Enjoyed my time staying at Tailwater in Kentucky. It was about an 8hr drive from where I live, so we decided to stay here for a long weekend with friends. We ended up renting out 2 campsite spots to fit 8 of us and luckily we were able to get a spot right next to each other. We had 2 huge 6 person tents, so 4 stayed in one and 4 in the either. We fit comfortably! Thankfully the campsite were fairly large to fit our cars and 2 big tents. The attendants working in the front were super nice and helpful. They helped us find our spots, and then gave us recommendations on where to hike in the mornings. Because we came in the summer, it was pretty busy. The Barren River is right next to the campground and makes for a beautiful day to head down to the river and cool off. The campground is fairly large- I believe it has close to 50 spots. Campground was easy to find, and the signage for the campground was great. Cost was $20 a night per site, so for us it was $40 sense we had 2 sites but we split it 8 ways so it was super cheap. We brought tons of food, and snacks, so at night we just hung around each other- some in hammocks or in chairs and just talked. The hiking was really great- super awesome views. The trails were in such great condition!! Would definitely come back.

Just getting in from a fun weekend at Old Mill Camp in Cookeville, TN. Old Mill is a private campground directly across the street from the entrance to Cummins Falls State Park (the park is a day Park only and has no camping on site). Wide open sites with plenty of well established trees to provide shade. New, modern bathhouse. Hiking to the falls is adventurous requiring two creek crossings (that can be up to knee deep or more depending on where you cross) and some bouldering, but once you get to the falls it’s amazing. The area is right on the Upper Cumberland Wine Trail so lots of impressive wineries nearby. There is also 4 breweries (a fifth opens the end of Oct 2018) in the area. Oh, and you have to visit Ralph’s Donut Shop in downtown Cookeville! We’d really like to go back in warmer weather to take advantage of the many swimming holes on the hike to the falls and be able to play in the falls.

The TN website was down so I was unable to book a site ahead of time and calling I found out the store closes at 4. Not a problem, they said pick a site without a res and pay in the morning. Beautiful view of the lake but werid to be a tent camper with the nice decks. I pick a site with a spot of dirt on the side. Plan ahead, I didn't consider that I couldn't buy firewood after arriving and there was little to choose from in the woods also I may go for the very nice primative sites in the future. You have to walk in but no one was there this trip. I didn't even know they were there until I took a walk the next morning.

Campgrounds are very primitive. No restrooms or running water. Everything will have to be packed in. Amazing views! Mutiple waterfalls and caves to explore. Highly recommend checking it out. Hike is around 8 miles round trip. Water filters would be a must in my book.

Not a large campground. Some of the best hiking and scenery around. Excellent location.

This is one of our favorite places. Great engineering to make the platforms hang off the slde of cliffs. This place is very quiet, VERY clean one of the top places near Nashville.

Great place to camp. Clean friendky reasonably quiet. Great shore fishing. Not a lot else to do around.

The facilities are amazing and well maintained. There is a large loop for primitive camping and additional loops for electric/ RV sites. If you are a mountain biker, you can ride directly from the campground.

Booked this campground online and was very happy with our night stay! Be sure to reserve a spot right alongside water! Online booking shows a very easy to view map of different tent sites.

Enjoyed watching sunset here. Wish we had arrived earlier so we could swim!

My family of 6 (me, my wife, and four boys 9yrs and under) camped here for a week. We had a great time. We were a little further from Mammoth cave than we wanted to be, but the campground was fun. It is pretty spread out, so biking with the family was a little challenging. And their bike loop was really pretty, but SUPER bumpy and hilly. Pretty hard for the younger ones. The lake was awesome. We swam at the beach, and in eary september, we had the place to ourselves. Campsites were a but small / crammed (we have a pop-up camper). But overall, we really enjoyed it.

When coming to Cummins Falls you want to be able to enjoy the day fully, especially when traveling from far away. If you arrive early and are wanting to fully hike down to the waters it is a must to arrive early and by the time you finish enjoying activities driving is not something that sounds appealing. This camp is perfect for allowing you to do just that. Just off property from the falls this is the closest place you can stay and it pays off big dividends!!

Where there is no sign of wifi, this place has your back. Where there is no store in site, again this place is reasonable and well equipped. But this isn't just a place to stay it is a place where you can also have additional activities including Kayaking and horseback riding.

But perhaps my favorite thing about this site is they ALWAYS allow walk-up camping for primitive tent camping and can accommodate a lot of campers. For me as a tent camper with no hook ups it was $20, had I have wanted electrical those sites are $35. Both sites come pretty standard and similar in way of picnic tables, fire rings and parking which is really nice.

I was there midweek and there were a lot of other campers but it didn't seem loud and I really liked that there was an area which said campers only so people just coming out to the falls weren't roaming around camp.

• Check out other things to do in the area, it is a really neat area with tons of things to do within driving distance. This is a great place to hub.

• Enjoy the Falls but be mindful of the hours, it is not a 24/7 site and does close if you arrive late in the day you will not be able to go all the way down the trail to the water itself.

• Check their website because they are in the process of upgrading their facility even further and will soon be offering cabins as well :)

When you come to a park on a mountain, most of the time you find your campsite is riddled with rocks, uneven or somehow an attempt to make a level surface has been made. Fact is, most of the time the ability to address such an issue is ill thought and you spend a lot of your time setting up to find the spot which best suits.

But not here! Here they have built platforms for making camping easier, even in the worst of hilly conditions.

These little mini decks are spread throughout the park and made available for campers in tents as well as RVs, depending on the area you select your site. It is like a deck built to withstand heavy objects.

Let me just explain the level of confusion I had when I arrived at my site and saw this however…lol. As a tent camper I had all the normal questions you might have when seeing a deck: What is this? How do I secure my tent to it? Do I park on it too? Is this going to make my floor of my tent feel weird?

It wasn't to long after I saw another tent camper, also on one of these pads, that my entire world made sense and soon I was settled in and enjoying a great view, all thanks to my elevated and even pad. It was almost spoiling me!

The typical amenities are present, picnic table, grill, power (some not all sites) and nearby was a nice bathhouse and store. It was a great retreat.

The lake itself was beautiful, just made me wish I had a canoe with me to enjoy it a bit more. But since I couldn't I enjoyed the outdoor spaces lining the shoreline instead and checked out some of the hiking trails here. LOVED the hiking here!!

Inside the Visitor Center you also can find a really cool observation tower that if you are willing to put the foot work in and climb you can see some of the awesome views from high atop the world!!

TIPS:

• Watch for deer!! There seems to be a deer around every bend here and around dusk they have zero fear of the road.
• Rent a kayak from the store just across the street from the main entrance, they have day and week rates available.

This is a private facility which offers security at entrance. When I first pulled up I thought it might be a part of the Corp of Engineers dam site just a couple hundred yards away but it was in fact private.

For only $18 a night I was able to check out a great tent site which was not super close to anyone else. It was not a crowded campground at all in fact. I could see a few long termers set up but everything was kept at a great standard as opposed to allowing things to look unkept when staying for extended times.

There is free WIFI available, however in my site it struggled a bit so that was a little sad.

Otherwise the location itself was very nice. They do provide a laundry service for $5 a day and outdoor spaces for families to enjoy including a play area for the kiddos.

My favorite part of this location was its proximity to the water itself, you could hear the sounds of the flood gates in the distance and it sounded like a waterfall which made sleeping a breeze. During the day there was lots of area to explore because of the same water.

TIPS:

• If staying here there are a few things available in the store but not many so make a stop before arriving. There is a shop just up the road and over the dam, it offers many things and also equipment rentals for the water.

• Be careful when driving in, the road is windy and currently (August 2018) they are working on the roadways and having "blasting" zones.

Just a short walk to the falls. Will be back if cooler weather!

Great campground and park. Unbelievably clean bathrooms and showers! Site have bear proof cabinets for your cooler, and rangers are super friendly.

Books fast during summer weekend. Close to major cities. Great sites and friendly staff.

We tent camped in August. The campground area was huge and perfect for tent camping or an RV. We were next to the restroom building which also served as a storm shelter. The restrooms were air conditioned and very clean! The only negative thing I have to say about the site is the fire ring needed to be cleaned out. The Rowena Landing restaurant had a good buffet and excellent catfish! The pool was closed for repairs and that was disappointing. The country store was very close and offered a small selection of foods, but most everything you would need for your campsite. The mini golf was fun, but there was a little flooding on the course due to a crazy storm the day before. Everyone was very nice and this felt like a safe place to be. The lake was crazy beautiful and worth going out on to see.

This site has some really nice cabins. You can drive right up to the cabin and park. You will have full amenities and lots of room, depending on which cabin you choose. There are big lodging cabins for large groups. There are great trails all around the lake, dam, and old historic sites. Generally very well kept. Most notable part of the campsite is the staff. They are sooooo friendly and knowledgeable. Great to talk to and helpful all the time.

You can park your boat right by your camp spot. There are parking lots for your trailers. I love walking a few feet to the beach, and my boat. Beautiful shady spots.

First of all, this is an Army Corps of Engineers campground. So if you have a Seniors National Parks pass, your stay is discounted.

The campground is small by some standards but very well kept. Most sites have electric and some have water.

Bath house is above average in size and the do keep it clean.

The campground is below the dam at Cumberland Lake and runs along the river there. The water movement does seem to create a cool breeze since the water coming out of the dam is rather chilly.

Bring your fishing gear unless they are opening the flood gates…then the water is really too high and fast to fish from the shore.

Campsites vary from smallish to rather spacious depending on the size of your rig. All are gravel with picnic tables and fire ring along with a sturdy pole for hanging food or trash. Most sites have at least partial shade if not full shade.

There is a small food shack down by the river where you can get breakfast or hot dogs and burgers for lunch. They do have ice there so you don’t need to leave the grounds.

All in all a very pleasant location. we have returned a few times now.

Standing Stone was full of large, beautiful trees. Super secluded feeling camp sites. Had a pool, volleyball courts, short hikes, and soccer fields. The bathrooms were super clean. We’ve been twice and LOVE it.

Awesome campground, not a negative thing to say. it’s our favorite campground. It’s a must stay.

Near a fish hatchery so you should be able to catch rainbow trout, four of us fished for an hour and a half and never got a nibble. Some sites are shaded but others are completely sun. Very nice camp hosts.

Something for everyone at this national park. Whitewater rafting, canoeing, and kayaking await in the big South Fork of the Cumberland River. There are miles of hiking and horse trails through the picturesque countryside. Take a steam train ride around the ridge tops, or wet your line in the streams. There is plenty to do here.

The bathhouse is clean and there are hookupsfor RVs and backcountry camping too.

We stayed at a campsite by the lake. What I didn’t realize until we got there is that the site is on a wooden platform because the shoreline is a little steep. We had brought a canoe and so it was A bit awkward trying to get down to the lake toting a canoe directly from our campsite. Although, we made it work, and had a great time.

We fit our truck, 2 tents for 2, and a mini kitchen set up with table and benches comfortably. The running water was fantastic!

That evening a storm came and I was so thankful for the platform because the rainwater ran off between the wooden slats, no mud!!

Bathrooms were ok, and had hot water showers.

We loved this primitive tent camping spot. All sites were nestled in the woods along the edge of the lake. Each site had a fire ring & tent landing. It was near parking, but all gear had to be carried into the woods. These were not pull in campsites. Shower house was a decent walk. Maybe at 1/4 mile? Water spigots were dotted throughout the woods, but not at every site.

With only one non improved site I was a little hesitant of this site. I didn't really need electricity but I went ahead and opted into the $27 site and charged my devices for the evening.

I arrived and noticed that this is a decently sized campground right by the dam area. The views of the water and all the activities which that can include was perfect and access to the information center was just a short drive. I was very impressed.

I settled in and while it was pretty crowded at the campsite, it was not loud like some campgrounds I have stayed at along the way. Roads were gravel and easy to navigate and each campsite was fitted with the typical camp ring and picnic table. Sites were level and there was a nice mix of RV campers and tent campers at the facility.

This was a great area to spend a little time on the road because of its amenities and proximity to the water. I loved the surroundings and how green everything was coming from the dry Texas vegetation. It was very cool to also see how the dam contributes to the area and the information they have available when staying at the campground.

TIPS:

• Check out any number of water sports available in the area and soak in the area fully.

• Do be aware of the events taking place throughout the year 2018 celebrating the 75th anniversary of the dam. During some of these activities camping can be very difficult to lock in.

• Pay attention to the firewood regulations!

We love to find water front campsites, especially In the summer time! We love to swim, as does our dog! A lot of people brought their boats, there was a lot of parkIng & easy access for it. There Is a nearby marina, restaurant & shop (make a reservation If you plan to eat there). The views were incredible. The only downside was the driveways were a little tight, we especially had trouble on the way out.

We stayed here in November 2017; we camped in the primitive camping section which has a parking area up top and you hike with your equipment down some stairs into a wooded area with about 7 primitive campsites. We could see and hear the lake from our campsite and though there were a few other folks camping too, it was pretty quiet and very relaxing. We packed up during the day to explore other nearby parks like fall creek falls and Cummins falls but came back at night to camp. Our stuff was safe and there was plenty of room for 2 tents on the camping pad. The site we stayed at was sloped a bit so we ended up sleeping in our hammocks, but that was lovely too. Bathhouse was only a short hike away and there were strategically placed water pumps where we could get water near our campsite. Overall a great experience and cheap too.

We absolutely LOVE it here. Beautiful sites and lots of good exploring and kid activities.