Best Glamping near Duff, TN

Jake from the Dyrt here!  Glamping on the Clinch River offers a relaxing getaway surrounded by rivers and waterfalls in northern Tennessee.  Check them out and make sure to leave a review on the Dyrt!

The campground has all of the glamping necessities. Water hook-up, electrical, dumping station, clean hot water showers, etc. It's pet friendly and the campground is very clean. The location is excellent for those who love rock climbing (sport and trad), easy and moderate level hiking, white water kayaking, or maybe want to spend a day or two also doing some backcountry camping. There are bears and other curious wildlife so make sure to keep your stuff in the provided bear boxes!

Open May-September, this property is located on Cherokee Lake. There are four glamping tents (two with king beds and two with queen beds) and the newest addition is a Micro A-Frame with a king bed. This used to be a dedicated campsite and can still be used as one as the A-Frame is on wheels and can be moved. We stayed in the A-Frame which has a private fire pit and picnic table.

The A-Frame is cozy with the bed taking up 95% of the space. There is also a small beanbag-type chair, dorm fridge, coffee maker, and two charging pads. There is electricity and light, but it is not bright enough to read in the evening. One of the nicest features is the window side that faces the lake can be opened, making it an open-air accommodation. However, despite it being on the lake, you will also hear almost constant road noise. The glamping tents are located further away from the lake in the woods so I imagine the road noise would be less or non-existent here. 

Ben and Kim, the owners, are still working on this property and they recently completed a very nice bathhouse with two toilets, two sinks, and two outdoor showers. Towels are provided. They are currently working on a boat dock. 

We chose the SUP n Stay package (middle price option); included in our reservation was the rental of either a SUP or kayak. The Stay package includes accommodations plus a floating lake mat. The Stay n Play reservation includes the SUP or kayak rental plus a two-hour lake excursion. Unfortunately, it started to rain after we had been out on the lake for about a half hour. The rain resulted in a very muddy area around the A-Frame and Tennessee mud is no joke. We accumulated about an inch of the thick gooey mud on our shoes. 

Ben and Kim were very welcoming and gracious hosts. Communication was great and they made sure we had no questions. The Micro A-Frame was a unique way to spend the night. The only reason for four stars and not five was the mud and road noise.

Open May-September, this property is located on Cherokee Lake. There are four glamping tents (two with king beds and two with queen beds) and the newest addition is a Micro A-Frame with a king bed. This used to be a dedicated campsite and can still be used as one as the A-Frame is on wheels and can be moved. We stayed in the A-Frame which has a private fire pit and picnic table. 

The A-Frame is cozy with the bed taking up 95% of the space. There is also a small beanbag-type chair, dorm fridge, coffee maker, and two charging pads. There is electricity and light, but it is not bright enough to read in the evening. One of the nicest features is the window side that faces the lake can be opened, making it an open-air accommodation. However, despite it being on the lake, you will also hear almost constant road noise. 

The glamping tents are located further away from the lake in the woods so I imagine the road noise would be less or non-existent here. 

Ben and Kim, the owners, are still working on this property and they recently completed a very nice bathhouse with two toilets, two sinks, and two outdoor showers. Towels are provided. They are currently working on a boat dock. 

We chose the SUP n Stay package (middle price option); included in our reservation was the rental of either a SUP or kayak. The Stay package includes accommodations plus a floating lake mat. The Stay n Play reservation includes the SUP or kayak rental plus a two-hour lake excursion. Unfortunately, it started to rain after we had been out on the lake for about a half hour. The rain resulted in a very muddy area around the A-Frame and Tennessee mud is no joke. We accumulated about an inch of the thick gooey mud on our shoes. 

Ben and Kim were very welcoming and gracious hosts. Communication was great and they made sure we had no questions. Our stay in the micro A-Frame was a very unique stay. The only reason for four stars and not five was the mud and road noise.

We camped here over the weekend with our dogs. The campground is actually not in Tennessee. It's located on the Kentucky side of Big South Fork. The campsites have a picnic table and a firepit. Our campsite was very nice and private with a big grassy area. The bathhouse was nice and clean. There are hiking trails nearby and access to a small mining village. We would definitely camp here again.

Stayed in the developed camp area. (There is a primitive tent area along a creek branch and there are some primitive hike-in areas) Tennessee seems to have a thing for larger rock pieces in their gravel on tent platforms... otherwise no complaints. Fire ring, grill and table. Plenty of shade and trees to hang the hammock. Bathhouse was clean. 2 nice showers. Lovely hot water. One trail head at the camp area. Beautiful trails. Would definitely come back.

Frozen Head is lovely. It may be the loveliest campground in Tennessee.

There’s only 20 spots, and they all seem to be shady and have trees between neighbors. There’s a free book swap hut, like those mailboxes, but a whole building worth of take-one/leave-one books. There showers and bathroom are unusually clean for a campground. There’s a place to wash dishes.

There’s a great playground and creek at the bottom of the hill. Easy walking distance, but not so close that you have to hear screaming kids.

The park has a lovely waterfall hike that we did and many others that we didn’t make it to.

Frozen Head is a wonderful place. For starters, the ranger that was on duty at the Visitor's Center was so helpful and kind. The campground is in close proximity to many of the trailheads. There is a nice bathhouse, but all the sites are rustic (non electric). There are also many well kept backcountry sites with fire pits if you are backpacking. The surroundings are gorgeous: the foothills of the Appalachians and the hiking is superb and challenging. If you are able, make sure to hike to the Lookout Tower! This is a great park and campground if you want to experience the beauty of East Tennessee without the crowds of the Smoky Mountains.

Big South Fork NRRA is definitely one of my favorite places in Tennessee. It stretches into Kentucky’s too. So much to do and see, and the hiking and camping is equal to the Smokies in my opinion, except there’s no crowds, no traffic, not many people! It’s great! There’s a few campgrounds in BSF, like Bandy Creek and Station Camp,and they are excellent spots, but the backcountry is where it’s at n the BSF! I have found so many excellent camp sites along the river and in the forest, and I’ve always been able to find one with plenty of privacy on any given weekend. There’s lots of hiking, 4-wheeling, fishing, swimming, mountain biking, horse riding, kayaking, rock climbing, etc here. The possibilities are endless! The sounds at night are so peaceful and relaxing, and the lightning bugs put on quite a show in the summer! I tried to make a video, I don’t think you can see them, but you can hear the woods at night!

Alum Ford Big South Fork Recreation Area is in my top 10 favorite areas.

I try to participate in the Yamacraw Trail Run every year because it is just AWESOME, and this area is part of their route due to the excellent scenery of the area.

If you like trees, hills, streams, falls, historical markers, old cabins and history , plus not much use of modern technology when you camp then you will thoroughly enjoy Big South Bend! If you are a bring the kitchen sink kinda camper you might wanna find a nearby KOA or other type campground.

The campground has no signal, no electricity, no showers, no host. Just you, a tent pad, picnic table and fire ring. Oh, and there is one pit toilet. Bring 5$ cash for the honor pay station and your hiking shoes and watercraft. There is a Trailhead at the back of the 6 site campground and a boat ramp down the hill.

The sites are well maintained and old , probably CCC built with wood steps leading up or down to your site. There is no direct access to the boatramp but there is a short trail that connects the sites to the boatramp that runs along the cliff face down to the ramp.

The trailhead is part of the Sheltowee Trace Trail and connects to the Yamacraw Bridge. You could easily stage a multi day backpacking trip from Alum Ford to take in the local sights.

Not far up the road is the Yahoo Picnic Area. I think it used to be a campground just by the way it’s set up. Picnic tables on pads and a nice old pavilion for groups with a grill. Past that Yahoo Falls. This is a technical, moderate trail down to the tallest falls in Kentucky. Also a very old area but maintained with newer restroom facilities. The loop trail was approximately 1.5 miles long with a metal staircase on one side and trail on the far side. This is also part of a thru trail. Get you an old fashion paper map before coming cause your fancy electronic gear may or may not work here.

This is one of many areas through the Kentucky/Tennessee Big South Fork if you are able plan for an extended stay to check the whole place out;)

Visited in 2020 and the property was extremely rough. Came back in 2021 after hearing about new ownership...TONS of upgrades have been completed in a short amount of time. Group Chalet & Motel upgraded and remodeled. New bathhouse, docks, new marina store/gas pumps/restaurant with an extensive list of craft beers on tap and hand-dipped ice cream. Great food as well. Cornhole boards on the dock outside of the restaurant area, trivia nights on Thursdays. Campground is being upgraded in stages but is clean and family-friendly. The marina also has a number of rental pontoons available. We have come back every summer and had a great experience.

Very convenient to the lake but the campground is a little rough. Just changed ownership so there is hope. Sites are very unlevel. Dump station is on the wrong side of the road and not well maintained. No hose to flush your tanks. Mostly seasonal sites which would be rough with no sewer hookups. May give it another shot in a year or so.

Upon arrival there was no one at the office. Checkin is at 2 and we arrived at 4:53 pm. We had to call a number to get ck’d in which was a bit off putting. The one review that was posted said the sites were level. Where we parked which was 9 is not. It’s uphill and was very difficult to level out the rv. Ours like many is self leveling and it just couldn’t make it happen. We had to level it by sight as I guess we now need to purchase a small level for these situations. 🤦‍♀️ It’s still not level. They have a pressure regulator on the water so showering was like a spit bath and took forever to get the shampoo out of my “short” hair. The sites could be pretty close if they were full and each site has a wooden dividers for the water, electric and septic which creates issues for the steps. Trying to get the back slide from hitting the power box and being able to be away from the wooden divider on the door side was tricky. It was a pull in site which should have been super easy made unnecessarily difficult by design. The highway is right below the campground and could be noisy if outside. The shower room was pretty sad and it’s all white rock.

Stayed here in Nov when the trees were in full color. Beautiful! Sites are spaced nicely and angled for an easy in and out. Shower house could and should be larger. Ranger on duty was very friendly.

They require full payment in advance for extended stay, then provide no email receipt  and keep your money in full for every day of a "no show" due to hardship. 10 days and a total of $250 in my case

Quiet, easy back in, water and electric hook up. TMobile cell service was very spotty. Short walk to Lake with view of lake from campsite.

I was not a fan of this campsite. Bathrooms need a lot of TLC and the sites were too close together. However, there is a park near by and several hiking trails.

I’ve stayed at this site a couple times now and I love the location. The site is a short and easy hike (under 2 miles) from the parking lot via the Lake Trail to the Dark Hollow Trail. The site is tucked off the trail and has access to a stream that is directly across from the site entrance. I’ve also finished the trip by hiking the loop back out by continuing on Dark Hollow to Big Valley Trail, to Ghost House Trail and back to Lake Trail (5.3 miles total). These sections of the trails are easy to moderate.

Camping on the lake and enjoying the scenery.

This is a great place to camp. Clean and friendly, quiet and relaxing. There is truly something for everyone here. Back country camp sites as well as camp ground with electric and bathrooms. I come here more than any other park in the area.

Sites are nice and well maintained just a little close for a state park.Bathhouses could use a little updating but clean.Weekends seem to be busy but during the week campground was very quiet.