Norris Dam State Park (Tennessee)

Mid- to late- May is a good time to go camping in East TN: it's not too hot & humid yet and the nights are still cool. The problem we have is that we usually decide at the last minute to go, and with COVID, camping sites are hard to come by. I looked at our usual campgrounds but every place was full at the beginning of the week. There was a campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that we hadn't been to but there is no electricity at National Park Campgrounds (at least around here). My next step was to look for state parks around us. I found Norris Dam State Park, which is just north of Knoxville. At the beginning of the week, there were plenty of spots available. So that made me a little nervous. I figured it was either going to be a hidden gem or a really crappy campground. 

When we arrived at our site, we weren't sure what to do: Where were we supposed to put the tent? There is, what appears to be, a double parking space with one side a bit longer than the other. 

There is a grassy area with a grill, table, and fire pit but the grass appeared to have just been sown and it wasn't level. 

We saw a State Park Employee so asked him where to put the tent. He was very nice and radioed the office since he had only been working for 2 weeks and didn't want to tell us the wrong place. The Campground Hosts ended up walking over and gave us a couple of suggestions. They said that most people use the asphalt, which was fine since we have cots. 

The site we had (46) had 2 picnic tables and 2 grills...one on either side of the drive. We put our Gazelle gazebo over the newer picnic table. We weren't sure if it was going to fit since this table was a little larger than your average picnic table. It was a tight fit, but it worked. 

I should add that our site was on the outer ring of the West Campground. The inner ring had longer drives and a place to put a tent in the grass, but there was a big water tower in the middle of the area next to the playground. Some of the outer sites on the other side of the campground were conducive to putting the tent in the grassy area.

We drove over to the East Campground. As soon as we drove in we knew we were in the better part.

This campground has fewer sites and (as you can see in the picture) a big tower in the middle of it. I didn't take a picture of the playground, but the one in the West was newer and bigger.

The brown building in the last picture is the bathhouse. A few years ago the State of TN updated the bathhouses. In this building, there are 4 separate showers/toilets. The first impression was "prison toilet".

Having the shower & toilet in one room is a great idea unless you have to use the restroom and all of the rooms are occupied with people taking their showers at night. Then it's a little problematic.

The bathhouses were clean and well maintained. I can only speak for the water pressure in one of them: it was okay. Not as good as home, but that's to be expected. There was plenty of toilet paper and each room was supplied with hand soap. There were no paper towels...only a hand dryer that worked pretty well. 

Once again, one of our complaints is that there isn't a washing station to wash dishes. We ended up washing dishes in the bathroom because there was nowhere else. 

The sites have water and electricity. Dump stations are available at each campground. Even though one of our past governors wanted the internet to be available at every State Park, it is not available here. We had a decent cell signal; enough that we were able to turn on the hotspot and watch a movie on Saturday night. There is a "canteen" with basics in case you need it. It's a walk-up building and is open until 8:00 pm. 

Around the Park

The park has quite a few hiking trails with varying lengths and levels of difficulty. The sign below lists some of them.

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a camp on this site while building the dam. The cabins used by the workers are available for rent.

There is also a "Tea Room" that is available to rent for gatherings. A wedding reception was being set up the day we were there.

In the Area

If you're looking for things of interest in the area, here are a few ideas:

Norris Dam was the first dam built as part of FDR's New Deal. There is a marina with a restaurant. There's plenty of fishing and boating to be enjoyed.

Rice Grist Mill. It is a working mill; flour and meal are available for purchase in the gift shop, which is on the top floor of the mill.

The Caleb Crosby Threshing Barn is right beside the grist mill. After their land was scheduled to be flooded with the building of Cherokee Dam, the family donated the barn to the National Park Service, who apparently forgot about it. It wasn't put back together until 1978, 34 years after it was dismantled on its original site on the Holston River.

Walk up the hill from the grist mill and you can visit Lenoir Museum. This is a very small museum, but it houses some interesting artifacts.

The Museum of Appalachia is also in the area, not far from the Lenoir Museum. This Smithsonian Affiliated Museum is a living history museum of life in Southern Appalachia. 

There is an Orchard Trail near the dam. It looks like a great place if you want to walk, run, or take the dog for a walk. There are signs to identify what orchard you're walking through.

If you're thirsty and/or hungry, you won't want to miss Clinch River Brewing. It has a small menu with a Louisiana flair and a great atmosphere. You can dine inside, outside on the front porch, or in the back around a pond with some good-sized rainbow trout swimming around.

Hidden Gem? Or Crappy?

Overall, we didn't think it was a bad park. Will it rank high on our places to camp? No, but if we can't get in anywhere else, we'd rather camp here than nowhere at all. If you have kids, this would be a great spot with the playground. There is a swimming pool for those hot summer days as well. Mary didn't feel it was as relaxing as other places we've stayed. She usually sleeps really well while camping but didn't sleep so great this time. Maybe it was because of the proximity to the road. Robert slept well, but he usually does anyway!

To answer the question: Hidden gem or crappy? we'd have to say somewhere in the middle.

Panther Creek State Park (Tennessee)

Panther Creek is a Tennessee State Park northeast of Knoxville. It's easily accessible from 11E. This was not our first visit, but it was the first visit since renovation. 
All 50 sites are paved and are level. Some sites have full hook-ups, but all of them have electricity and water. In addition, the sites have picnic tables, grills, and fire pits.

The sites are spacious; you don't feel like you're right on top of your neigbor.

There are 2 bath houses: 1 for the top and 1 for the lower.

The lower bath house has 3 bathrooms; the upper has 4. Each bathroom is large with a toilet, sink, and shower. 

There is a laundry room in each bath house with 1 washer & 1 dryer. Compared to other places we've camped, these were quite the bargain at $.75/load!

There are 2 pavilions that adjoin the bath house.

A huge plus for us is the trails that are all over. There are hiking and mountain biking trails all around the state park, as well as behind the campground.

As you come into the park, there is a swimming pool, outdoor basketball/volleyball (maybe tennis, too...we didn't drive up to them, so I'm not real sure.) courts, and a playground. Campers get a break on using the pool during the summer.

There is an amphitheater at the top of the campground; it's a short hike to get there.

 The steps are a nice addition since the renovation; it makes it easier to get to the trail in back of the campground:

As far as cell service, 4G was spotty; there were times it was good, but there were times it wasn't very good. There was supposed to be wifi but we weren't able to get it to connect. I was under the router and tried to connect but wasn't able to connect. 

We went without a reservation; however, it is better to have one. Unlike other campgrounds, signs are not placed on the poles to indicate which sites have been reserved. We looked online the night before to make sure there were some open, then talked with the Park Ranger after we got there. 

Panther Creek is one of our favorite campgrounds, and with it being about an hour away from us, it is perfect. There is a WalMart and Aldi not far away, so if you forget anything it's convenient to run out and get what you need. 

Even though it is close to Morristown, you'll feel like you're out in the middle of the wilderness.

Cumberland Mountain State Park

Cumberland Mountain State Park is located between Knoxville & Nashville, Tennessee, near Crossville.  The Cumberland Mountain State Park Friends Group webpage reports that this park is one of 14 original state parks.

The park is very well maintained; we arrived in a thunderstorm that made some branches fall onto the road. The next morning they were all picked up.

The sites have electricity, water, and full hook-ups. We were able to turn on the hot-spot for internet (to watch Netflix at night before we went to sleep), and had decent cell service. Each site is equipped with a fire ring, grill, picnic table, and lantern pole. There is also a garbage can at each site. The sites we saw were concrete with gravel attached to it, and all of the sites looked fairly level.

 Some of the bathrooms have recently been renovated. The one closest to us had not been, but it was still decent. The shower was hot and had really good pressure.

One thing I really liked about the shower was the number of hooks. There were 2 attached to the door, and then 2 more next to the actual shower.

The only thing we found lacking at the campground was a place to wash dishes, which is important to us since we don't have water in our camper. Well, the washing isn't really important, the getting rid of the gray water is, though.
Within the park, there is a nice swimming pool with a snack bar attached to it.

There is a "campstore", but be aware that it is almost empty, except for some t-shirts. It could be that they are waiting on more supplies, but it was almost empty.

On the other side of the campstore,there is a red-tailed hawk and barred owl in captivity.

                                                            

If you're looking for some hiking to do, there are plenty of trails available, as well as a swinging bridge. I have heard that the restaurant is very good, although we didn't have a chance to check it out. The restaurant is on Byrd Lake, which is also the site of a dam built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The dam, completed in 1938, is the largest masonry structure built by the CCC and is also considered the largest non-reinforced dam in the world. There is a nearby quarry that supplied the sandstone to make the concrete. The plants that were on the floor of the lake were dug up and transplanted for use in landscaping the park. 

If you don't want to camp, there are 3 different cabins available: Standard, Timber Lodge, and Luxurious.

Overall, we were very impressed with the park. We're putting this one on the list of places to return!