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Camping/sights fr. Hohenwald to Smokies


hgreen

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We pick up our new Oliver in October and will be making our way to the Smoky Mountains.  Just wondering about favorite campgrounds and sightseeing places from Hohenwald to the Smokies.  We have been to the Smokies and Pigeon Forge a couple of times but looking for ideas from Hohenwald to there.  

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A nice campground east of Nashville and only about 5 miles off Interstate 40 is Edgar Evins State Park.  About $35/night with water and electric at the site plus a dump on the way out.  Clean bath houses and many sites are right on a lake.  Its about a two to two and a half hour drive from Hohenwald.

Bill

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We stayed at Cumberland Mountain State Park TN several times not too far from I40 between Nashville and Knoxville.  We like camping in area 5. It's located in the Plateau area at Crossville. Electricity & water at the campsites with a dump station as you leave. The restrooms were clean, too.

https://tnstateparks.com/parks/cumberland-mountain

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Lots of great Tennessee state parks. We really loved Fall Creek Falls, one of the TN resort parks. 

When we stayed,,restaurant, golf, bluegrass at the amphitheater.  

And, of course, the lovely falls. 

Downside, the sites were smallish, and fairly close together, in our loop. Still, a great spot.

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4 hours ago, SeaDawg said:

Lots of great Tennessee state parks. We really loved Fall Creek Falls, one of the TN resort parks. 

When we stayed,,restaurant, golf, bluegrass at the amphitheater.  

And, of course, the lovely falls. 

Downside, the sites were smallish, and fairly close together, in our loop. Still, a great spot.

Agree, they have beautiful falls and places to hike & golf:

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Brian and Brandelyne:

I tried googling Duvall in the Smokies. It looks like Duvall in the Smokies is now called Buddy Bear in the Smokies RV Campground.

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If you want to try camping without hookups soon after delivery, you might try Meriweather Lewis Campground, close to Hohenwald on the Natchez Trace Parkway.  It’s an NFS campground, first come-first serve, and free.  We haven’t stayed there yet, it’s on our list, but Campendium reviews give it 5 stars and there is a photo of an Oliver in the reviews.   Comments welcome from anyone that has camped there!

Camping Along the Natchez Trace Parkway

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I've camped there a number of times and enjoyed it each time.  Plenty of shade and the restrooms are decent even though they do not have showers.  But, they do have water available - it is located right outside the restrooms where a spigot can be found on the side of the drinking fountain.  No electric and no dump but quiet and plenty of hiking.  The water can be located at - 35.524117, -87.454628

Bill

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35 minutes ago, Hokieman said:

If you want to try camping without hookups soon after delivery, you might try Meriweather Lewis Campground, close to Hohenwald on the Natchez Trace Parkway.  It’s an NFS campground, first come-first serve, and free.  We haven’t stayed there yet, it’s on our list, but Campendium reviews give it 5 stars and there is a photo of an Oliver in the reviews.   Comments welcome from anyone that has camped there!

Camping Along the Natchez Trace Parkway

@Hokieman Did you go to VA Tech?  My father and two of my brothers went there. I broke tradition and went to Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. It wasn’t near as cold in the winters!

We did our second factory visit last week (we live less than 2 hours away) and scoped out ML State Park. Very nice and quiet indeed.

Looks like @topgun2 has actually camped there. When we pick up, our plan is:

First night at the factory, second night at Amber Falls winery (Harvest Host), third night at MLSP and fourth night at Mouse Tail Landing SP, TN. That should be a good shakedown before heading the remaining 1.5 hours to home.

Brian

 

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Yep - I've stayed there - you can't beat the price (free).

This would be a great place to really test the solar, fresh water tank and all boondocking related systems.  And it is only about 7 or 8 miles from the Service Department if you should need them.

Bill

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27 minutes ago, Brian and Brandelyne Lewis said:

@Hokieman Did you go to VA Tech?

Yes, I am a Hokie, College of Engineering, 1985.

32 minutes ago, Brian and Brandelyne Lewis said:

First night at the factory, second night at Amber Falls winery (Harvest Host), third night at MLSP and fourth night at Mouse Tail Landing SP, TN. That should be a good shakedown before heading the remaining 1.5 hours to home.

Sounds like a great plan!   FWIW, after my delivery, I couldn’t find anything worth a trip back to the factory.  All minor stuff I fixed later myself with help by phone or email with Oliver Service.   My delivery was a pleasant experience. 

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@Hokieman that sounds great and very much like what I would do too. Unless it was a major issue I would keep going. We are mainly picking these sites to measure batteries while boondocking and then charge time when hooked up. We sold our Airstream 30’ Flying Cloud in 10 days and now we are going through camping withdrawals so when we pick it up we plan to camp!

Brian

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We did HH at Amber Falls Winery, it was very nice.  We always stop by anyway so it was nice to camp there.  We’ve also stayed at Panther Creek State Park in eastern TN and Fall Creek Falls State Park.  Both were nice parks.  Next month we’re going to try Cumberland Mountain State Park near Crossville and Natchez Trace State Park.  Fall camping in Tennessee is great.

Our first night after pick up was at Fall Hollow in Hohenwald.  Not sure when Oliver quit using them but the factory campsites must be much better.   Mike

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13 minutes ago, Brian and Brandelyne Lewis said:

Unless it was a major issue I would keep going.

Your plan is excellent, go camping, but stay in the area a few days just in case you need a part, or, go back to the factory if necessary.  When I picked up, they had no factory campground, so I booked 3 nights at David Crockett, Oliver paid for the 1st night.   I was traveling solo, because my wife couldn’t get off work,  so I spent 2 days checking everything, everywhere I could crawl, or climb.   All was working well, so I got bored and headed home early, dry camping a few nights at Harvest Hosts. 

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6 minutes ago, Mike and Carol said:

Not sure when Oliver quit using them but the factory campsites must be much better.

Without a doubt, the factory campsites are great.  While I was there last week everyone (6 out of 7 sites were taken) gathered for conversation and the trading of mods and possibly a beverage or two.

Its been a number of years now since Oliver used the Fall Hollow campground.  As I was told, someone was stabbed there and the facilities were not exactly the best.

While Oliver does require reservations for the company campsites and normally a site is available for only one night at a time, be sure to ask if a site is available and you need to stay for a day or two more.  If they have something available there is no problem getting it.  Certainly Megan is happy to help.

Bill

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Thank you all for your suggestions.  I have ask to stay two nights at Oliver if possible as we want to go over everything to make sure there are not any problems and that we understand how to operate mainly the solar system as we have had campers  for years and fortunately my husband is very knowledgeable on rvs.  

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22 hours ago, rideandfly said:

Have not camped in this area yet, but will camp at Buddy Bear, Thanks for the info!

 

We are not much for “attractions” so we look for quirky. While you are there, look up Bush’s Baked Beans (Made-in-TN) and take the factory tour. It is very interesting and hard to imagine all the different varieties.  You can actually trailer there and keep going on that road and it will put you back on I-40. This by-passes some of the major congestion up near Kodak.

I you are looking for something to do un-hitched, go up to Sevierville and visit Smokey Mountain Knife (SMKW) and Gun works. Biggest store of its kind and if that’s not your thing, Lodge (the cast iron people) is right next door. Lodge is a Made-in-Tennessee product also.

Hope that helps you and others looking to visit the Great Smokey Mountain NP area.

Brian

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  • 8 months later...
On 9/7/2022 at 9:06 PM, Brian and Brandelyne said:

When you get over near Pigeon Forge there is a gem of a private campground called Buddy Bear in the Smokies.  Give it a try, great people.

Brian

Brian, Thanks! This is on our list of CGs to visit.

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On 9/8/2022 at 9:48 AM, Brian and Brandelyne said:

and now we are going through camping withdrawals so when we pick it up we plan to camp!

(...not to highjack the thread) But, HA - this comment cracks us up!  We get the "camping withdrawals" after 7-10 days of being home, too!  We find ourselves occasionally sharing a cold one while sitting at the dinette table, the shades down, and imagining we're at some of our fav camping sites... (from inside w/shades down - same view, right?)

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