Best Glamping near Duck River, TN

Most campgrounds in Tennessee are buried in the woods, but not this yurt campsite at Ray of Hope.  The yurt sets on the side of a beautiful Tennessee Hill offering almost a complete view of the nighttime sky.  We watched the moon rise over a hill directly in front of the campsite, and we even saw a brilliant shooting star blaze across the sky for what seems like an eternity.  The Ray of Hope campground is a private campground that went above and beyond our expectations.  The yurt was clean, included battery powered lights and a LED lantern, and a full sized bed that made the night pass with ease.  The campsite also offers free firewood and a large fire ring.  There are two deck chairs at the campsite which are perfect for stargazing.  The entrance of the yurt faces sunrise and the farm animals serenade you in the morning when the mist begins to burn off the valley.  There is a well stocked outside shower surrounded by sweet smelling herbs.  Water and a toilet are near the shower stall.   The campsite is near the small town of Petersburg, TN where you can find two gas stations and a Dollar Store.  If it's hot outside, you might want to bring a battery operated fan.  This place is a perfect glamping experience for an extended date or weekend in beautiful Tennessee.

Campground is peaceful really good area next to the duck River no electric or water unless you have a camper the state park is across the street what the millions and play areas for the kids with a hotel restaurant in ground pool

Nice campground located on the Duck River in a TN state park. Enjoyed walking along the river.  It is not secluded and is right off a local highway but has many conveniences.  Across the street is the main park area with nice amenities -- kids playground, pool, disc golf, camp store, golf course and newly renovated park restaurant & visitor's center.  Everyone that I came into contact with was friendly and helpful.  It is a great place to relax but you still have many things to do.

Myself and a group of friends all went camping here for my husband's birthday.

The campsite had enough trees for 3 of us to hammock camp and the trees provided plenty of shade, which is nice!! We also we're able to fit 2 tents in our site as well with plenty of space left for activities :) The site was near the Duck River so we were able to see it from our campsite and you could hear it, too!

This park has some good hiking trails that are not that hard. Easy enough to take your kids on if you have any.

Henry Horton State Park has that back country lived in feel. Probably has something to do with the multitude of kinfolk wandering about:)

South of Nashville, Tn 31A runs right through the middle of the actual park.

Duck River runs through the park and is a main focus of the entertainment with rental places picking up tubers from on the road into the tent area. (Yes, I received several dirty looks for driving on the road toward the tent area.) I parked in the restroom area as the road was completely blocked with children, inner tubes and adults.

The tent area had BIG sites that would easily fit several tents and trees for hammocks. There are 10 sites. The river was at the rear of the tent area as well as a trail Adeline Wilhoite River trail that followed the river. There are also primitive campsites available if your backpacking through located near the observation deck on the Adeline Wilhoite River trail loop.

The bathhouse is newer and well kept. There is a playground in the middle of the campground area, in front of the visitors office. ( pretty awesome looking sandpit)

The RV area is adjacent through the woods it has 56 sites. The sites looked adequate, but from what I saw they were close together. There may have been more space further in.

There is an Inn and cabins available also on the other side of the park/river.

We enjoyed the trails , just gotta say BUG SPRAY :) Keep your eyes open for critters and there are bikers using several of the trails.Wilhoite Mill Trail is one of the features of the park, which leads to a historic mill.

So pack your banjo and yak and git on out to Henry Horton State Park for a good ole time !

This park is not only absolutely beautiful, the high level customer service makes your stay even more enjoyable. Want a slice of Tennessee? This is it. All RV parks should take note. This is how it is done. Amazing views of the lake. Beautiful level concrete pads. Spacious sites for everyone. Totally impressed! We stayed in the winter. I can imagine the summer months are incredible Go Go Go

This was our first stay here, and we had heard great things about it. It is a beautiful state park known as the"Queen of Tennessee's State Parks". There are 4,000 acres with mountain biking, fishing, hiking, picnic areas, kayaking/canoeing, and a golf course. Nashville is only 45 minutes away. The campground was nice. Our site was tight, and we didn't have a lot of room for our truck. We had to move to a different site for the 3rd night and the water connection was quite a reach. The sites were mostly level and some were shaded. The bathhouse was clean and there was a laundry area with 2 washers/dryers. We did have a picnic table and fire ring. We had 2-3 bars of Verizon 4G. There was a playground for the kids. There is a small creek that runs along the western edge of the campground. We did spot some snakes(copperheads maybe?) near the creek. There is a small camp store that had a few supplies, ice cream, ice& firewood. The employees were very nice. We would definitely stay here again.

What a hidden treasure! We had so much fun! It really is in the woods, complete with songbirds to wake you up and crickets to sing you to sleep. The creek makes a relaxing backdrop to your campfire time at night. The creek is deep enough to sit in, but not swim. It’s very reasonably priced, pretty, and SO worth the drive!

The campground owners are friendly and take great care of the place and campers, but they don’t hang around all the time. They obviously love their place because it was tidy and neat.

The “outhouse” is a four stall building - very clean and private. The owners make sure to think of everything you would need (and a few little extras) We took showers with our solar bags in a outdoor little stall built on a hill. It was so cool to shower “outside”! There is plenty of firewood around the campground, and each site has a fire ring, and a picnic table. There are plenty of trash cans throughout.

Heartstone is a primitive campground, with no hook-ups or electricity. They only allow dry camping for trailer campers. I’m pretty sure the limit for a Camper is 25’. Cell phone signals are spotty depending on your carrier, but they have a land line for emergencies. Welcome to off grid camping!

Although it feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere there are actually stores and restaurants about 15 minutes away in the towns of Hohenwald, or Linden, or Waynesboro. The Buffalo River is only about 5 minutes away where you can go canoeing or floating, and the Tennessee River is about 30 minutes drive. It’s also near Amish communities where you can buy locally made and grown items. Nashville and Huntsville are both about an hour and a half away, depending which way on Hwy 65 you go.

We really loved it there, and will definitely make it a regular stop this year. Hope this helped!

Campground Review

Camping

Davy Crockett State Park is a Tennessee State Park. This is our go to park when we just need to get out in the woods for a few days. There are two separate campgrounds in the park, campground 1 and campground 2. All of the sites have water and electricity but no sewer. Campground 1 is next to the creek and many of the sites back up to the creek. Most of the sites next to the water are not very deep which means you are squeezed in between the road and the creek. They do seem to be plenty wide enough that you don’t feel you are on top of anyone. There also isn’t very much shade next to the water. The sites in campground 1 that are not next to the water are a little better. Deeper with more shade and privacy.  For various reasons, we always choose campground 2. The sites here are deeper and very shaded and private. We prefer site 71, 72 or 73. This trip we were at 74 and our friends were at 73. If you are camping with friends and have kids you can get sites 102 and 104 which are in the center of the campground loop and next to the playground and pavilion. Some of the sites here are elevated a bit and the fire ring and picnic table are down a small hill. We liked that because it keeps the campfire smoke out of the tent or camper. Another reason we choose campground 2 is the bath houses. They have been recently renovated and are super clean. There are two in this small campground so they are never crowded. 

Park Amenities

There are several different hiking trails to choose from, one leads down to Crockett Falls, which is a great place to play in the water during summer months. For those with children, there are two HUGE playgrounds your kids will love. There are also tennis courts and basketball courts near one of the playgrounds. Fishing and boating are available on the lake. You can rent both boats and fishing poles at the pier shop. There is a small museum that highlights details of Davy Crockett’s life. Near the museum are several rescued animals that the park rangers care for that you can see up close. On our visit there were hawks and owls. There is an Olympic sized swimming pool that is open Memorial Day to Labor Day. We didn’t try it our but it looked very nice. We did try the restaurant and it was great. They offer an all you can eat buffet with country style food but we ordered off the menu. Salads, sandwiches and chicken and fish plates are available. 

Product Review

As a Dyrt Ranger occasionally I am given products to try and review. This camping trip we are trying out a product from www.leatherman.com . The product is the Leatherman Signal. This is Leatherman’s gift to campers, hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. It has 19 different tools on it. My husband has been carrying this multi-tool for about 2 weeks prior to this camping trip so he could get a feel for its everyday usefulness. We also used it quite a bit on this trip while setting up camp and getting our fire going. There is a lot of usefulness in this tool but the ones that we found most handy were as follows:

·         hammer – we used it to secure the stakes for our camper awning

·         saw – we cut medium to small sized branches for fire wood

·        awl – a grommet on the canvas of our pop up broke and we punched a new hole

·        fire starter – we only did this because it was cool and it worked with my dryer lint starters

·        can opener – worked great

·        screw driver - has phillips and flat head

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My husband is a machinist so he knows quality metal products. He thinks this is a tool with longevity. It has a plethora of uses and can be used at work or at play. It comes with a belt pouch, but he liked the clip that allows it to clip on your pocket for ease of access. The different tools are well made and sturdy. They will stand up to heavy use and are a great option to replace numerous, more bulky tools in your pack or tool box.   Here is a link to his video review.