Floating Mill - Center Hill Lake

WARNING - If you have an RV t the turn around to get out is VERY steep. We watched an RV get very scraped up. If you're not a confident driver this isn't the spot for you.

Stayed here because: It was the only campground near Nashville with last-minute openings.

Overall: Not very dog or child friendly. The entire campground sits on a steep hill leading down to the lake. Most sites are separated by riprap (large rocks), so there’s very little flat space. Our dog had almost nowhere to walk, and I’d be worried about small kids falling.

Pros:

Beautiful lake views from nearly every site which is a very very good pro. The views were amazing. But are they enough to make up for the cons??

Most sites (especially tent sites) are shaded

Cons:

Very steep hill throughout the campground

Most sites require climbing 3–5 flights of stairs

Little to no space around the fire pit (ours barely fit two chairs)

Not much room for dogs to walk safely

Site #87 had no stairs, but it lacked all privacy and was next to the road and bathhouse lights

Bathroom heaters stopped working half way through the trip and temps dropped into 40s.

My family has camped here for years with no issues and we usually stay for at least 3 days if not longer at a time. On holidays we usually stay for a week or more at a time. The last 3 times we've camped there the host were horrible. They police you from the time you check in til you leave. They are very discriminating depending on who you know at the campgrounds. They charge some people to visit and not others. If you have kids they better walk the line during thier time there or they will threaten to have you leave. They have treated my family like we were second class as best. Talked to us like we were ignorant.  Not there to help at all. On a power trip for being the host. When you spend your hard earned money and time to relax and spend time with family and friends you shouldnt have to be harassed and watched over to the point you cant enjoy yourslves for your vacation. Not an enjoyable experience at all. We will not be back until they are no longer the host. Never been treated like that by host.

It's so funny to see other people seem to have had issues with the staff here. We went one day to scout out campsites around Center Hill Lake. We had already been to one of the other parks around it and checked out the campsites; we'd just driven in and around and noted which spots didn't have enough shade, etc. then left. When we got to the attendant booth, there was a stop sign at the speed bump. I stopped in front of the stop sign and when I started driving again, an older man opened the window at the booth and yelled at us. I slammed on my breaks and backed up to talk to him. He was an absolute aubergine to us for not talking to him. I told him I was sorry but I didn't know I needed to as I've never had to at any other area parks. He copped an attitude and said "There's a sign!" So, I guessed I just missed it. However, when we were leaving, I turned around and checked and the only sign was the stop sign..... He was sarcastic and rude to us as I explained what we were there to do and insinuated that we were trying to kidnap children... 

Beyond the Belligerent Balding Boomer, the roads in the campground and even just on the way to it from the main road are VERY narrow, crumbling, in BAD need of repaving/repainting arrows, and have lots of tight turns. We went into one area and a car had pulled over to the side of the road but was on the asphalt still which made getting around them not even close to possible. You might have been able to get around a motorcycle. Maybe. We ended up having to back up all the way back out of there with a rock wall on one side of the asphalt and dropoff on the other.

We visited here during the summer. I really enjoyed our stay. A couple of things caught a us by surprise.. 1) The steps down to our campsite. Some of the campsites towards the back of the campground have a good amount of stairs. It was okay, but not good for anyone who cannot handle a lot of stairs. 2) There was a lot of boat traffic on the lake, even late into the night. I’m not sure if it is always like this or because there is a marina near by the campground. We could reach the edge of the lake from our campsite and launched out kayaks from there. The boats made it a little difficult to kayak the lake, but some kayakers towards the front of the campground at the day beach seemed to do okay. There’s a small hiking trail in the park also called the “lost spring trail” not much of a spring to see, but a couple of lookout points. Must not be much traffic through the trail anymore, the lookouts were a little overgrown. Overall the campground was nice, lots of access to the water if you like to fish and some very beautiful views. Pet friendly! Clean!

If you weren't aware, the fall is the perfect time to camp. Which means almost every recreation.gov campsite is full to the brim.

We tried this location again (after having a negative experience with their staff) and have some more concrete thoughts.

If you're loading in for tent camping, this cap.has some great views, up in the 70-100s, be sure to check elevation on the map. The pictures don't show you how difficult to access.

Spots 104-118 are up a horrific incline, not suitable for small RVs or trailers. There's also no lights here.

The main bathrooms near the front are pretty nice, but bring flops flops and expect it to be a tad gross on the floor. There was excrement in the large handicapped shower.

There's a fish cleaning station just past the main bathrooms and dumpsters, perfect if you bring your boat too.

The front lake spots are nice, but no shade. Be sure you have a 10x10 canopy or RV awning.

Overall the campground is built around the lake, but incredibly tight, hard to navigate (especially at night) and unless you're a pro, know to look at your spaces/map and calculate your turn radius and which spots you can back into, don't go if you have a truck + trailer over 17' or a large 5th wheel.

While nice scenery, the difficulty to navigate, small roads labeled two way (impassable if another vehicle approaching) make this ok-maintained came a poorly-accesible 3 stars.

BEYOND RUDE, INDECENT HUMAN WORKS HERE.

My partner works maintenance/HVAC and had an emergency, requiring us to break camp, leaving at 1am, returning at 6am. We had to 7-point turn, moving the picnic table and lantern stand to simply back out way out. At 8am someone banged on our door beyond hard enough 7-10times.

With only two hours of sleep, I open our door only to find a cantankerous old man be who immediately began to bitch us out (no conversation, no listening nor explanation) or empathy or even basic human respect for parking in another campsite (which we also have a permit for, as we reserved two for friends arriving later. He instructed us to move it, without asking if we had a permit. He returned an hour and a half later and threatened to tow our vehicle, ban us from camp and call the ranger to come ticket us. I could barely interrupt him to assert we were the other party and had a permit for twice as many vehicles, and our vehicle was registered for that spot.

Whether you have only 2 hours of sleep and your door beaten on or not, this old.mans behavior is unacceptable.

Come to find out, he drove round the night before antagonizing guests nearby unloading caping gear from their boats, and was simply downright nasty.

Unacceptable behavior from any human. Our first time here and also our last. As a differentially-enabled person on the autism spectrum, this was horrific. There are no words to justify this man's behavior to us and other guests. Even if kindness and respect aren't this thing, his inability to actually do his job and check permits before harassing campers is unacceptable. We'll never camp at this place again.

Floating Mill Park is a little oasis in a big old recreation area.

Located next to Floating Mill Campground it is also convenient to several other recreation options in the area.

First, on site you have a boatramp, parking, rentable pavilion, playground and swimming area. This is 5$ a day and an annual pass can be purchased for 40$ which is for all the Army Corps of Engineer facilitates in the area. ( doesn’t include renting the pavilion for large groups)

Next, while your in the area if your not just there for water activities there are several State Parks not to far down the road. Burgess Falls State Park with Window Cliffs Natural Area, and Cummins Falls Stare Park which are crowded but nice go see areas. Window Cliffs is a nice 5+mile out and back hike, technical but some very cool things to see. Take water, snacks but leave your dog at the campsite, their not allowed in the Natural area. Then there are Rock Island And Edgar Evins State Parks down the road a piece.

You can easily plan and execute a float trip with several campsite options to make it a multiple day on the lake. You can stay in the area for several days and do something different every day.

Floating Mill Campground is an interesting campground in many ways. 1st it’s Army Corps of Engineer maintained and ruled. Which means there are different rules then most state parks, one of which is only 2 dogs per site allowed. 2nd the layout is more tent friendly (to me) with walk in sites with some nice views. You may or may not be able to put in directly from your site along the water. 3rd in addition to the water activities there are several parks nearby to visit while enjoying the Tennessee countryside.

Sitting on your “deck” overlooking the water would be plenty for many people just enjoying the moment. In addition there is the boatramp and there is a fish cleaning pavilion near the showerhouse. And my favorite, yakking, there are plenty of campgrounds Along Center Hill Lake that you could plan a float trip, ending up where you started.

Burgess Falls State Park is nearby with Windows Cliff Natural Area and Cummins Falls , Edgar Evins and Rock Island State Parks are further out but also worth a visit.