Amy G.

Kingsport, TN

Joined June 2019

have pop-up, will travel

so close, but so far away

This campground is located about an hour or so from our home but it feels like a million miles away — in a good way! Follow the 7 mile trek off the main road to one of the loveliest campgrounds in East Tennessee. We stayed here the first weekend in May 2019 and had the place to ourselves. Stayed again in early June and most of the reserved spots were taken. It’s on the lake, so some of the sites have kayak access and beautiful views. However the second time we stayed, campers next to us had 8 (we counted) kids and made a racket the entire time. We understand kids but after 11 pm, we’d had enough and husband went out and yelled for them to hush. Bathrooms were spotless and showers were wonderful! Nice to walk around the campground, but no major trails that we could find.

a hidden gem, but avoid weekends

We stayed here in June 2019 for three days in our pop up at a site with electricity. No water is available. The campground is heavily wooded with space between sites. There are trails nearby, however several trails had bridges that were rotted away and not passable. There was a volunteer crew working on the main extensive trail to Stone Mountain while we were there which was wonderful! The bathroom had flush toilet and showers but did not seem as if it had been cleaned in several days. Campground host was very nice and drove around occasionally to check on us. We stayed Thursday through Sunday and I will say the first two nights were bliss - quiet and peaceful. A wonderful experience! We saw a deer walk right up to our campsite the first morning. However, Saturday night brought loud, disrespectful campers. We actually saw one camper trying to pull out one of the fixed grills in another site because their site did not have a grill. Rather than move sites, they practically destroyed the grill at another site. The campers next to us were carrying on a conversation and cussing every other word as loud as possible way after 10 pm. Sunday morning the bathroom was trashed … my husband said there was a dirty diaper laying in the bathroom floor next to the trash can. Why? People — don’t ruin things for the rest of us. Stay home if this is how you want to camp. This place would be awesome if people treated it as such! I camp for quiet and peace in nature. Unfortunately others camp to party and trash their surroundings.

Quiet, family campground

We’ve stayed at Grindstone multiple times in both a tent and pop up. Sites are well spaced and have excellent shade. There are plenty of recreational opportunities— hiking and exploring the Grayson Highlands area.