Searching for the perfect place to pitch your tent near Dresden? The Dyrt helps you find campsites near Dresden with tent camping. Would you prefer a quiet dispersed site or an established camgpround with amenities? Either way, The Dyrt makes it easy to find the perfect place to pitch your tent.
A permit is required to camp here.
A Basic Camping Area is an open field area without defined campsites. Amenities might include a vault toilet, trash removal, mowed areas, and a boat ramp. However, they may or may not have picnic tables and fire rings and/or grills. You may camp anywhere within the camping area with a Basic Camping Permit. Basic Camping Areas include:
Demumbers Bay
Pisgah Point
Ginger Bay
Neville Bay
You may camp almost anywhere in Land Between the Lakes (LBL). A Basic Camping Permit is required for each person 18 and over when camping in Basic Camping Facilities. A Dispersed Camping Permit is required when camping in non-designated areas of the recreation area. Both permits currently cost $50 for annual permit and $10 for a three-day permit and can be purchased https://www.landbetweenthelakes.us/reservations/ or any LBL facility. Please note that these permits do not apply when camping at Self-Service Campgrounds.
21 acres of your choosing to set up your primitive camp. This is an old, growth wooded area. There are a few areas in which a tent can be set up. There are plenty of beautiful trees to place a hammock or bring a tarp to set up a camp, maybe even sleep under the stars. You will have to hike in, or Santa can possibly use his Jeep to bring you as close as possible.
Santa would love for you to visit his southern part of his woods. There are many wild critters he loves to share his woods with. White Tail Deer, Wild Turkeys, Raccoons, Foxes, all woodland critters to possibly spot.
Santa has some trails for hiking, mountain biking, even some 4x4ing he loves to share.
$15 / night
This primitive site has a beautiful view of the lake. From the Pilot Knob trailhead, this shelter is approximately 4 miles. It sits atop the ridges of the Campground Road Trail, overlooking Kentucky Lake. There is no water available. You should pack in what you need. The shelter is fully enclosed and provides ample room for two hikers and gear. The shelter is 8'x10'. Please call visitor center for additional details. Coordinates listed here are for the entrance to the park.
$10 / night
Located on the Chester Hollow Trail, this shelter sits atop a very steep hill. The trail elevation rises 150 feet in under one-quarter of a mile. Consult with a ranger if you are not confident of your ability to complete such an ascent. Water may be filtered from the creek at the base of the hill on which the shelter is located, but it is highly recommended to pack in your own. There is a fire ring. The distance to the shelter is 2.95 miles. There is room for two tents and an eight person limit. Please call visitor center for additional details. Coordinates listed here are for the entrance to the park.
It is 4.50-miles to this shelter from the Pilot Knob trailhead. The nearest creek is 5/8th of a mile away. It is highly recommended to pack in your water. There is a fire ring. There is a 14 person limit and room for five tents. Please call visitor center for additional details. Coordinates listed here are for the entrance to the park.
This primitive site has a beautiful view of the lake. From the Pilot Knob trailhead, this shelter is approximately 3.75 miles. It sits atop the ridges of the Campground Road Trail, overlooking Kentucky Lake. There is no water available. You should pack in what you need. The shelter is fully enclosed and provides ample room for two hikers and gear. The shelter is 8'x10'. Please call visitor center for additional details. Coordinates listed here are for the entrance to the park.
Scout
A secluded lakeside spot with a fire pit. We saw three other spots on the way in which looked nice as well. The road coming in is a little washed out but not too pitted. I’d recommend AWD/4WD and 8+ inches of clearance, especially if it has rained because it’s pretty steep in sections.
Legend
We found this highly rated campground (CG) while looking for a different route back to our home base and wanted to check it out. We followed our RV GPS north on TN-22 to the CG, which is about a mile and a half past I-40. We checked in and was then escorted to pull through site 12 with FHUs. It is a narrow road and a 90 degree turn into the site. Because of the slight incline on the side of the site, you can't really go wide. We had to maneuver several times so we could get straight on the site and get our sewer lined up. We also had to make sure our steps could come out on the small deck. We would have positioned again so we didn’t have to get out 25’ of sewer hose to dump our back tank, but there’s a ditch in front of the site that would prevent an easy back in to hitch back up. We soon found out the site is not level and had to put leveling blocks under our door side wheels as they were off the ground after auto level. Disclaimer here as not all sites in this CG are the same and some are quite nice with room between them. We were here for two days and placed in the row where they place shorter rigs for overnighters. The sites are cut into a hill and are very close together. These sites have a small deck with most having a patio table and two chairs. Site 12 has a picnic table, which in our opinion was to too large for the space. There is also a several foot drop off that if you are not very careful could cause harm(not safe). The site was not long enough for our 40’ 5th wheel plus F450 and we were instructed to park across the road. There’s a fire pit in these very narrow sites. The truck parked in the site next to us was too close to safely enjoy a fire in the tiny sliver of lawn with the fire pit. During our briefing after being escorted to our site, we were told to use a reducer as their water pressure is high. They claim to have good internet and the speed test and usage confirms the internet here is good. We were able to get a clear shot north for Starlink. The CG does have mature trees in and around some of the sites. They have cable but we didn’t use it. We got 4 bars on Verizon. As we and others were setting up, the staff rides around in golf carts and stops by to check on you. While a nice touch, commenting“you look perplexed” and nothing more as I was finishing putting out 25’ of sewer hose was not helpful nor necessary. There are nice amenities here to include the big pond area. There are four washers($2.75) and four dryers($.25 for 10 minutes and$1.00 got our load dry). There is one additional dryer for dog bedding only. As we were here for a couple of days, we wish we had a better site versus site 12 that other reviewers had mentioned had issues. When we asked how we could get into one of the sites in the 29- 35 area, which had plenty of open sites during our stay, we were told those were for big rigs 40' and over. We reminded them we were a 40' rig. Had we been placed in the 30s area, our review may have been better.
Scout
Pet friendly great place to stay 50 and 30 amp full hookups free WiFi
ScoutThe owners are super helpful
Guide
Close to the marina it's a hard walk uphill both ways to the bathroom but they are very nice and well kept. Big open areas for children to play overall very good state park campground
Guide
Beautiful view of the river and water access but the bad smells coming from the factory across the river is almost unbearable at times the EPA needs to. come do an air quality test when they release whatever it is
Guide
A few sites at a boat launch area.
One large site before the main turnaround point and a couple by the water.
Not a ton of space.
4x4 or awd may come in handy leaving the sites (going back up the gravel hill)
Guide
Piney Campground is part of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. It is wildly popular among locals and travelers alike. Lots to do for kids - bike paths, basketball court, multiple playgrounds, etc. Beautiful views of Kentucky Lake/Tennessee River, nice campground store.
TravelerWe stayed here in our tent. The lady who checked us in was exceptionally nice and the campsites were clean quiet and shady. The restrooms were spick and span. We would certainly stay here again.
Guide
This campground has become our favorite. The campground is amazing, the bathrooms are cleaned everyday on weekends and every other day during the week. Completely cleaned!
The site has 77 sites full hook-up with sewage. Every site has grill, fire pit, table and lantern hook. We were #38 it was easy to back into and pretty level. The campground also have small cabins with bunk beds to rent. There is no indoor water just beds, electric and air for a great price. There is a small swimming area too at Pin Oak.
There are a few lakes in the area. Pin Oak is the only motor lake. Cub lake has a larger swim area with paddle boat, Jon boat and kayak rentals. The rentals are only weekends. Browns Creek Lake also has honest system rentals of Jon boat but for fishing purposes only and you have to pay for a lake permit.
The park is great! Lexington is close for quick runs for anything you need. We loved this park so much we may be changing our family BBQ to this park next year.
Ranger
Had a premium FHU site right on the late near the dock. Beautiful views of the lake. Bath house was immaculate and laundry on site. Lots of availability during the week.
Traveler
Stayed 2 nights. Nearly empty, but we’ll kept camp. Best sunsets!!! Lake is beautiful. Many many lakeside spots. Lots of room.
RangerWe stayed one night at the Oak Campground. We drove straight to our site (per the Visitor Center’s instruction) - it’s about 15 minutes off I-40. The site was in great shape, there was wood left for us, and the bathhouses were super clean. The campground landscape is rolling hills so everyone has a different view of the lake. Our kids enjoyed riding their bikes and playing on the small beach. There was a playground for smaller kids and several people were fishing and boating. The campsites are not super private, but they are nicely spaced, everyone was pleasant and it was quiet in the evening. Lots of folks w pups, but they were all leashed or fenced. The lodge was over a mile away so we didn’t make it over there and if you are looking for amenities, there really aren’t any. There are other campgrounds in the Park, as well as a Visitor Center. For a nice and reasonably priced overnight, I would strongly recommend.
Guide
Great dispersed campground. Approx 1-1/2 miles off the highway down a one lane gravel road. Approx 30 sites. Sites are gravel and pretty level. At least half of the sites have a view of the lake. All sites have fire rings and picnic tables. Definitely would like to go back and camp there again. Were there with a 26 foot towable.
TravelerNice park, good facilities, but no shower. The description said there was a 'bathhouse', I assumed it had a shower.
There was a lot of traffic late at night with people parking and staying in their cars for about an hour and a truck that visited each one, not sure what was happening \-:
There's a highway next to the park with trucks occasionally engine braking.
ScoutMy family and I took a little trip over fall break to tent camp. We stayed in the Cub Lake area in campground 2, which is their primitive campground. There were a few other campers already there in the campground, but we still felt very secluded which was nice. The campground itself is absolutely beautiful and there is plenty to do. Very family friendly as they have a few nice playgrounds for our little ones.
My one complaint, which turned out to be a pretty big hurdle, revolves around firewood. The check in time for campsites is 4 PM and we were there around that time. On the website when you book it mentions not bringing in any firewood from outside the park, which is understandable, but that wood is available inside. The camp store was closed the entire time we were there (We stayed Tuesday and Wednesday), and our campsite host was not available in the times listed either. We knocked on their RV door and called and left a message and never heard back, which left us trying to scramble and salvage dead drop wood for our fires.
Guide
Site 17
Location : perfect location if you’re wanting a good view of the water. Brush is cleared behind this site making it a clear view to the water / sunset. The sunset is breathtaking. Directly across from the bathrooms, laundry, & dumpster. Paved site. Fire pit. Tree located right in front of the spot, would only be a problem of putting out an awning.
Bathrooms : Shockingly clean! Large bathrooms. Laundry area located in the same building. Dumpster outside of the building.
Cons : I can’t even explain the amount of mosquitoes at this site - of course because you’re directly on the water, but the mosquitoes are insane. We had trouble locating the campground by the address on the reservation. We ended up finding it by putting in Blue Bank Resort which is located right next door.
ScoutLove the place nice people nice campground
GuideThis is a very big park with multiple types of camping options and also a lodge with a restaurant. Lots of great fishing and boating spots. There’s a few beaches for swimming and multiple playgrounds for the little ones. Check it is super easy, you just drive up to your site. The RV sites had plenty of room and were very well maintained. We met the camp host to buy firewood and he was really nice and accommodating.
Guide
We stayed at cub lake site 19 & 20. Cute campsites that were right by the bath house and walking distance to the lake. Lots of activities going on all weekend. We have a 24fter and had a teeny bit of issues getting her out of there, but not by much. Full hookups at other sites we drove through but just water and electric at ours. Would come back again!
Traveler
Gorgeous views of the Mississippi River. It was a little sketch getting here but super easy. One lane dirt road but room to move over if need be. I just got here, so we'll see how the night fares 😆 might review more later.
Legend
Jake from the Dyrt here! Santa's Woods is full of large trees and trails, he welcomes you to find the spot that calls to you for your camping adventure. Check them out and make sure to share your trip on the Dyrt!
LegendLarge park with marina, tennis, boat rental, beaches and more. My spot was spacious and shaded.
ScoutThe woman at check-in was very kind and helpful! When I got to the campsite, however, it was disappointing. The fire ring was full of cigarette butts, there was a decaying fish in between my site and the shore, and the bathroom smelled strongly of cigarettes. I was able to kayak right from my site, which was very nice! I would warn against the lakeside sites because there was a foul smell coming from the water at night for some reason.
ScoutSo well design, it is the perfect campground organization. It is very well maintain which makes it beautiful. I am almost sure I am the first person to ever use the bathroom, it was that clean. The sites are without privacy, but it made for great new conversation and new connections. We highly recommend it and we will return.
ScoutI loved staying here!! Met some really nice people and went on a group kayaking trip with two rangers who were very nice and informative. Will definitely be back!
TravelerStayed for the night on the south campground and it was excellent. Lots of friendly people with locals and travelers alike . Only downside was the massive amount of gnats and mosquitos by the lake sites. Bring your mosquito repellent and don’t let them take away the great experience you can have here! :)
Tent camping near Dresden, Tennessee offers a variety of scenic spots for outdoor enthusiasts looking to immerse themselves in nature. With options ranging from private woods to public parks, there's something for everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Dresden, TN?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Dresden, TN is Ginger Bay Basic Camping Area with a 4.4-star rating from 7 reviews.
What is the best site to find tent camping near Dresden, TN?
TheDyrt.com has all 18 tent camping locations near Dresden, TN, with real photos and reviews from campers.