Best Glamping near Tennessee Ridge, TN

 Whooping Crane Farm is a private glamping site that you can find on Tentrr. The property is 12 minutes from downtown Nashville, making it a perfect Glamping location. Being close to great restaurants is definitely a plus. The site is gated and right on the river, so the only traffic you have to worry about are the barges that are passing by on the river, or any boaters that are out. There’s a pond on the property, and they advertise kayak rentals. You could ride a bike around the property also, if you bring your own bike. The canvas tent was decorated nicely, with some cool lanterns and a wood burning stove. There was a battery powered fan, that lasted most of the night. The bed was comfortable for glamping. There’s a picnic table with a cooking station, and a charcoal grill. Plenty of cut firewood for the fire pit. There is a restroom, but it’s not a flush toilet, just a bucket toilet, but was nice to have while camping. This is a great spot, convenient to town, perfect for a relaxing weekend.

Whooping Crane Farm is located In such a great spot, just outside Nashville, it is easy to get to, but convenient to everything. The camp spot is fantastic! Right on the Cumberland River, the spot is very secluded, and plenty of space for a group. 

 I would recommend bringing camp chairs, in case you want to sit in a shady spot, or by the water. The site has a picnic table, grill, and solar shower, however I would bring a tarp for privacy if you actually plan to use it, as the river is a busy place in the summer, and the shower is in clear view from the water. 

  There is a pond on the property, which the host, Ellen, allowed us to fish in. The River would be difficult to access, at least while we were there in late August, as there is a big drop off from the bank. I’m not sure if this is normal, or if the water lever was low. 

  The“loo” is a pop up tent with a bucket toilet in it. It was equipped with poop bags and toilet paper. The glamping tent was awesome. The bed was very comfortable. 

  We had some heavy rains overnight, and did have some dripping water from the center seam of the tent and had to scoot the bed over, but other than that, I slept like a baby. We love this spot so much, we plan to return later in the fall!

Pros:

Secluded campground

Beautiful area

Cons:

You're camping basically in a ravine.

No fire pit

We had site 15 and my in-laws had site 16 over Labor Day weekend 2018.

It took us over an hour to try and level our pop-up camper because the site was so steep. Our neighbors had the same problem. We took the advice of a fellow camper on here and brought an extension cord and we were so glad we did, I think my in-laws ended up needing it.

When we arrived I was disappointed to find that we didn't have a firepit, only an old grill that had a hole in the bottom, rendering it useless. Luckily my in-laws had a firepit so we had our fires over there. We do most of our cooking in cast iron over the fire, so a fire pit is a huge requirement for us. Our site was so steep it was hard for our two young children to walk and play on our site (4yo and 1.5yo) so we spent most of the time at their site anyway. The campsite we were on just wasn't that great for small children, but wouldn't be bad if you were in a tent without small children. Site 16 was great though.

Saturday night, we could hear a drunken group of about 20 with their speakers blasting music across the campground, so loud we couldn't hear each other talking around the campfire. I'm not normally one to complain about music at a campground, but this was overkill and was well into after quiet hours. Every so often you could tell that they were told to turn it down, but it only lasted a few minutes before it was cranked up again. It shut down probably around mid-night, but with two small kids it made for a long night.

The bathrooms were decent, one toilet would shoot water out of the top when you flushed. I didn't use the showers but they looked clean for a campground shower.

The LBL area is what made the trip worth it. We basically used the campground as a base camp to explore the area, which is a beautiful. We saw several deer within the park. The bison and elk prarie is a must see, the kids loved it. We drove to the Golden Pond visitors center and spent several hours at the Homeplace Living history village. Since it was Labor Day weekend they had a lot of events going on. We're now planning another trip back to the LBL area, just not at the same campground.

YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE VISITOR CENTER TO PAY FOR A CAMPING PERMIT AND OHV USE!

For the Turkey Bay OHV area each site is just a picnic table and a fire pit and the sites are not numbered- it’s more a first come first serve. The sites though are close to the entrance and you park right next to the site. This site also is for RVs and tent camping but there is no water or electric access but is within walking distance of the gatehouse. The gatehouse has ice and sodas for sale to each camper.

OHVs for rent at the visitor center (just about 2 miles down the road) and trails marked specifically for them, also a couple hiking trails nearby! Bathrooms and trash onsite!

There is a dump station and potable water about a mile or so up the road near the Hunters Check Station and it’s only about 2 miles out from the Golden Pond planetarium and trails! Great area!

Energy Lake campground is well planned, the staff are amazing, and with a little planning, the best option for affordable camping that puts you on a small natural preserve lake perfect for kayaking and SUP boarding. Most difficult thing is remembering to fill the fresh water tank (if you are RV'ing) before you set up!! Electricity is on almost every site (there are a couple sites in a few areas that do not have electric & therefor have a reduced rental rate). Each area has "city" water available at hose bibs located in central locations in each area.  Some sites have waterfront "views" with trails going down to the lake, others have waterfront walk in availability.  You can also drive to the beach (it's got imported sand deposited there every new season!), and there are several areas to launch NONMOTORIZED watercraft. There are restrictions on this lake due to the wildlife refuge and preserve in the back of the lake - no motorized watercraft of any sort. There is camp fire wood, propane and a very small selection of necessities available at the entry gate/check-in. Closest retail store, gas station and alcohol is approximately 10-12 miles from the campground. This campground attracts a lot of tent & car campers as well as small RV's, and there are almost always smaller walk up sites available if the reservation system says there are no available positions. You will want to call before you haul though, because a few of those walk ups are less than 20 feet in length.

AREA B is only cabins... and the cabins are basically one room cabins, with bunks and a queen or full sized bed, with electric and AC. You still have to treck to the bath house for toilet, shower and the hose bib for water. The cabin basically just provides sleeping shelter.

Being close to water is always nice, and our family always looks for this when we are traveling away from home to camp. Kentucky Lake is nearby, and we spent most of our day here. We towed our small boat from home because we wanted to be able to enjoy being on the water (and my dad wanted to fish). There is running water and showers available on site, although I just jumped in the lake and shampooed my hair in their :) Very large campground, which was nice. Lots of room between campsites. Always a plus for us. The campground itself was really nice, we were actually very impressed. The campsites were well marked and had a picnic table, fire ring and a hanging rack which was super nice! We hung our wet suits from being in the lake all day. Great hiking nearby too. We would hike in the morning, and play in the water the rest of the day. The attendants/rangers were awesome, and directed us in the right place for hiking. You can see from my pictures attached that we hiked almost everyday. We would definitely stay here again next time we are in the area.

This is a really nice campground that has sites you can reserve along with first come first serve sites. If you are staying near the end of October I would definitely call to see if they have any availability because they do a Halloween weekend where they give out prizes for decorating your campsite and for a decorated golf cart parade (see video). It was a nice little surprise but we got lucky, they only had 2 available sites left!  We were lucky enough to get a site that does not have water or electric but were able to move after the big weekend to a spot with those amenities. 

The bathrooms were nice and kept clean. There are 4 shower rooms on the opposite side of the bathhouse that were nice enough and kept pretty clean. They also have laundry at 3 of the bathhouses. They only take quarters, the shop and the front don't keep a ton of quarters so I would suggest you bring some with you. 

The area has plenty of outdoor activities to do and is also pretty close to Fort Donelson, a drive through experience of the battle during the Civil War.

One great thing about here is the beautiful lake nearby! My family and I spent our entire day here and had an absolute blast. The lake front views are incredible. You have the option to camp right next to the lake and have the best view ever. They also have spots for RVs for electrical hookups. The sites are amazing because they are orettt big. We fit my dads big truck and all our tents in the campsite we had. There is a small beach area, bike trail which was a lot of fun, an archery range, theater, and great hiking trails. The campfire theater was amazing! You honestly can’t beat that. Some other things we enjoyed were:

• boat ramp
• cabins available- although we didn’t stay here
• fishing
• area to play basketball, and big grass areas for other activities.
• Everything was in walking distance

I would definitely call and make reservations beforehand. It wasn’t very busy. The cost is pretty cheap too. For a basic, tent campsite it was $12. More expensive if you use the electrical hookup areas. When we went it was pretty Smokey. There were some fires nearby and the smoke just settled in. That was the only downside of our trip.