Ruff on 5/10/2014 9:26:09 PM
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Experience: Expert Ride Date: 5/3/2014 Hometown: ,

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We had a great ride. The rangers were very happy to see us. Informed us if they could help us in any way to let them know. We have been back and will go again for a quick get away. It is also only about 2 miles from the National forest and we can ride the roads there and get into a nice gait.
Reviewed by: Anonymous on 10/18/2012 6:57:59 AM
Experience: Intermediate Ride Date: 9/3/2012 Hometown: Jemison , AL

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A group of us ladies rode these trails this weekend. The place is beautifull. Facilties are small, but they have everything you need. Trails are WONDERFULL, nice and clean. Park ranger instructed us to ride even the hiking trails to help keep them beat down. We rode the first half of the day and then had lunch under one of the 2 big pavilions. Then we rested up and rode out for a few more hours. This place is great. Trails have bridges and creek crossings, map or trails, hills, flats, wide trails. But not wide enough for wagons. Call the park for more info 334-872-5846 they have 11 full hook ups, 5-8 primitive camp sites PLUS another area for primitive camping with a big field for picketing.
Reviewed by: Anonymous on 9/16/2012 4:01:17 PM
Experience: Expert Ride Date: 9/16/2012 Hometown: Clanton, AL

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Rode these trails yesturday. We met up with the Outback Trail riders. This was the group that helped get the horse trails put in and marked. They informed my group there was more than 6 hours of riding. We rode the trail around the lake 3.5 miles, its nice and easy for beginners with a few bridges. Then we rode on the back side of the park which has a little bit more hills. We where told to ride on any of the hiking trails we saw. Camp ground, full hok up was little, BUT you had room to picket your horses. This is def. a place we will go back to.
Reviewed by: Anonymous on 9/3/2012 10:33:02 AM
Experience: Expert Ride Date: 8/2/2012 Hometown: maplesville, AL

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I gave this place 4 stars on the trails because of the mileage.At this time they only have 8 miles. But it sounds like the mileage will increase if folks us the system and park facility and pay properly. I gave the camp ground a 5 star because even though its a small camp ground it offers more than other Alabama State Park that have horse trails. We took a drive over to check the place out and my husband didnt want to leave. We are planning a trip over there ASAP with or without the horses. My husband and son don't ride, YET, but it will be great for my daughter and I to ride the trails. The boys can go fishing and get a peddle boat and go out on the lake to fish. The play ground offers swings, seesaws, monkey bars and a few other things. Its a nice little place to go. It cost nothing to ride the trails but it cost $2 adults and $1 for kids 6-12 to enter the park. Camping- $21 for full hook up and $12 for primitive. Glad to see a state park trying to bring in new revenue and allowing horses. Let's please keep it clean so we can continue to use to the park for horses.
Reviewed by: Anonymous on 8/29/2012 11:05:03 AM
Experience: Expert Ride Date: 8/27/2012 Hometown: Maplesville, AL