Best Dog-Friendly Camping near New Johnsonville, TN

Very beautiful place ! Cabins are spacious clean and furnished ! Dishes to use and pots and pans ! Even shower towels ! ! Right by the water and last minute reservations ! There’s Lots of stuff to find yourself doing to relaxing by the water to playing bingo at the hall ! To renting a kayak or pontoon ! Has dog park and swimming pool and beach area ! Has laundry rooms and bath n shower houses heck ya ! Rec center was closed due under construction put you can shoot pool and lounge around play foosballs and air hockey ! Movie theater ! But volley balls an racket ball n swimming pool at the rec center was closed but front pool was open ! Great place most definitely need to be a member for yearly round visits !!!

Nice campground. Clean, pet friendly. A lot of sites! Access to lakes. Saw a lot of wildlife for such a big campground with lots of people traffic.

Pro: It’s a well maintained resort. Had a decent dog park. Sites were nicely spaced. Check in was a breeze and we were shown to our site by a very nice lady. Lots of trees and flowers and quiet. Easy in and out. Cons: We had a corner site and we were really too long for the site, we’re 42’ long. The electric and water were all in one spot which was at the very end of the camper. We’ve been on this journey for 10 months so not our first rodeo. As the lady left a man rolls up in his cart and informs us that we need to pull up farther because it would be a tight squeeze for anyone to navigate around us. Which he wasn’t wrong but perhaps a more appropriate site could have been given us since we had a reservation for weeks. We told him if we pulled up farther we couldn’t reach the hose connection. He arrogantly told us that we should have a 50’ hose as most people do just for these circumstances. He also said we could buy one in their store. I asked if they possibly had another site that might fit the rig better. He said he thought they were full for the night but I could ask! That pretty much set the tone for the stay and for this review. Not sure if he was the owner or a grounds keeper. The sites were on hills- which it is Tennessee…but we had a difficult time getting our camper level as it went down hill due to the fact we had to pull up so far it set the camper downhill. It has auto leveling and could never get it level where we sat, kept giving us an error code. This system won’t allow you to level manually. We have 4 slides and it was difficult to get them out not being level. The bedroom slide came out enough for us to open the bed out. The fact that the camper was at such a slant it was not good for the slides obviously because it was so un-level that the jacks wouldn’t go down. It was pretty bouncy and you picked up speed walking from one end to the other. We were glad it was just one night.

The staff was friendly and helpful. The campground is nestled around the Piney River amongst in the middle of the forest. The campgrounds have future expansion projects lined up to add additional sites, a pool, and a pet area.  Do not rely on GPS and follow the directions in your reservation email for the safest route. Stock up on groceries, the nearest market is roughly 30 minutes away. Check out the winery's.

I was really looking forward to this place on my way to Arkansas. However, as soon as I turned into the camping area I was “greeted” by not one but TWO off leash dogs barking and running toward my van (they were not together). Fortunately, I took vinegar spray with me when I took my dog for a walk. It was a useful deterrent when one of the loose dogs ran at us. I yelled to put the dog on leash but of course nobody emerged from the van. On the return trip I made sure to have my spray and body pointed straight toward the dog who was just waiting for me to turn around so he could attack again. If you want a flat spot, a pull through spot, or one that you can’t smell the toilets, get there early! I got there around noon and maybe 15 people were there. By sundown most spots were taken…on a Tuesday. Restrooms toward the entrance were nice with running water and flush toilets.

Ranger Review: Matador Droplet at Ginger Bay Land Between the Lakes, Ky.

Campground Review:We visited Ginger Bay boat ramp and dispersed camping area while at Land Between the Lakes(LBL) , Ky. Ginger Bay is actually in Tennessee. The road you take off The Trace, which runs down the middle of LBL, has several signs and other turn offs. So pay attention to the signs. You will end up on a dirt/gravel road with some interesting ruts and steps hills. Once you make it to the Ginger Bay area there are several side "roads" that lead to camping spots. If you are not in a 4 wheel drive you might want to investigate the road before using it, there were several deep ruts. You have the pick of spots if you have a dispersed pass which can be purchased at any of the offices. Direct put in is an option or if you have a bigger watercraft the boat ramp is right there. No toilet facility, no fire rings, no tables. This is a all what you bring with you. Generators are allowed but definitely spoil the quiet. When we visited the ramp was somewhat busy with day-use visitors. Realize when you dispersed camp at LBL though there are no large predators there are coyotes so if you have dogs keep an eye out. Every time I disperse camp I hear coyotes throughout the night, sometimes very close by. A single coyote would probably not bother a dog but a pack will.

Product Review: As a Dyrt Ranger I get to review some awesome outdoor products. This trip I took along my Matador Droplet. This is a little blue water drop shaped silicon shell with a seam-sealed polyester bag folded inside. The 3 liter capacity actually holds a lot. After my kayak trip I put my wet shorts, shirt, under garments and water shoes into the bag. There is a draw string on the bag to close it up. The bag then went into my clothes bag in the back of the truck. The wet stayed in the bag.

Pro's: compact, nice size dry bag, very convenient, cute

Con's: a bugger to get back in the silicon container, takes practice, a little expensive but good quality that will last

I plan on getting a few Droplets as Christmas presents and will probably get a Droplet XL to add to my pack gear.

Lock A is one of our most favorite places to camp!!  Clean, level with water and electric hookups.  Lots of places to walk/hike with our dogs; we especially love watching the barges moving along the Cumberland River.  We come back any time we can.

We were looking for a place to park our van with a view where our dog could run and we could spend a few days acclimating to Van life and this was perfect. It was the first time we had used the dyrt and we were very pleased with our spot. You will need a four-wheel drive to traverse the actual campground point. We watched turtles, popping their head up in the lake and really enjoyed ourselves.

It’s a large campground with a lot of full time campers on site. Nice lake at 102 sq acres in size. Did have an issue that most sites are only 50 or 30amp hookups only, so I had to borrow a 30 to 120 adapter. The hiking trails were closed which sucked since I was looking forward to a hike with the dog. They are building a new pool. Good luck getting a lakeside site since I was told only 8 are available and are full most of the time.

Fun experience staying with all the horses! I didn’t really know it was a thing to bring horses to camp and ride them on the trails! Loved it. Spots are pretty close together but fine for big rigs. Drawbacks: Sites 49-51 are mislabeled online. Booked a pullthru spot on 49 but it wasn’t. Campground was pretty full and we weren’t offered a lot to correct that the website was wrong. I could pay more for a different site... ended up taking “49” back in with ample space. Horses neigh, lots of barking dogs and some rowdy late night campers. If you are looking for a quiet getaway reconsider. We enjoyed being in it all and near the horses.

I did not expect to find something like this in Tennessee! Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It is a cute little campground with clean bathrooms nearby. There are picnic tables and fire pits at each site. I got in late last night and the road to get there was majestic under the stars. There are lots of trails and scenic stops along the way. Will definitely camp here again if I come back to Tennessee!