Best Dispersed Camping near Whiteside, TN

Prentice Cooper is an amazing place and offers two campgrounds and several backcountry camping spots. There is a campground not too far after pulling in the gravel road that has some really nice spots. The other campground requires you to drive down a gravel road for approximately 7 miles and then down some trails that require high clearance. This campground is nice and tooked into the woods with a pond nearby. There are several OHV trails in prentice Cooper and the place can get very crowded on the weekends. Definitely recommend going during the week.

This is a primitive group camping area close to Lake Conasauga. GPS is 34.86064073010609,-84.63659794105651. (Photos and this review are from my last stay here on 31 Oct- 02 Nov 2021.) 

The camping field is at the base of Bald Mountain, altitude 4005'. Nearby Tearbritches Trail will take you to the summit of Bald Mountain and then down to the Conasauga River. The Emery Creek Trail is at the back of the camping area. There are some fire pits in the open field. 

The cell connection is intermittent and usually only one bar(or no cell). 

This area is fairly remote and the rough gravel forest service roads are best traveled by a higher clearance vehicle. 2x2 usually works ok though. (It takes patience and a while to get here.) This is a popular mountain bike area and the cyclists can easily hit speeds of 30MPH on the sketchy downhills.

This is a large field for dispersed camping along Conasauga Lake Road that is popular with both hikers (Emery Creek Trail and Tear Britches Trail both have trailheads here) and Overlanders (site is on the Big Frog Loop and Georgia Traverse). There are multiple fire rings established around the field and this field can handle many groups. No water or facilities here, but you can go down to the Lake Conasauga Campground about a mile away and use their facilities for a $5 fee. The field is fairly sloped, so you want to have some shoring if you are in a trailer, roof top tent, or van.

The trailhead campsite is a short walk from the parking lot, but makes for a great basecamp for exploring the area. The campsite is level and large enough to accommodate many tents. There are also trees that would be suitable for hammock camping. The site is on the edge of an overlook of the canyon and has multiple fire rings if there are multiple groups there. This site and trailhead serves both the Walls of Jericho trail and the Bear Den Point Loop Trail. 

This is primitive camping so no bathhouse, but there is a porta-john in the trailhead parking lot. The site is a good distance from any convenient stores or grocery stores so plan accordingly. We found good cell phone service with Verizon at this site. Trash cans are located in the trailhead parking lot. Please pack out your trash from the campsite.

The only decent spot for hammocks is the little campsite that is right in front of the parking lot. We went over to the clearing just north of the parking lot, but there were no good spots. The clearing was extremely overgrown, as was the tree line all around the clearing. At the site directly in front of the parking lot, you can really only get two hammocks, unless you want to stack your hammocks vertically. You'll have to tie both hammocks to the same tree at one end, and then use two trees on the other side. There is no water near this site. This site is OK if you need to be near the parking lot or don't want to hike your gear in and out. Otherwise, you're way better off going down to one of the other sites.

34.860688452654024,-84.63670121000321

Stayed here a number of times during each of the four seasons. Fairly remote for eastern U.S, (but I have watched, over the past 2 decades, Atlanta grow northward, and a lot of development in Ellijay and Blue Ridge areas, and it is a little depressing).  Access is by gravel roads. There are bears in the area and they love food. (A fed bear is a dead bear-please don't leave any food out and scare them away if they come around.)

No amenities. Lake Conasauga is nearby which has some amenities. One can hike up to the top of nearby Bald Mountain and then hike down to the Conasauga River. One can look for butterflies, other insects, birds, flowers, etc. There are many trails in the Cohutta Wilderness, which is just to the north.

I will post some photos of nearby Bald Mountain and the trail head for Tearbritches Trail. Other photos of the area here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rbinv/albums/72157634085883873

(N34 51.670 W84 38.120) This leads over the highest western-most mountain in the eastern U.S., and then down to Bray Field at the junction of Tearbritches Creek and the Conasauga River(N34 53.897 W84 37.296)- It is a long steep grade down to the Conasauga(1-way distance is 3.4 miles)| 30 August 2013

Here are some notes I took about the vegetation in the area:

The north-northeasterly facing slope of Bald Mountain within a half-mile of the summit, elevation 4005'. Mostly New York Fern(Thelypteris noveboracensis) here, but also saw Hay-scented(Dennstaedtia punctilobula), Cinnamon(Osmundastrum cinnamomeum), and Interrupted Ferns(Osmunda claytoniana) in this immediate area. New York Ferns are common throughout the widerness| Tearbritches Trail, Cohutta Wilderness, N. Georgia Mountains| 30 August 2013