RV Park Recommendations for Nashville & Chattanooga and in-between

exposurecontrol · 03-06-2015, 03:10 PM

Heading south last week of March. Will be doing an overnight heading down around either Nashville, Chattanooga, or somewhere in-between depending on how we are doing. On the return, plan to stay for a couple of days in Nashville and see some things there. Any suggested RV parks for those areas? Have a 31 foot TT.

MartyinSC · 03-06-2015, 03:53 PM

Loved the KOA at Manchester TN!

seabee · 03-06-2015, 06:10 PM

Nashville KOA. close to grand ole opry. get tickets early if you want to see a show.
good food at the "cock of the walk" restaurant, just up the road from the KOA.
check the office for where to get tour bus. the Reiman auditorium, [original opry land] is a must see.

exposurecontrol · 03-06-2015, 06:34 PM

Thanks guys, I'll check out those campgrounds. But am I wrong..the pricing at the KOA's always looks to me to be a bit higher than other campgrounds.

geondebi · 03-06-2015, 07:15 PM

a few years back we stayed at 2 rivers campground and it was very nice. Look into a shuttle van that will pick you up at the campground take you to Downtown and back to your trailer. Great deal and no worry about driving or parking in the city. You also might like a few adult drinks.

MartyinSC · 03-06-2015, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exposurecontrol

Thanks guys, I'll check out those campgrounds. But am I wrong..the pricing at the KOA's always looks to me to be a bit higher than other campgrounds.

This KOA has a hot tub in addition to the pool, shows movies, has coffee/donuts in the morning, etc. A nice place, and pretty spread out. A KOA membership ($24/yr) saves you 10% They always have a nice store, don't get worked up about beer/wine, in fact sell it in their stores. To us, KOA means camping, not just parking and hook ups. To each their own!

mike06081969 · 03-06-2015, 08:26 PM

We have stayed at the Nashville KOA and the Jellystone Park in Nashville. There are three campgrounds located on Music Valley Drive very near the Opryland Hotel, the Grand Ole Opry, and Opry Mills Mall. Two Rivers is the third, but we have not stayed there. The KOA and Jellystone have both been remodeled since being damaged in the 2010 flood. Both are nice, but the KOA sites are very tight unless you luck into one of the big rig friendly sites, which are limited in number. I liked Jellystone better personally.

If you stay at one of these three, Camping World is in walking distance of any of them. Take time to eat dinner at the Cock of the Walk, located next door to the KOA.

mike06081969 · 03-06-2015, 08:39 PM

If you don't mind being a few miles out of Nashville, check out Seven Points and Cedar Creek Campgrounds. Both are Corps of Engineers campgrounds and are very nice. They stay booked up, so you might want to check into reservations now if you are interested. They aren't far from Nashville and offer a little bit more of a camping feel than the ones in the Opry area. Fall Creek Falls State Park is also very nice, but is a bit further out than the COE campgrounds. Cedars of Lebanon State Park is near Nashville, but isn't as nice as Fall Creek Falls.

Loneoak · 03-07-2015, 04:04 AM

I am following this thread with interest as we are planning a visit to Nashville early next month on our way home from Florida. Other stops will include the Florida panhandle, Memphis and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. We had originally planned a visit to DC this year on our way home, but since we missed Nashville on the way home from our trip out west last fall due to weather, we are doing that instead.

We stayed a at a lot of KOAs on our trip last fall and tend to gravitate towards them. The post about the sites at the Nashville KOA being tight is a concern. We encountered that at several KOAs last fall. I guess the campgrounds are not keeping up with the increase in size of RVs over the years.

markandkim · 03-07-2015, 05:20 AM

NRA convention there in April. Might take the trailer.

johnboytoo · 03-07-2015, 06:29 AM

We stayed at our last KOA about 20 years ago and unless they have improved DRASTICALLY, will never bother them with our rv again...

I guess if you are just looking for an expensive, tight, bland stopover, they would do, but we look more for scenic places

and they are all over and cheaper usually

(IMHO, of course !)

Here's 30 or so between Memphis and Nashville
http://trips.goodsamclub.com/

sleepyT · 03-07-2015, 06:53 AM

We stayed at Nashville Shores when we visited Nashville last Sept. It also is NOT down the street from the Grand Old Opry, you will need to drive to downtown Nashville...The good new is we thought there was plenty of parking in the downtown...You have to pay to park, but it is reasonable...

PS...Johnboy great suggestion...I too use the Good Sam "Trip Planner"...Great tool...

Tim D · 03-07-2015, 07:02 AM

We stayed at the Nashville KOA this past summer. It was very crowded. It had alternating sites where you parked side to side and your doors faced your neighbors. We were able to put out awning as neighbor did not have one on his airstream. It is somewhat noisy with highway noise. We used it as our base of operations. Would I use it again. Depends on what I was going for.

Tim D · 03-07-2015, 07:19 AM

Chattanooga area is just beautiful. Raccoon Mtn campground is nice. They have a beautiful cave right on site, go-carts, laundry, etc. Lookout Valley RV park is ok too. There you can see hang gliders flying around. You can drive to the top and get a tandem ride. Even if you don't want a ride the view alone is worth the drive.

mike06081969 · 03-07-2015, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loneoak

I am following this thread with interest as we are planning a visit to Nashville early next month on our way home from Florida. Other stops will include the Florida panhandle, Memphis and Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. We had originally planned a visit to DC this year on our way home, but since we missed Nashville on the way home from our trip out west last fall due to weather, we are doing that instead.

We stayed a at a lot of KOAs on our trip last fall and tend to gravitate towards them. The post about the sites at the Nashville KOA being tight is a concern. We encountered that at several KOAs last fall. I guess the campgrounds are not keeping up with the increase in size of RVs over the years.

With the Nashville KOA, length of the sites is as much of an issue as width of the sites. As I said, they do have some big-rig friendly sites, but they are limited in number. When I had my 34' Flagstaff travel trailer, I couldn't get both the truck and the trailer on the campsite without one of them being out in the road. It is a nice campground, though, and close to the action. We like the Jellystone better just because the campsites were a tad bit roomier.

mike06081969 · 03-07-2015, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepyT

We stayed at Nashville Shores when we visited Nashville last Sept. It also is NOT down the street from the Grand Old Opry, you will need to drive to downtown Nashville...The good new is we thought there was plenty of parking in the downtown...You have to pay to park, but it is reasonable...

PS...Johnboy great suggestion...I too use the Good Sam "Trip Planner"...Great tool...

The Ryman Auditorium, the original site of the Grand Ole Opry, is indeed located in downtown Nashville, a few miles from the Music Valley Drive area. However, the current Grand Ole Opry (where you would need to go to see the shows) is located on the same property as Opry Mills Mall and the Opryland Hotel. It is only roughly a mile from the campgrounds on Music Valley Drive, but it is a further drive to Nashville Shores that you are talking about. Just wanted to clarify the difference between the Ryman in downtown Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry which is located outside Nashville. I believe it is actually officially located in Madison, TN. Exits 209/210 off I-40 are the downtown Nashville area, whereas the exit for Opry Mills/Grand Ole Opry is 215.

mike06081969 · 03-07-2015, 07:51 AM

You might also take a look at www.campgroundreviews.com

I've planned several trips using that website. The only word of caution is to watch for the outliers on the ratings and if a campground has only been rated by a couple of people, I would use caution there. I tend to pick campgrounds that have been rated more than ten times in the last year or so and have an average rating of at least 7 out of 10. By outliers, I mean those that are so snotty that they will rate a campground a 2 because the campground has gravel campsites. Why not just stay in a hotel if you're that picky?

johnboytoo · 03-07-2015, 08:09 AM

"One mans trash is another mans treasure" is certainly true,
we all have different expectations in rv's and rv parks (and politicians

)

Another resource is google maps with street view....
(saved us from one very nice campground we considered when the next street over had bars on all the windows and doors

)

and CampgroundGallery.com may have some parks with pics...

gball · 03-07-2015, 08:47 AM

I would also recommend that you check out the Corps of Engineers parks. We have stayed at Seven Points on J. Percy Priest Lake on three different occasions and have always enjoyed being in the park. It is about a 30 drive to downtown Nashville. Here is a link to Corps parks in the area: Nashville District > Missions > Recreation > Camping
Click on the park name on the left side of the screen and all of the information about the park will come up.

MartyinSC · 03-07-2015, 09:36 AM

To boycott a whole franchise because of a bad experience 20 years ago seems extreme. Is there anything that has NOT changed in 20 years?

As to the size of camp sites, yes, our travels show the RV world is roughly divided into two categories. There are exceptions, of course. The first is an older site, more devoted to outdoor recreation, and the lots are older, and the spots are smaller. I would call these "camp sites." The other, newer category is the RV Park/Resort, which tends to be newer, larger concrete pads with hook ups and not much else. Maybe a swimming pool. More suitable for the big rigs. We have a 25' TT, so we are happy in either. But a big rig in a small park is out of his natural element, as would be a tent camper on a concrete pad in an RV Resort.

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