Best Tent Camping near Estillfork, AL

We got a chance to spend 2 nights up at Monte Sano this fall and had a wonderful trip with some chilly nights. The park is one of the best state-managed campgrounds I have been to and is an amazing place for either tent camping or RV camping. On this visit, they were undergoing serious renovations of one of the RV loops that is closest to the tent area so we ended up having even more privacy and quiet than usual. Although there are no bathroom facilities in the tent area they are a short drive or a couple of minutes walk away and are very nice and well kept. The tent sites are all well established and pretty spaced out. Since we stayed from Saturday to Monday we had the place to ourselves on Sunday night. We also arrived after dark on Saturday but they had a great system in place for getting the gate code and info about the site. We spent the whole day on Sunday hiking the long loop around the park. Since the trails connect to the land trust adjacent to the park you can never run out of areas to explore. I highly recommend visiting Monte Sano for your next camping adventure.

As exclusively tent campers, I have always steered away from KOAs. But given how close this one is to my home city of Chattanooga, and how beautiful the Lookout Mountain region is, I decided to do a drive-thru tour just to check out a campground within 30 minutes of home, and this is definitely a place I would love to camp, even in a tent! 

Convenient to I-59, this KOA is in an extremely rural part of northern Georgia, giving it a backcountry feel despite how easy it is to access. And while it is still primarily for RV campers, they do have a some designated tent-only sites that are on their own leg of the road, and spaced out to provide some privacy--site D in particular had more of a feel of a private campground to it.

There are two distinct sections to this campground; when you first enter, there is a turnoff to the right that takes you to lower elevation. These sites are more spaced out, have trees (or bamboo!) in between them, and are generally larger. This is also the side where the tent and group camping sites are. Group camp sites allow one tent per site, and RV sites are all 50A full service except for sites 60 and 61 which are 30A. Tent sites have water and electric available but are for one vehicle and tent only. 

To the left of the welcome center upon entering sites are closer together, with a combination of 30A and 50A full services hookups. There are still plenty of trees, particularly along the uppermost loop (sites 16, 18, 20, and 22). This side is also where the majority of the cabins are. 

The coolest aspect of this campground for me was the massive jumping pad they have, and I had to promise my kids we would take an overnight trip here just so they could use it! It is restricted to ages 16 and under (and appeared to be closed, along with the playground and saltwater pool, due to COVID-19), but looked like an amazing addition, especially for families who may be staying here long-term and need a way for their kids to get some energy out without leaving the campground! 

This would still not be my primary choice for tent camping as it is still largely geared towards RVs, however the group camping, the wooded feel, and the convenience to Chattanooga make this an amazing play to stay, whether it is folks in the city looking to get into nature without a long drive, fulltimers who want long-term accommodations while they take advantage of all the region has to offer, or travelers just looking for a quiet place to stay while passing through.

Tent site... full hookups... plenty of space

Tent camped for a night can’t wait to go back. Didn’t get to see the caverns but did visit the gift shop.

Bob has a wonderfully serene campground for both RV’s and tent camping. I invite everybody looking for a quiet place on Mentone to visit 1776 RV.

This is a wonderful spot if you really want to be in nature. Not many people around quite, secluded and very peaceful. Tent camping only with reservations. Lots of hiking near by and great places to explore.

The drive in is beautiful. Primitive Tent sites feel more secluded even though they are not hike in sites. Still reasonably close to the bathrooms/showers. Good price for camping!

Tent camped here on the water, absolutely no shade since the tornadoes brought all the trees down, even with the water nearby, temps hardly ever went below 85 at night. Poor planning on our part, not their fault. Much better for RVing.

Everything is clean. Rangers are nice folks. Minutes from downtown Huntsville, but you feel very far away. I have tent camped and RV'd here. Enjoyed both. Small campstore with necessities. Firewood for sale. Lots of trails, mainly for mountain bikers but lots of hikers as well. Cool overlooks on some of the trails. Recommend.

Stayed at campsite 3, across from the camp host, and in front of playground and bathrooms.

Very large, very widely spaced campsites. Sites were comfortable for tent camping, but there were few tent campers when we were there.

Bathrooms were clean, and had hot showers, but had a lot of deferred maintenance. 

The Fall hiking  was spectacular. It's a beautiful place to see the hardwoods change color. Trails are well maintained.

I'm a local and tent camping saves my sanity from a high preassured daily life. When I cant leave to camp I'll set up at a primitive site here for a week at a time. It's a simple space. No picnic tables at primitive sites. It's clean...beautiful....loads of hiking trails...and great food is a 10 min ride down the mountain to Huntsville.

This review is for Tranquility RV and Campgrounds in Mentone Alabama. I really enjoyed camping here. A lake front campsite with water & power hookup was $30 per night and that was on Memorial Day Weekend. The campsite was a nice size and it’s pet friendly. There is a 6 acre lake for fishing but it’s catch & release. And no swimming or kayaks allowed. There was a bath house with toilets and showers not too far from the tent camping sites. DeSoto Falls and Desoto State Park are also very close by. I have map of the campground that shows the lot numbers, I’ll post it with my photos.

On top of Monte Sano in the woods and a world away from the town -- although it's close by. So many trails to run or walk and a playground for the kiddos. This has primitive camping as well as W/E/S. Each campsite is well-spaced and the primitive tent camping area is away from the RVs.

You can book all year but be sure to book in advance.

We really enjoyed our night tent camping here. There is a parking lot right off the road after a fun ~30 minute drive through residential roads right on the water, then sites with fire pits are scattered throughout a small clearing. Plety of firewood to collect on site. There was another group of campers at a spot fairly close to us making some noise, but not too late into the night. With respectful campers nearby, this is a great spot to spend a relaxing night.

Really nice campground, well maintained. Plenty of spots and different options. I stayed in a primitive site no complaints, but I think next time I’ll try the backcountry sites or the wall tent site for a more romantic camp. Desoto falls is a must see and there are plenty of other places to see along the little river, and just 30 minutes or so away from noccalula falls. Definitely worth the trip I love it here.