If you are considering this site, just go book it now! Our absolute favorite camp site! We visited this paradise for my fiancé’s best friends wedding. They got married at the base of Cummins Falls just across the street. The park rangers and general store staff were the nicest people to work with while arranging their big day. We had two tent sites ($20 a night) and the brides parents had a cabin ($79 a night). The restrooms/showers were immaculate. Showers are set to a timer for lights and have a small area for your things. Bathrooms are also opened by a door code which you get when you purchase a site. They have a playground, and even ice cream in the general store! Camp sites are roomy, with a table and fire pit. We had spots 26&27 and couldn’t have been happier! The parents cabin was adorable and spacious, with a nice grill and fire pit out front. They even had chairs and lights. This location is beautiful and just a short drive from town. Definitely make time while staying here to hike Cummins Falls, it’s worth every second. If we could give this site twenty stars we would! Will definitely be returning!
As avid campers and new Camper trailer owners, we've set out on a journey to enjoy as many parks as possible.
Signage and entrance is well lit, easy to find and navigate. There's a welcome center, camp store, sells firewood and ice (no propane LPG) and great sites.
One of the best parts of this park is the views. If you're able to go/get to camp during the day, you'll see spectacular views of the lake/dam and river.
The RV campsites are all in great shape, and are like a camping on a side pier. Bathroom was nice, hot water and clean. Dump station was in nice shape and overall was a beautiful place.
Overall, we're seeing that TN stateparks tend to be nicer and better kept up than Army Corp of Engineer parks which all typically close at Oct 31st.
We'll be back Edgar!
The campground was clean and quiet. Our campsite backed up to the Cumberland River. There were several spots for hiking and fishing. We will definitely be back!
There is so, so much to do at this park. Unfortunately, we only got to hike around the falls since the weather was so bad.
Tent camping review:
- Lots of flat space for your tent, a canopy and for parking
- Easy to put down stakes
- A ton of beautiful trees
- Mostly RVs - as tent campers, we were in the minority
- Bathrooms were a bit old school; I did not want to shower there
- A lot of trashcans closeby
- So many daddy longlegs
Even though it rained the entire time we were there, we still had fun at the campsite. Here are some details:
- The wooden platform kept our area from getting messy and muddy. We didn't have to worry about rocks and sticks making the tent bumpy
- Use ten-penny nails to nail down your tent and canopy
- The firepit and grill are beside the platform
- Parking is on the platform
- Bathrooms were small but updated
- The views of the water are nice!
This park never disappoints!!! Very clean facilities. Breath taking views. Awesome adventure hiking trails!!! A family favorite for sure.
We spent the weekend at the park in our 21’ camper. Site 28 was fairly level, and had water and 30a power. A few looked like they had sewer at them, but ours didn’t. Fair warning, sites all seemed to be pretty small. My kids loved playing at the playground. The whole park was just really well kept. Bathrooms and showers were clean and in great shape. The staff and rangers were all great, and the gift shop at the park entrance was pretty nice. Small, but had shirts and a couple souvenirs, as well as firewood. The falls were nice, but be prepared to get your shoes wet if you walk the trail down towards the main falls. There was a cold snap that weekend, so we didn’t feel like getting that wet. We will definitely be back in the spring.
We stayed here for three nights in Mid-October 2019. The site we had was in the Annex portion and the parking pad was long, wide and level. Plenty of room to park a large RV and car or boat. In addition the site offered plenty of space for chairs to socialize and faces into the surrounding foliage versus the RV next door.
The site was set at an angle that made backing into a breeze and level to the paved road. The site included a picnic table, 2 posts to hang lanterns, etc and a fire ring.
While fairly full the campground was quiet and all the other other campers were very respectful of each other.
The campground is ideal for riding bicycles around as you can ride from the Annex to the main campground, the snack bar, and the trout fish hatchery without encountering a lot of vehicle traffic. While there are some hills the grades are long and not too steep.
The hatchery is open every day but Christmas, is free, and is very educational. You can walk though the whole operation and see the trout in different stages of growth. In addition there is a man made trout stream that take the water from the hatchery to the Cumberland River and it is a beautiful stroll along the banks to see the different habitats that make trout stream. Catch and release fishing is allowed.
The snack bar offers pretty good fare at a reasonable price and sells firewood and ice on the honor system when closed at night.
If you need supplies or a dinner out Jamestown is not too far and offers most of the "Generica" you would expect.
While I didn't use the bathhouses the buildings suggested newer construction and they offer washer and dryers.
Expect to see deer in abundance as well as ducks and blue heron.
Great camp close to the water. Convenient water and electricity. Very clean restroom and showers. Park is pretty with lake but also trails for hiking. Saw lots of wildlife.
This is one of the better places for peace. The grounds are good as well as the scenery the river access is great. This is a great place for your family!
This campground could be amazing, IF they had more than 2 showers! There are only 2 bathhouses in the campground, with only one shower in each women’s and one in each men’s room. Also, there’s only two toilets in each women’s room. This is a real problem when the campground is full, plus a two night minimum was required when I stayed. So if you are not in an rv with a restroom/shower, keep in mind the bathhouse situation.
The campground is right on the lake, and it is beautiful! I stayed in tent site #62, it is the first site when you enter the campground only area. I was in a rooftop tent, so wasn’t able to park on the tent pad, but was able to make it work. The first sites are pretty close together, with not much privacy from your neighbors. There were other sites farther down that looked more spacious. We did not have electricity r water hookups, but there was a water spout nearby. The tent pad was pretty small, and was taken up by a giant concrete picnic table that was too small for an adult to sit at. You would need a small done tent for this one. The site text to us had a couple of some tents and put in on the pad and one on a flat spot in the grass and it worked for them.
The rv sites with hookups are all higher on the hill, but I believe they pretty much all had like views. The sites weren’t as spacious as I would like.
The campground has a swimming area, playground, boat launch, paved walking trails, very popular area for bike riding (if you like hills), fishing, basketball courts, picnic pavilion, etc.
There’s a camp store with essentials, including ice and firewood. The lady working in there was exceptionally nice and friendly!
The campground is conveniently located just a couple miles from the exit, and very close to West Knoxville. I really would love to see some updates on this potential gem!
Owners were cordial and accommodating to our specific need. They rolled out the Red Carpet. Really. A Red Carpet was rolled out as we approached the Registration area. WiFi and Cable TV were outstanding. Strongly recommend.
We camped here in September and this campsite is one of the nicest and friendliest sites we've camped at. The General Store was wonderful!
The campgrounds are okay at the park . There was not much of water . The park is nice park , the trails are nice here . The staff are friendly and helpful here.
If you weren't aware, the fall is the perfect time to camp. Which means almost every recreation.gov campsite is full to the brim.
We tried this location again (after having a negative experience with their staff) and have some more concrete thoughts.
If you're loading in for tent camping, this cap.has some great views, up in the 70-100s, be sure to check elevation on the map. The pictures don't show you how difficult to access.
Spots 104-118 are up a horrific incline, not suitable for small RVs or trailers. There's also no lights here.
The main bathrooms near the front are pretty nice, but bring flops flops and expect it to be a tad gross on the floor. There was excrement in the large handicapped shower.
There's a fish cleaning station just past the main bathrooms and dumpsters, perfect if you bring your boat too.
The front lake spots are nice, but no shade. Be sure you have a 10x10 canopy or RV awning.
Overall the campground is built around the lake, but incredibly tight, hard to navigate (especially at night) and unless you're a pro, know to look at your spaces/map and calculate your turn radius and which spots you can back into, don't go if you have a truck + trailer over 17' or a large 5th wheel.
While nice scenery, the difficulty to navigate, small roads labeled two way (impassable if another vehicle approaching) make this ok-maintained came a poorly-accesible 3 stars.
The sites are pretty private and mostly wooded. There were acorns everywhere that our littles kept getting ahold of, and most of the trails are much longer than 2 miles, so there wasn't much to do with our two toddlers.
That being said, the hiking that we did do was amazing. This is beautiful country and the campground was nice.
The sites were a bit short and we couldn't park our tow vehicle in front of our 17' camper. So large campers beware. There are limited parking spots near the shower house.
The tent pads were huge, lots of space to play at each site.
We were really hoping to see a black bear but had no luck.
I love the water falls and hiking in the area. Beautiful landscape makes this a great place to spend the weekend.
Stayed 3 nights with my granddaughter and we had a wonderful time. Perfect size for our Range Runner mini camper.
BIg South Fork is like a breath of fresh air . It's one of our favorite places . It doesn't which side you arrive on everything is full of beauty .
This was an overnight stay but wish I’d had more time to explore!
Norris Dam has two campgrounds in different sections. We stayed in the west campground which is a loop with playground and showerhouse in the middle. Nice showerhouse. Okay sized sites with full hookup. We were one of maybe 6 people in the whole campground so it was quiet. Then there was the creepy van down at the end that I avoided.
Hiking and mountain bike trails, plus a huge pool.
Town is close by with a few interesting places to eat.
East Fork Stables is a HUGE equestrian campground that , guess what….you don’t have to have a horse to stay at! They have a whole loop complete with a pavilion cookhouse and annoying triangle bell that’s perfect for campers, tents and hammocks.
The showerhouse is nice and clean. The sites plenty big and mostly shaded.
Of course you can use any of the loops but the rest will have some really big animals hanging out.
There are miles and miles of trails. Waterfalls , overlooks and scenery. A nice gift shop/camp office and cabins.
I stayed here for the Cumberland Plateau Stage Race. The race director actually reserved the whole campground for his event.
One step up from a parking lot style campground. BUT it has some character. There are cabins, a showerhouse and pavilion in addition to the row of campsites.
Jamestown, Tn is right outside Pickett SP, Big South Fork and Daniel Boone NF so this would be a good base camp in town near amenities.
Nice small , historical campground/state park. One of the CCC built areas. Small circle campground with several pull through sites and electric or primitive to choose from. Quiet, at least when we visited. Water to kayak or swim in. A swing bridge across the water to the upper trail. The ladder trailhead is in the upper campground. Very technical, and challenging trail. This would be a good State Park to visit with younger children.
A group of friends met here for the Mountain Festival. In addition to an awesome time checking out food and craft venders there are some awesome trails and overlooks. There are several campgrounds to pick from. We were in D which is best for small campers and tents. Some of these sites are really close together, others have a lot of space to set up. There is a nice group camp site in the trees and some secluded sites on the back loop. The showerhouse is a little old but functional. Fall Creek Falls is going through renovations and they have some new areas already opened for your enjoyment. Zip lines, a nice swimming pool, an amphitheater, swing bridges, awesome waterfall overlooks and some strenuous climbs that are worth the journey.
The tent sites were really nice. I love how close you are to the water. It also includes two swim areas which is nice. Bathrooms are good in campground standards! The hiking trail is ok. Canoe the Caney is a few minute drive from the campground which is great if you like canoeing. We really enjoyed it!