Best Tent Camping: Tennessee: Your Car-Camping Guide to Scenic Beauty, the Sounds of Nature, and an Escape from Civilization

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About Best Tent Camping: Tennessee: Your Car-Camping

Product Description Perfect Camping for You in Tennessee! Well-traveled outdoor writer and native Tennessean Johnny Molloy methodically set forth into his home state, searching for campgrounds to include in this new edition of Best Tent Camping: Tennessee. Having camped the state for decades, Molloy, with over 50 outdoor guides to his credit, used his wealth of experience and scoured the entirety of Tennessee―choosing only the most pristine campgrounds that included not only a great locale for tent campers but with fun outdoors activities nearby, most as close as your tent door.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. About the Author Johnny Molloy is a writer and adventurer based in Johnson City, TN. He has written more than 40 books about the outdoors, including hiking guidebooks, camping guidebooks, paddling guidebooks, comprehensive guidebooks about a specific area, and true outdoor adventure books throughout the Eastern United States. Molloy writes for varied magazines and websites, and he is a columnist and feature writer for his local paper, the Johnson City Press. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 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 ParksCONTACT: 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: ProhibitedVEHICLES: 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 d