Hey Y'all!
We feel like we've been to enough TN State Parks to leave a review on them as a whole (minus Western TN) and each individual park we've been to. We've been to several state parks in both Ohio, and Virginia, and one in KY so a bit of comparison there, but we really are trying to hold off on that until we have more parks to compare to.
The glaring difference in TN parks is that all 57 are free to enter!
Overall it seems like TN parks took the Covid closures to leave their swimming pools behind (if they had them). We've not been to a park that has opened them since, some say the pools were too old, others state cost of maintenance, and other various reasons for not re-opening. Several of these parks also have swimming areas, so it's not as big of a deal there, but the pools are missed. Every park we've been to has a playground, picnic area, and trails. Some far better than others. The nature centers, shops, and any programs seem to be seasonal (and even then it's iffy as to what's going on when).
Campgrounds are all of ample size, and the bathhouses are always clean and well stocked. The showers, in our experience are of decent size, larger than any RV or Planet Fitness shower by far. Some have laundry, and that's a very nice amenity, especially since per load they're generally around $4 USD as opposed to the average $8 we spend in a laundromat.
In our recent travels we've stayed at:
Warrior's Path-
https://tnstateparks.com/parks/campground/warriors-path
We also lived near-ish here before, and have visited a big part of this park on several occasions. Their trail system, and playground are top notch. The speed bumps throughout are, in our opinion, excessive. We talked more about this park here:
That was followed by a quick 2 day camp at Warriors' Path to 1) take showers, and 2) go to my doctors appt. It rained the entire 2 days, and was a bit cooler than it had been earlier in the week, but we still enjoyed some time outdoors, and then we moved on...
Mini Review-
The camp store was hard to catch open, as they are low on staff. Eventually we figured out it was open on the half hour every hour for a few minutes. Everyone was super friendly, and because it was raining, and still the off season it wasn't very busy.
Cedars Of Lebanon-
While we were here we really just caught up on chores, partly because it was necessary and partly because a lot of the park amenities were closed.
The spots here were huge, and the park and it's history are neat, but so much of it was closed. Either for renovation, or seasonally.
Only one of three campgrounds were open, two of them being under renovation... looked like plumbing and electrical to us. So that left the remaining one pretty busy, however everyone was pretty quiet, and stuck to themselves. Not near as friendly as other places we've stayed.
The Nature Center and any other buildings and programs, as well as the cave were also closed.
However both the Park Office and Camp Store were open daily, all day.
Most recently we spent a week at Harrison Bay State Park near Chattanooga. Harrison Bay is Tennessee's first state park, but there was little to no signage stating this fun fact.
Harrison Bay-
We enjoyed our stay here, and found plenty to do nearby and at this park. The only cons for us were:
1) Campground B, while paved doesn't have any level spots. Not a huge deal for us we were able to find a good enough spot since we're smaller. I assume this is the cheaper of the 3 RV campgrounds because of this, and it's lack of lake view. (Campground D is tent only, and no hookups, while C is gravel sites, and A is all paved and level.)
2) No laundry on site. That was a bummer, especially since we were there so long.
3) Even on days it was posted the Nature Center was open, we never found that to be the case. The visitor center is in the rear of the park near the marina, and felt more like a merch shop (very small). The camp store was a bit overpriced, but well stocked.
4) There is a beach, but it's rock and mud. Not easy to get in or out of.
5) Nothing is convenient to the campground, everything requires you walk the road, where no one was going the 20mph posted limit. (Campground A is adjacent to the playground, and old pool.)
The positives:
1) Nature watching, we saw the most here. (Snakes, birds, racoons, chipmunks, deer, waterfowl, squirrel, cicadas, and all kinds of insects.)
2) The views, mountain and water. It's on Lake Chickamauga.
3) Very quiet park, it was only busy on the Saturday night of our stay, other wise it was less than 25% full.
4) While there aren't a ton of trails, the few they have a very nice and well marked, each around a half mile or so.
5) Convenient. We went to several other parks, and various touristy stuff with ease.
Other TN state parks we've been to:
Comparatively, Sycamore Shoals is a smaller state park. They have a great visitors center, packed full of information. The trails are also very nice.
Roan Mountain has beautiful views! We've only been to this park once, for an event so we didn't spent much time doing "park things".
Panther Creek is another park that was local-ish, and we visited fairly often. The overlook is very nice, and the trail system is probably the best we've been to so far.
David Crockett Birthplace, is an okay park. We easily spent the day and our favorite feature was the different rocks filling in each states name around the flagpole. We didn't do much at this park but hang out in the shade with family, so we can't form too much of an opinion.
Overall, they're all pretty good. We just wish:
1) That they'd open the pools back up.
2) That the activities went on year round (like they do at every VA state park we've been to).
3) That the campgrounds had evening activities, like both VA and OH.
What state parks (any state) are your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!
Thanks,
The Outlands
Comments
Post a Comment