Best Equestrian Camping near Franklin, TN

I’ve used my hammock in their “hammocks only” sites and I’ve done the hike-in backcountry sites and love this place. As a resident of the Franklin area, it’s super close to get away for the weekend.

There are several nice playgrounds, ranger led activities, a nature center that my kids loved, a butterfly garden, several short hikes that are good for kids. There are several sinkholes and cedar glades. There are also some caves you can explore if you want to get muddy. We often go here for day visits, but the overnight amenities are also nice. They no longer have horse stables.

Lovely park with somewhat unique cedar glades and tons of rare plant life. If you can snag a serious gardener or botanist to visit with you you’re in for a treat. Trails are easy, lots of wildlife, lots of cedars. Lots of horses on site too. And weddings in the lodge all summer. Modern state park setup, clean and well cared for with some extra activities. Tent sites were more private and woody. Cabins seemed popular given what neighbors said. Very nice state park, would return.

When I happened upon this campground I was pleasantly welcomed by a visitor center and hiking from the moment I entered the park.  But no matter how nice this area was I wasn’t able to even expect what was to come with the camping facility which by far was a surprise to say the least.   

I had seen great reviews for this place, like many in Tennessee, but the amenities never seemed to stop when I actually arrived.  From an Olympic sized swimming pool, horse stables, a historic chapel, butterfly garden, playgrounds, picnic areas, hiking trails, nature center and even outdoor recreation fields.  It seemed never ending! There was even a cave, that with special permit you can crawl into and explore!

The spaces were closer together than I might have have normally liked, but everyone was so friendly it didn’t seem to matter.  When I was there, there was an event going on that coming weekend so it was a bit more full than typical week day would have been.   

Still despite all the people, it wasn’t loud.  People did not blast music, talk loudly after hours or have generators humming throughout the night.  Instead it was like being in this nice isolated area just with a bunch of neighbors also enjoying the isolation.

I took full advantage of all the outdoor spaces, the only one I didn’t get a chance to enjoy was the pool which was at a point during the season where it was only open on weekends.   

I would stay at this site again if passing through.  Reservations are not required but could be helpful on busy weekends like the one I stayed just before.  I do suggest checking into the office also to get a Passport for the State of Tennessee (a small book you can stamp with each stop you make at a state facility).

TIPS:

• Bring your sense of adventure!  Lots of things to do from birdwatching to hiking and everything in between.
• Sit in the butterfly garden.  The area is so peaceful and beautiful because of the unique selection of plants selected to draw in the butterflies.  It is a perfect place to spend some time in quiet reflection.

Another backside primitive campsite at Mammoth Cave National Forest, Ky.

A lot of people don’t realize the extensive trail system of Mammoth Cave. They come for the Cave and never take the time to enjoy the natural beauty of the area.

Before using this campsite you are supposed to check in at the visitors center. Unfortunately the ferry is closed so it’s a long drive around to the backside.

Turnhole Campsite is a short or long hike from the Maple Springs parking area. Sal Hollow Trail would be the long trail, twisty , turny and moderately challenging. Buffalo Trail is a straight hike in , take a left at the intersection and straight on to the campsite. Difference of about 3 miles-ish.

The trails are used by hikers and horseback riders, are well marked and lotsa fauna to see. No major vistas here, just woods.

The campsite has poles to tie your horses, a fire ring, tent pad and lantern hooks. Pretty easy to find seasoned wood to burn. DARK at night, lots of animal noises ;) not much of a night sky except in the winter months.

The cool thing about this campsite is your sorta on a peninsula of the river. Very private and it’s not on a loop trail so no foot traffic passing by.

Despite this campsite being surrounded by the Green River on 3 sides, water is hard to come by here, and hiking it in may be your best bet. The river is at least 1/2 mile away, through extremely dense brush, and the banks are not easy to access, if accessible at all. We were lucky that a creek just north of the intersection of Buffalo Creek, Sal Hollow, and Turnhole trail had some water to filter from.

This is a nice, secluded spot. You are on the end of a ridge. Clear nights with a bright moon were magical here. It is probably a beautiful spot when there is no foliage, as well. We camped in August.

There is a tent pad, hooks for lanterns or packs, horse hitches, and a fire ring with a grate attached. Hike in is a little over 3 miles, a pleasant hike, but not a whole lot to see in the summer besides a lot of chantrelles.

The Green River Ferry seems to be non-operational a lot. Call the hotline the day of your drive in to see which route you should take: 270-758-2166

We decided to do a day hike on the Sal Hollow Trail. It ended up being pretty exhausting: we believe it is a lot longer than the markers suggest, and a lot of the trail seems pretty unused/not kept up.

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.

We camped here for 2 full weeks.  The campground at Cedars of Lebanon State Park deserves 5 stars for their proximity to Nashville, the large paved pads for campers, the peaceful woods, and their overall cleanliness.

However, we were here when there was construction going on.  It was LOUD from 8am to 4, 5, and even 6pm somedays with working trucks and digging up the Tennessee Rock.  

The weekends were peaceful without the construction, and the trails are all easy and flat.  The showers worked well and were the typical campground showers.  

The wifi that is listed on the website is basically nonexistent, so don't count on that for anything important.  But Verizon had good service, while AT&T was fair.  

Only Campground 3 was open during our stay and you can see the work they are doing here is going to make a huge difference to be big rig friendly.  Enjoy!

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.

This park is very run down. If it weren't for how nice the lady was and the super sweet dogs, I'd give it two stars.

Pros: -Easy to get to if you come in/out from 99, and not terribly difficult if you come the other way (through the state park entrance) -Sites are big and even -Only a few minutes away from town where you can get groceries, find restaurants, and a couple big-rig friendly gas stations. -Full hookups -Not crowded, so it's very quiet. There's a train track nearby, but it didn't wake me at night -Free firewood! -Online reservation system works well -Had to adjust my reservation because of engine trouble, and was able to call and make the change with no difficulty

Cons: -Multiple RVs that look like they've been broke down there for years -Weird random toilet and a bunch of junk in the check-in station -No one AT the check-in station, and with no cell service I just had to sit there for 20 minutes for someone to come around, so I definitely don't suggest staying without a reservation (I had one) -No service for TMobile and almost none for Verizon (was told at&t works, but I can't verify)

Things that could've just been me: -Couldn't get the water to work (I've never used an underground water connection before) -Couldn't get my furnace to work (again, could have been me, but it worked at the site before and the one after 🤷‍♀️) so I had to use a space heater and pay an extra $2.5/day. It was still freezing at night

Things that might bother other people: -There's a few large dogs allowed to roam off leash. Didn't bother me in the slightest, I love dogs and they were so, so sweet and knew all the basic commands. Very well mannered and playful but they'll bark when you drive by. If you have dogs that aren't friendly to other dogs or if you're afraid of even friendly ones, this probably isn't the place for you. -No laundry, public showers, or restrooms. Not an issue for me as I have all that in my rig, but if you don't it could be a problem if you plan to stay long term.

All in all, I'd definitely stay there again. It's not the Ritz or anything but it's fine if you're just passing through for a night or two.

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.

Great quiet place to camp. Secluded with great hiking trails. Loved the pool area with concessions.

this place was very beautiful but the staff was not very helpful for us.

Henry Horton boasts easy access, clean showers and sites. They offered many interesting programs for all ages. Staff and host friendly. Restaurant closed for updating.

Website said trail for primitive was good for beginners. It isn’t. That was a pretty difficult trail. Also for primitive don’t plan on bringing anything other than a backpack cause you will need your arms for support during certain climbs. They need photos of actual trail w/ site photos.

For several months while living in TN, we spent almost every weekend at Henry Horton State Park. It’s not quite an hour from Nashville. We always got a primitive site, shady site. I was never disappointed by any of our sites and never felt cramped or too close to other campers.

HH has RV sites, cabins, “hammock sites,” and a large group site. They also have a camp store, firewood, and restrooms. Rates are pretty standard. Backcountry primitive hike-in sites are $8.

Interactive heritage festivals and other activities frequently came to the center across the street. I don’t really recall if this is part of the park or not.

The backcountry campsites are just a short trek from the camp store, the hike itself follows the river. We only saw one other couple and no one else was staying at the second site so it was such a secluded weekend! Definitely recommend for quick overnight trips!

Quiet stop only one night. Everything worked and no drama! Beautiful trees! 🍁Live owl named “Cotton” and hawk named “Buddy” on exhibit there. Cute little store on grounds.

The primitive camping sites are directly across from three group sites, each of which accommodate up to FIFTY people. The problem with this is that most folks, like me,  book primitive campsites because they are looking to get away from the noise in the RV campground. There was no peace and quiet to be had, unfortunately, because there were several gigantic groups of kids camping in the group sites across from us.  The noise was truly constant up until quiet hours.  We were camping with another couple who was unable to get their young child to sleep until very late because of all the noise.  Speaking of kids, one of the parents in the jamboree across the street thought it was acceptable to bring her kids over to play in our campsite.

If you're looking for a Bonnaroo type camping experience with lots of cars, activity, and noise, you will enjoy the primitive sites here.  If not, I would actually suggest booking in the main RV campground or camping elsewhere.

On the plus side, the sites were well-maintained and site 15 was scenic and spacious.

Went well. Camp staff were friendly and provided dry firewood. It was December so everything was too damp. Only reason I don't give it a 5 star rating is because I feel that the 2 dispersed sites were still a little too close. They sit about a few hundred feet apart so I could still see and hear my neighbors. Great trip regardless

Campground was very neat (fall in TN with leaves everywhere is a huge feat but they did it!) Bathhouse was clean and general store was great to have onsite. Staff was very friendly, just like fellow campers, as usual.

Great December sleep in go as we headed south. Clean campground and beautiful scenery...will return outside winter season.

We stayed at this campground recently and because the wifi coverage and speed was so good was actually able to "work from home" here.  We were on site 18 and it was very level, paved and double wide. Parking was easy and it accommodated the 38' RV and a SUV. The sites all seem to be well shaded and spaced sufficiently apart. Travel to and from the park is on good roads.  Chapel Hill, just to the north, offers all you might need with a hardware store, Dollar General, walk in clinic and restaurants. The park also offers a golf course which I didn't play due to the heat, but is on my list now that I've seen it. 

The trails we hiked were well maintained and there is a quiet paved road suitable for bicycling. 

Because of the close proximity to home, this will become on of our go-to spots for a weekend camp

Very clean, well-maintained campsite. Stayed in March when weather was pretty cool...heated bathrooms! bathroom facilities are very clean, and there are showers. There’s a fun little playground for kids. Great trails!! Campsites are somewhat separated by trees...it felt private.

Peaceful, serene, cool rangers help all hours, has a great vibe here. I loved it.

Skeet shooting, trail hiking, lazy river, pool access, open fields, picnic areas love the atmosphere

Absolutely loved this campground!!! They have a huge beautiful playground and during the summer kids activities. All the sites are spaced out with a ton of space and shade. The host was amazing and the rangers were on top of things. It was clean and quiet.