Clean and quiet

We camped here in January. It was very quiet because the other campers were all RVers who spent most of their time inside. The bathrooms were very clean and we basically had them to ourselves, since the RVers used their RVs. This park was really nice and we got some great sunrises over the water. Loved having a water spigot onsite. Only an hour away from Nashville if you want to visit!

Tent only, expect trail traffic

We did not camp here, but we scoped it out for a future trip. It is tent only (or camper van) because there are barriers between your parking pad and the tent area. Also, be sure to expect a lot of traffic and parked cars and extra people because people park here to do the Big Schloss hike. The vault toilet is very clean and very well stocked with toilet paper, but you will have to share it with all the hikers.

Both dispersed and campground

The Hawk Recreation Area has sites in a loop, these are numbered and near the water pump (which wasn't working when we were there) and the vault toilet. There are also dispersed sites along some of the gravel roads around the official campground. We stayed in one of the dispersed sites and it was un-numbered. The site was great. There was trail access right across the road, there was a fire ring, and a picnic table. There was plenty of wood around, we just drove around to pick up some bigger pieces. Also, you can't beat the free price! We had no service here so be sure to plan ahead.

Lots of trash and noise

If you are used to primitive/secluded camping this is not the campground for you. We arrived and there was a ton of trash in our site. Someone left their air fresheners, handbag tags from marshalls, and a ton of other junk. This campground is also very noisy. There are supposed to be quiet hours but people were playing loud music from their cars, from speakers, and whatever else until at least 11pm. Our site had no privacy either, we were right next to several other sites (closer than other state parks we've been to). Physical distancing and mask wearing was not enforced/required. People in the close quarters of the restroom were not wearing masks and didn't seem to mind getting within 6 feet of other people. The woman at the front office who we checked in with even took her mask off because it was fogging up her glasses. Oh, and the wood that we purchased from the camp host was wet, so the fire was a dud until a friendly neighbor gave us some of his wood. 

The only positive thing about this campground was the hiking. The first day we hiked up the mountain to the west of the campground, and the second day we hiked up the Tuscarora Trail to the east of the campground. No other campers were hiking these, so we got to appreciate nature by having the trails mostly to ourselves.

Secluded except when dam releases

This was a beautiful state forest, with two state parks sort of bordering it (Big Run & New Germany). The roads were all paved which was nice. We got sites 112 & 113 because we had a few people join us. Those sites are right next to each other so it worked out really nicely. 113 was a big open field, and 112 was in a sort of pine forest. Both were relatively close to the road and both had poison ivy along their edges. We got the impression that the road is not very travelled, but we were accidentally there on the weekend that they released the dam, so there were a ton of people driving around looking for an available site. We initially wanted to camp at the whitewater sites, but we are so glad we didn't because those sites ended up becoming a parking lot for people who were there for the dam release. Recommend the High Rock hike and any of the trails in New Germany State Park. One more thing - the map indicated an iron ranger nearby these sites but we couldn't find it, so we ended up depositing our payment at the iron ranger at the white water sites. You could pick up payment envelopes at the headquarters or the whitewater sites.

Beautiful site

I stayed at campsite #11, in between a creek, the river, and a fire road. There was a ton of trash in and around the fire ring, and there were deer entrails about 10 feet from the fire ring. Besides that, the site was great. The fire road was good for searching for downed trees as fire wood and for a nice morning walk. Nice that the site was free, but I wish there were better maps available online for the sites. We got the impression there were supposed to be a lot more sites than we actually could find.

Friendly staff, beautiful location

The staff/owners were very friendly and my tent site was right on the beach. The sunrise and sunset were absolutely gorgeous. The price was incredible given the proximity to the water. The only negative was that the RVs were pretty loud.