Virgin Falls State Natural Area - Primitive

The hike itself is rough going, but absolutely gorgeous with so many watersheds, beautiful jade pools, and the waterfalls are just stunning. We camped at the backcountry site closest to Virgin Falls, and I give that part 1 star. The entire camp site is slightly inclined, no flat areas large enough to accomodate a tent. If you are sleeping in a hammock, you'll be golden. But we were in a tent, so we had a horrible night sleep of sliding down, waking up, sliding up. Other than that, there are designated places for a fire, and the solitude, is a 4 out of 5, just because while you're a little distance away, you can see and slightly hear the next camp site over.

I hiked out to the Caney Fork River Campsite with the Nashville Backpacking Meetup. The trails were really clearly marked, so they were easy to follow despite all of the leaves on the ground, and there were plenty of signs indicating where to go. The site is less than half a mile away from the falls, and has really easy access to the river for water. There wasn't any trash laying around that we could see, and we found plenty of firewood.

Bridgestone-Firestone-Virgin Falls WMA This WMA is the cream of the crop. I think it’s the largest WMA I’ve ever been to. I think we had the perfect camp spot. Nice and level, wooded and secluded, fire pit already constructed, plenty of firewood around. If you love primitive camping, this place is a goldmine. There’s no shortage of great camp sites too. Virgin Falls is nearby, however the trail was closed due to Covid-19 restrictions. There is also a store there, but it was also closed. I was here back in spring turkey season, and there were only a couple other hunters that were camping that I saw. During hunting season, you can only camp here if you are hunting, but it is always free. This is a very nice choice for free primitive camping.