Best Tent Camping near Lancing, TN

The tent camp sites on the island were aptly distanced from one another. The other campers seemed to have an unspoken sense of support. Multiple people offered ice, and even campground host offered to air up air mattresses.

There was plenty of driftwood on site to burn, but if you're going to cook all your meals, I'd bring charcoal or your own wood. Note: they have wood restrictions - heed those.

There was some noise at night from the boats, but nothing unmanageable or what I would consider a nuisance.

The island tent area is a park and walk and the campground has 2 carts for people to use.

The views from the island are unfathomably beautiful.

Had a nice week camping in a tent right on the side of the lake. The bathroom facilities were good, plenty of hot water for showers and the place was kept clean. When we stayed it was nice and quiet during the first week of the season.

The tent sites are park and walk. The furthest tent site is about a 1/4 mile from where you park. Just an FYI.

Went on a stag tent camping trip. Decent facility for state park. Sites are small wouldn’t recommend large rigs.

The tent sites can be decent or real bad. T9 and T14 were horrible sites at the bottom of a hill where all rainwater runs through. T7 and T8 are ok sites. They are fairly flat.

Jake from the Dyrt here!  I had the pleasure of working with Black Willow Farm, and they have an amazing property with an off grid cabin and tent sites to come!  Check them out show them some love!

A couple of the tent sites are waterfront and ideal for a tenter like me. The rest seem a little packed together, though some offer a little bit of seclusion. Decent facilities and easy access to Devil’s Backbone section of Cumberland trail.

We stayed at the main area but not much space or privacy so we put up a tent out side our door, but then moved to the tent camping site area the second night which was more secluded and private, but still close to the showers/bath house. So much hiking and a cool view of the dam is all within walking distance. Nice bath rooms and showers too.

Just a short distance from Windrock. RV sites have power and water, but are very close together, in my opinion. There are also a few tent sites and cabins. Parking for off-road vehicle trailers. Firewood and ice available at the office. Nearest grocery is about 15-20 minutes away.

This is a great campground that offers a lot of amenities, including a bath house, fire rings, picnic tables and offers both RV and tent camping. The people in the campground were respectful and there were trailheads leading directly from the campground to the wilderness. Pickett is a great place to visit because it’s an international dark sky, there are beautiful natural bridges and lots of recreation opportunities.

This this campsite offers everything you need for a great camping experience. Out tent camping was complete with electricity and a short walk to the bathhouse. It also offered a fire pit and picnic table and lots of shade. You can rent a small Jon Boat for $50 a day and they also offer small bundles of firewood for $5. We fished on Kelly Lake and caught about six fish that were keepers.

We reserved a site with full- hookups and our friends reserved a tent site. Our site was fine, but there wasn’t what I would describe as a tent site. Our friends ended up just camping behind our camper in the flattest area they could find. All of the sites are pretty close and out in the open.

When we stayed some of the activities/amenities weren’t available (there had been a fire or something at the kitchen). We had a pretty decent time, though. We rented kayaks and paddle boards and explored the lake and they had a huge inflatable slide that our kids spent hours on. The ramp to the swim beach was ridiculously slimy but kids all enjoyed swimming in the lake and jumping off the dive platform. The camp had a movie in the evening (Jaws) and gave out popcorn. There were basketball courts and beanbag toss. Lots of people were out on their fishing boats.

So potentially plenty of activities for the kids, but the campground sites could be a bit nicer for the price. Any staff we interacted with were super pleasant.

This site is perfect for primitive tent camping and laying back to look at the stars. Pickett County Tennnessee is one of the few places in the world with a Dark Sky rating, meaning there is little to no light pollution. Tuscarora Glade is so dark at night and the stars are just so brilliant looking up through the opening in the Glade. You are surrounded by trees with a fabulous open spot to view the heavens. Come enjoy this little bit of paradise.

Great campground with very friendly and helpful rangers. Was pretty empty the night we were there. Very cool tent camping spots right on the small lake and RV spots all pretty much have a lake view. Full hookups and dump when you exit the campground. They do not have water at the sites in the winter. Bathrooms were clean enough and the showers were hot. Would definitely come back. Many trailheads near the campsite but the weather was bad when we were there. Drone photos courtesy of SweetDroneChicago on Instagram

First time at Windrock Campground. very nice property and has spots for all types of outfits and campers. I’m in a truck camper with a rooftop tent. The wooded tent sites where perfect not all are level so ask to drive through and preview avails before booking. fire ring, table provided. the only down side is that there is heavy SxS traffic on camp roads until late evening. otherwise pretty swanky place to camp. There are open sky spots around the bathhouse if you need solar or satellite. Those are all flat.

Visited here in the middle of January with all the snow and I was hot tent camping. You can only set up your tent on the designated tent pad, luckily we had heavy duty stakes that could get through the ground. The entire river was frozen over and ponds were frozen too. There were a few cars that drove through the middle of the night but no issues. We left our site unattended for hours to check out the streams and rivers and nothing was missing. Lots of beer bottles left over and shattered so I have to pick up the trash before letting my dog out. There are more sites down the gravel road but we went with the first one we came to.

Cumberland Mountain has a total of 145 campsites, spread across 5 loops, plus a backcountry site on an 8 mile backpacking trail.

We have not stayed overnight here as we are tent-campers only, and while tent camping is permitted, after visiting we felt that this campground was much better suited for RV campers. However we have come here for the day to hike and enjoy the playground by the picnic area, and it is a beautiful park, with a large lake, a restaurant, and a bridge that is iconic to the Cumberland region of Tennessee.

Of the five camping loops, loop 4 offers the most shade (particularly sites 102-109, which are shaded by evergreens and some of the prettiest campsites I have seen in a state park!), although is not ADA accessible. Loop 2 offers the least amount of shade. Loops 1, 3, and 5 have mostly hardwood trees, thus offering more shade in the warmer months and mostly sun in the winter. All sites have picnic tables and fire rings, and most can accommodate trailers up to 60 feet, with a few going higher (site 145 can fit over 100'!). Tent camping is permitted, although in most sites the only space to put a tent is very close to the fire pits or on a gravel/concrete surface, and in loops 2, 3, and 5 the park prohibits tents on the grass within each site.

Amenities at this park include hiking, fishing, paddling/boat rental, biking, a swimming pool, golf, and birding. Cabins are also available to rent, many with a view of the lake. Day use includes picnic tables, picnic pavilions, and multiple playground areas for kids. This park is also further away from urban areas and is a good place for wildlife viewing--we have seen black snakes, and what looked like a raccoon!

This is a much less crowded park than Fall Creek Falls to the south, particularly if you can make it early in the season, and is convenient to I-40, premium golfing, and historical sites on the Cumberland Plateau. While there are better options in this region for someone looking to pitch a tent, if you have an RV, Cumberland Mountain is very peaceful, offering a lot of ways to spend your day and a quiet and relaxing spot to watch the stars and enjoy the sounds of nature at night.

My boyfriend and I spent one night there in the flat fork tent campsite where we were only separated by a tiny fence from both people on each side no privacy whatsoever we spent the whole night hearing the father yell at his son maybe 5 feet away the other sites in the loop (closer to the office) were even closer together don’t go here if you like the get away from people because you can’t! Also people had no problem walking through our site!