Best Tent Camping: Tennessee: Your Car-Camping Guide to Scenic Beauty, the Sounds of Nature, and an Escape from Civilization
192Best Tent Camping: Tennessee: Your Car-Camping Guide to Scenic Beauty, the Sounds of Nature, and an Escape from Civilization
192eBookSecond Edition (Second Edition)
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Included in this book is a rating system for the Southern Appalachian's 50 best tent campgrounds. Certain campground attributes -- beauty, site privacy, site spaciousness, quiet, security, and cleanliness/upkeep -- are ranked using a star system.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781634040273 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Menasha Ridge Press |
Publication date: | 10/19/2015 |
Series: | Best Tent Camping |
Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 192 |
File size: | 18 MB |
Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Big Hill Pond State Park
This is the most underused and underappreciated state park in West Tennessee.
Beauty: 5 stars
Privacy: 5 stars
Spaciousness: 3 stars
Quiet: 5 stars
Security: 5 stars
Cleanliness: 5 stars
KEY INFORMATION
ADDRESS: 11701 TN 57, Pocahontas, TN 38061
OPERATED BY: Tennessee State Parks
CONTACT: 731-645-7967; tnstateparks.com
OPEN: Year-round
SITES: 30
EACH SITE: Picnic table, fire ring, upright grill
ASSIGNMENT: First come, first served and by reservation
REGISTRATION: Ranger will come by to register you
FACILITIES: Hot showers, water spigots; bathhouse closed November–February
PARKING: At campsites only
FEE: $13/night
ELEVATION: 500'
RESTRICTIONS:
PETS: On 6-foot leash only
FIRES: In fire rings only
ALCOHOL: Prohibited
VEHICLES: Maximum 2 vehicles/site
OTHER: Maximum 14-day stay
Big Hill Pond State Park is the best-kept secret in West Tennessee. The park was created in part because of its wetlands, which lie in the floodplain of the Tuscumbia River. But this park is not all about wetlands, for Big Hill Pond mostly has steep hills broken by rock outcrops hovering over sharp, wooded ravines. A walk on any of the 30 miles of trails here will testify to that. The entire trail system, with loop possibilities ideal for day hikers, is special enough to have been designated a National Recreation Trail. And when darkness comes, you will find that the campground was seemingly designed with tent campers in mind.
The 30-site campground is set on a ridge above Dismal Branch. This rolling backdrop offers vertical variation on your camping opportunities. Enter a classic campground loop shaded by tall pines, hickories, and oaks. Campsites are made level in this hilly country by landscaping timbers. The first few sites are the most open and sunny. Dense woods shade the other campsites. Smaller trees form a thick understory. Campsites are ample in size for the average tent camper and gear. Campsite privacy, while excellent, is not much of an issue, as this undiscovered getaway is rarely crowded.
As you continue around the loop, a small side road has a few pull-through sites. An intermittent streambed runs along the second half of the loop. There are more dogwoods and pines here. To complete the loop, climb past some sites that are a bit pinched in. There is a fully equipped bathhouse in the center of the loop, along with a couple of campsites. The campground is in the heart of the park, which gives it an honest sense of being in the real, natural Tennessee. Spring and fall are the more popular seasons, but even then Big Hill Pond very rarely fills.
The name Big Hill Pond comes from a dug pond that came to be in 1853, when fill was needed to complete the railroad that runs along the southern side of the park. The cypress-ringed pond is still there. Travis McNatt Lake is a more recent recreational centerpiece. Both lakes offer fishing, but Big Hill Pond is a little harder to access, whereas Travis McNatt Lake is just a short piece from the campground. Spring fed and 165 acres in size, the lake has lots of bass, bream, and catfish. Even if you don’t catch anything, the “no gas motors” lake is a pleasure to paddle in a canoe, especially in spring when the azaleas are blooming, or when autumn’s paintbrush reflects off the water.
A 30-mile trail system explores the high and the low of Big Hill Pond State Park and features a little Civil War history, such as the earthworks that were part of a guard post built by Union soldiers to protect the railroad. The highest of the high is an observation tower where there are 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside, including views far south into Mississippi, across the Tuscumbia River Valley. The lowest of the low is the 0.8-mile boardwalk traversing Dismal Swamp, a bottomland forest that attracts waterfowl and other wildlife. In between are wooded hills and surprisingly steep valleys. You may even see deer on the ridges and waterfowl in the lake or hear turkeys gobble in the far distance. The narrow paths meander over clear streams on smaller footbridges and past old homesites where subsistence farmers once eked out a living. These days you will see Mother Nature thriving here in a much richer fashion.
Getting There
From Selmer, head 7 miles south on US 45 to TN 57. Turn right and head 10 miles west on TN 57 to the Big Hill Pond entrance, which will be on your left.
GPS COORDINATES N 35° 3.885' W 88° 43.107'
Table of Contents
Tennessee Overview Map
Overview-Map Key i
Best Campgrounds vii
Acknowledgments viii
Preface ix
Introduction 1
West Tennessee 9
1 Big Hill Pond State Park 10
2 Chickasaw State Park 13
3 Fort Pillow State Park 17
4 Meeman-Shelby State Park 20
5 Natchez Trace State Park and Forest 23
8 Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park 27
7 Pickwick Landing State Park 30
Middle Tennessee 34
8 Anderson Road 35
9 Bledsoe Creek State Park 38
10 Cedars of Lebanon State Park 41
11 David Crockett State Park 44
12 Edgar Evins State Park 48
13 Fall Creek Falls State Park 51
14 Gatlin Point 54
15 Harpeth River Bridge 57
16 Henry Horton State Park 60
17 Lillydale 63
18 Meriwether Lewis Monument 66
19 Montgomery Bell State Park 69
20 Mousetail Landing State Park 72
21 Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park 75
22 Piney 78
23 Ragland Bottoms 81
24 Rock Island State Park 84
East Tennessee 87
25 Abrams Creek 88
26 Backbone Rock 91
27 Bandy Creek 94
28 Cardens Bluff 97
29 Chilhowee 100
30 Cosby 104
31 Dennis Cove 107
32 Elkmont 110
33 Franklin State Forest 113
34 Frozen Head State Park 116
35 Hiwassee-Ocoee Scenic River State Park 119
36 Holly Flats 122
37 Indian Boundary 125
38 Jake Best 128
39 Little Oak 131
40 Nolichucky Gorge 134
41 Norris Dam State Park 137
42 North River 141
43 Obed Wild and Scenic River 144
44 Old Forge 147
45 Paint Creek 150
46 Pickett State Park 153
47 Prentice Cooper State Forest 156
48 Rock Creek 159
49 Round Mountain 162
50 Sylco 165
Appendixes 169
Appendix A Camping Equipment 169
Appendix B Sources of Information 170
Index 171
About the Author 181
Map Legend Inside Back Cover