Are you planning a trip to J Percy Priest Lake with your horse? We've got you covered. Equestrian camping is an adventurous and unique way to experience the city. These scenic and easy-to-reach Tennessee campsites are perfect for your horse camping excursion.
$25 - $30 / night
$10 - $150 / night
The park offers thirteen designated backcountry campsites that are accessible only by hiking or horseback. Backcounty sites are primitive, with only a fire ring and horse hitching posts available. All sites except McCoy Hollow have a nearby water source, but campers should boil and treat water before drinking, or plan to carry in drinking water. Campsites are limited to one party up to eight people in size. Pickup a Backcountry map at the Mammoth Cave Campground information kiosk, or the Visitor Information desk. Permit Required - $10 per trip. Reservations through Recreation.gov. Overnight camping is permitted along floodplains and on islands along the Green and Nolin Rivers. Camping in these areas is only accessible by boat. When camping on floodplains, campers must camp at least ½ mile away from Green River Ferry, Houchin Ferry and Dennison Ferry Day Use Area. Know where you are. Riverside camping on private lands outside the park may not be permitted. Sudden rainstorms can cause rapid flooding along riverways and river levels and currents fluctuate dramatically, particularly during winter months. Always check the river level and weather forecast before launching or camping along the rivers. Pickup a Backcountry map at the Mammoth Cave Campground information kiosk, or the Visitor Information desk. Permit Required - $10 per trip. Permits available online, up to a week in advance. Permits are subject to cancelation due to river levels. River levels must remain below 20 feet.
$30 - $65 / night
Horse Boarding Facility, specializing in boarding horses. Full care, horse sitting, and overnight stay
Tent and Rv sites available
Property is well maintained and spacious, RV camping area and Tent camping is flat land for easy maneuvering, roads are wide with easy turn and pull through, so no stress backing up.
if you would like pony rides or lessons we would be more than happy to accommodate. There is wonderful hiking areas near by.
Wake up next to the the sounds playful horses.
Bring your family for a fun filled experience!
*We have a fire pit available to use
*Small fish pond is on the grounds.
**Feel free to reach out with any additional questions Thank you!**
$30 - $65 / night
Guide
For a State Park, Montgomery Bell is pretty great. We had a decent sized level site with large trees and a view to the creek. We walked a couple of the trails through the woods which were perfect after a long drive. The bathroom/showers were clean and the water was hot. A strong storm came up suddenly and the staff came by to check on every camper to make sure we were all inside and safe. After the storm passed, they came by again checking on every camper. The power went out for two hours, and the staff came by once more to keep us informed. The park is beautiful, but it's the super competent staff earned the excellent rating I gave this park.
ScoutCampground is well marked and super friendly people. Fire pits at every spot.
Guide
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!
Ranger
Stayed with our van in the primitive sites here and had a great time! Very affordable and not many other campers (but if the group camp sites are booked I’d go elsewhere, they’re very close). The bathroom is super far away, but there was a portable potty for a few days until they inexplicably took it away. If you have a camping bathroom setup and are comfy going to get water if needed, it’s a great value and gives you want more privacy.
Also the showers here are the best I’ve ever experienced at a campground. They have signs saying you can shower for $5 even if you don’t camp here.
GuideSomething for everyone! Tent spots, RV spots, cabins, back country spots! Lots of recreation opportunities here too! The lakes are great!
GuideSite is level and by the creek. My GSD loved cooling off in the creek. I liked that our site had the fire pit in the gravel area of our site, some are outside. I wanted to touch on the to close reviews that had me worried. The sites are close but I didn’t feel that was an issue really. We didn’t feel cramped or like our neighbors were in our business. We will definitely come back.
GuideWe were so impressed with how much there was to do at this campground! There are so many trails, playgrounds, and bike/walk friendly roads. Our family of 6 stayed for 3 nights and had a lovely time. The sites were a bit cramped (our rig is 31') and parking our truck was a bit tricky. The store was convenient ands the staff were helpful and very friendly. Would definitely stay again-- it was absolutely beautiful!
GuideOverall this is a nice place. We didn’t see any “transients,” which seems like an unkind way to refer to car campers. There’s a fully paved trail that is very nice when the other trails are muddy. The bathrooms were regularly cleaned, showers were free and hot.
We didn’t love that there are 5 speed bumps before you get to campgrounds 2-3. Prepare to jiggle your camper! Also, most people used rope lights and left them on all night. There was a lot of light pollution.
LegendThe park’s website says to use Google Maps, which we did with no issues getting to the state park area. We had never been here before, and the signage coming into the park concerning the campground(CG) was a little confusing, but we made it to the check-in office. Check-in was quick and the narrow passage into the CG where we were directed to go looked more like a wide walking path, but we were assured:“people drive big rigs in every day.” We made it on the narrow road through the trees, through the tent area, and around a somewhat sharp curve to get to back-in site 93 with 50/30/20 AMP and water. The back-in was a little interesting as we had to pull forward on the road to the left that goes to the bathhouse to get straight on our site and then back in. We tried the traditional back-in, but because of the immediate curve to the right after site 93, there was no way to pull forward on the main road and back-in. Plus there were too many trees, etc., to swing, and there was a tent site in the way. As with other State Parks we’ve stayed in, the pad length was a little shorter than advertised, but we got our 39’ 5th wheel and F450 on the site. A creek runs through the backside of the CG which made for a nice view off the back of our site. We were at the transition point to the mix of electric/water and FHU sites that also back up to the creek. We got 3 bars on Verizon and 2 bars on T-mobile. Satellite would not be a viable option with all the trees in this CG. There were three bathhouses with one having laundry. We decided to stay here as this state park has a golf course. Montgomery Bell is a large state park, and we did not make it to the golf course due to the weather plus we were only staying one night. With this CG being on the edge of big rig-friendly and windy roads to get here, it would be questionable whether we’d stay here again.
LegendPROS
Beautiful park
Site backed right up to small creek
Super friendly squirrels who ate from our hand
Clean toilet/shower facility with ample supply of TP
Gravel site with wooden picnic table and small metal campfire ring with cooking grate Campfire wood for sale by camp host
Nice restaurant at Park Lodge
2 bar signal T-MOBILE Free 200 MB or 3 days( whichever comes first) WIFI with login from park visitor center
Dickson is closest Kroger, Lowe’s, Tractor Supply, Walmart
CONS
$5 fee assessed to make my own on-line reservation
NO senior discount
Campsites are Extremely packed together. Some sites have the neighbor's trailer slide out against their picnic table. Just doesn't make sense that the campground is slammed together when there are acres and acres of land here
Very narrow roadway through campground.
Very tight maneuvering to back into site.
No privacy from any other campsite
Not dark sky friendly due to huge street lights at all 3 toilet/shower facilities
Site 116 not level side to side
Most campsite trees bare by Halloween
TravelerGreat quiet place to camp. Secluded with great hiking trails. Loved the pool area with concessions.
TravelerI just feel like in this area you could find a better spot. Nice field near campsite. Hikers close by and idk about the bathroom situation but I couldn’t find them. Literally fine and clean though
TravelerWe have been attending the Halloween event for over 3 years now and we absolutely love it!
RangerWe stayed in a full hookup site, with a creek behind us. Bathhouse was clean. Enjoyed the on site golf course and hiking trails.
ScoutNice 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.
ScoutWe tent camped for two consecutive weekends at Cedars of Lebanon. We are local novice campers. The campsites were well maintained with electric and water hookups. The bathhouse at Campground 2 is quite clean and is newer than Campground 1. Both of our stays were in Campground 2 near the bath house. Our first visit was with our dog, second was without. The fire ring in our second stay was weirdly located. Firewood is for sale inside the park and late afternoons the campground host drives thru on a gator like vehicle and offers bundles for sale at $6 each. The place is busy and active but very chill.
We hiked a little on Saturday midday. When I say “hike” I mean we strolled on a trail. Very nice time.
Any critiques by us would be unwarranted. Folks who work there were quite nice. We are very early on the learning curve. That we were able to go and tent camp and have a good time at our age proves that COL is a great place for newer campers to enjoy. We plan to go back a lot.
LegendWe liked this park a lot! Great bath houses and laundry on site. They sold ice and firewood at check in. There are larger sites on the first loop, middle loop is a bit tight with many transient people living out of vehicles. Loop closest to the store is all pull throughs so very convenient but you are stacked in close. Overall cute trails, splash pad was not open when we were there, programs for kids on the weekend and nice playground. Caves were very fun, some need permits!
GuideWe stayed three nights camp ground area 1 is very small sites but quite camp ground area 2 is newer and much larger sites but no sewer hook ups definitely not a deal breaker would stay again
TravelerNice campground with friendly staff. As others have noted, the sites are a bit close to each other. There are a few tent only sites, but they are interspersed with the RV sites.
RangerLoved the area, the campground and the local hikes available I gave it 4 stars because our site was soooo close to the one next to us. We stayed in. 118. I would definitely go back….to a different site
RangerSuch a big park with lots to do. Really cool villas that you can rent out too. Golf course on the property too. We really enjoyed our stay here.
TravelerLots of beautiful cedars. Shade. Quiet and neighbors far enough away.
TravelerGreat camping. The park is very well taken care of. Sites and we'll sized and level. Very clean bathrooms and they are heated as well. The staff we talked to were all very friendly and nice.
Alot of hiking in the area. You can drive down the road and visit the lodge and lake as well.
ScoutA beautiful campground. I had a packed gravel site with 30a hookups for one night. Very clean and nice showers with ADA accommodations.
GuideQuite a bit of road noise.
TravelerThis campground has been fun for my partner and I. The shower rooms were a little gross, but we just wore our shower shoes and didn’t touch any walls lol. The hiking trails and frisbee golf has been super fun! We would definitely stay again, just in a more remote spot. Our site was in area 2 and they are very close to one another.
ScoutCampground 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular equestrian campsite near J Percy Priest Lake?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular equestrian campground near J Percy Priest Lake is Cedars of Lebanon State Park Campground with a 4.5-star rating from 47 reviews.
What is the best site to find equestrian camping near J Percy Priest Lake?
TheDyrt.com has all 7 equestrian camping locations near J Percy Priest Lake, with real photos and reviews from campers.
