A ghost town or a goat's town? Camping on Jackson Lake Island

We couldn't deny that Season 4 of travels was feeling very different from years past. For the first time ever, we hit the road as a family of 3, feeling the massive void that Lily used to fill. For the first time ever, we couldn't escape snowstorms once we hit the South, and instead battled winter weather and frigid temperatures hundreds of miles past the Mason-Dixon line. For the first time ever, we didn't have a solid plan of where we were going, aside from the general cardinal direction of "west." We were booking campsites as we rolled along, oftentimes not knowing where we'd be sleeping the following night.

It took many days and a lot of soul-searching, but by the time we left Charlotte, NC, we had a renewed sense of vigor for our travel life. The winter storms were behind us and we finally had a couple nice days to get outside and explore. We had our first visit with family on the road, something that always boosts our spirits. We also began embracing our spontaneous travel decisions. Typically, not knowing where we're going adds pressure, but this time, it relieved pressure because we felt free to venture wherever we felt would make us happiest. We can't do this in every location every time of year, but in the winter along the east coast states, we had ample opportunities for last-minute stays in some beautiful campgrounds.

In the spirit of finding our happy, we set our sights on a place that has been on our radar for years, ever since our friend Jessica recommended it to us: Jackson Lake Island in Millbrook, Alabama. We actually tried to camp here last year, but as rising waters inundated our COE campground in Alabama, they also flooded the causeway that provides access to the island. We had to take a raincheck.

You might be wondering what some random island in AL could boast that makes it a bucket list camping destination. To do that, we need to rewind a couple of decades. A Hollywood film crew had traveled to the Deep South to work on their latest project, Big Fish, a fantasy film directed by Tim Burton. The movie is about a son who visits his estranged father on his deathbed, to confront him about the series of tall tales the father has told all his life. The son makes one last desperate attempt to find out what was truth and what was hyperbole. The film jumps between the real-time conversation between father and son, and the outlandish depictions of the father's life as a child and young adult. During these depictions, we get insight into the father's attachment to a town called Spectre, which symbolizes the achievement of great dreams, as well as the legends that one leaves behind when he dies.

The town of Spectre, as well as some more ethereal scenes, were set right here on Jackson Lake Island. It's a privately-owned island that has been in the same family for generations. They rented it out to the production crew, who built several prop houses, many of which still stand today. In the film, we see the town of Spectre in two states: The bright, lively town that serves as a peaceful respite reminiscent of an afterlife, and a worn down and abandoned town in disarray. The disarray was filmed last, and so the Spectre that we see today remains in this state.

Tim Burton is known for sublime, gothic aesthetics in his films, and when we arrived to Jackson Lake Island, we immediately saw the creative inspiration. The waters of Jackson Lake, fed by the Alabama River, gave a feeling of desolation, juxtaposed with a sense that we didn't quite know what creatures lurk beneath the murky depths. Tree branches and knees rose out of the waters. In the mornings, misty fog lingered on the water's surface. On land, tall trees covered in Spanish moss set the tone for the movie's "dark forest."

I had not yet seen the movie when we arrived to camp on the island. Anthony had seen it years ago and didn't remember much. So, one night, we rented Big Fish and got to see how the island was transformed for the production. We're always fascinated by movie set design, but we better understood the sentimental implications that the island had on the movie's plot. "Big Fish" stems from the notion of being a "big fish in a small pond," and what happens when you expand your horizons and reach for something more. Must we make a huge impact in order to leave a legacy, or is it enough to touch the lives of those closest to us?

The movie set has endured several weather events over the years, including a lightning strike that burned one of the prop houses down in 2023. As with most set builds, the houses are not structurally sound, but you can still walk among them and see some of the fake trees that remain as part of the set.

The current owners of the island are Lynn and Bobby Bright. Lynn and her sister Janis inherited the land from their parents, and then Lynn and Bobby bought Janis' share. Bobby is the former mayor of Montgomery, and now he manages the land. He was our point of contact when we chose to stay here. The Brights still operate things old school. You don't need a reservation to come stay on the island, but we called ahead earlier that morning to make sure we would be able to get access. Once there, we paid for our site in cash at a pay box by the gate. We chose a water and electric site, which cost us $35/night. Rates seem to have increased over the past couple of years, but we still found this price reasonable, especially because Bobby gave us a site that was in a prime spot. We had easy access on and off the island, water and pasture views, and were right across from the picnic area and bathhouses. Yes, the island has amenities! Bathrooms, showers, a picnic pavilion, a swing set, and tetherball.

By far the best amenity though, and the biggest draw for us to visit the island, are the residents.

Years ago, Bobby decided that one way to increase tourism to the island would be to bring goats over and give them a sanctuary in the town of Spectre. He was right. Big Fish certainly draws some visitation, but the goats are the real stars of the show. We obviously came for the goats and stayed for the movie set.

We severely underestimated the level of goat-tastic camping we would experience. There must have been at least 100 goats, and many of them were little babies. They spent most of their time in the back of the island; they like to reside under the Spectre church and on the front porches of the houses. However, when Bobby parked us just a stone's throw away from the feeding barn, we knew we would likely have some visitors close to RV. "Close" eventually became "pooping on our steps," but we didn't care. We had the best time greeting the goats out our windows as they flocked to the nearby pastures.

These goats are domesticated, so they don't mind human visitors. They're also not overly affectionate, either. Some allow you to pet them, but most just wander away if you get too close, or they don't care either way. The kids are still pretty shy.

We coexisted with these ruminant island residents for 3 nights, before it was time to bid farewell and start our official journey west. You might recall that we were debating which route to take and ran into some literal roadblocks. We had thought about taking I-40 from Charlotte, but part of it was still closed from Hurricane Helene repercussions. Our original plan was to take I-10, but as we made our way south, a giant snowstorm on the Gulf Coast closed portions of the interstate for a few days. Staying at Jackson Lake Island kind of made our decision for us. We put ourselves in prime position to take I-20.

We hadn't driven this route before and didn't know what to expect in terms of road quality. We just knew that I-20 would mean hitting major cities like Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth. We didn't avoid Atlanta. We took I-85 straight through the city, for the sake of the goats.

From Jackson Lake, we'd head west on US80 and soon meet up with I-20. We still had miles and days before worrying about Dallas, and so we figured we could decide later whether to go through or around. Before that, though, we needed to find our next stop along I-20. Given our tumultuous history, you may be surprised to learn what we ended up choosing. That's coming up in the next blog post. Subscribe to be notified when it releases, and get special member perks!

Here is a cool article about Spectre if you are inclined to learn more about the movie town.