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Post edited 9:47 pm – September 12, 2011 by ron_sue

The best in east tennnessee.(period) Something for everyone.  Y'all come!

Post edited 1:11 am – September 15, 2011 by ron_sue

i have never stayed at Petit Jean SP however sue has and agrees with you .  i got close once on the way to russellville from ft. pickens in fla.  the funny thing about that trip was that i met a man at ft. pickens around a campfire and i told him my intentions. they were to leave there then spend a few night in new orleans ( fountainbleau state park) then on to russelville.   He being an old sage gave me this advice.  he said " when you look at the map you will see that hwy 7 looks like the perfect route but you should avoid it at all costs because the map don't show the mountains".  but being the young (at the time) buck with a big dodge pickup and a easy towable pop-up camper i ignored his advice.  after overheating twice, a flat on the popup and 15 or so years later i would tell anyone towing to beware of scenic 7, it is a great road for a sports car or a bike but our kind (rvers) maybe not.  I stayed  at a county park( I think) on lake Dardanelle for a couple of days.  not great but nice enough (was visiting ex-inlaws). moved on then on to tyler bend campground on the buffalo national river which i would gladly do again  (sans ex-inlaws)

this a very popular destination campground, and has been for a lot of years.  as with a lot of public use facilities, ongoing maintenance becomes more of an issue during peak use. I believe that to be true anywhere. (well maybe not ft. wilderness where they never stop cleaning)   the first time that i stayed at fall creek falls  (2000 something, just before the fourth of July) i was not impressed.  they had twenty amp service ( the camp store just happened to sell the adapter) and they seemed to close the bath houses for cleaning at times that i wanted to clean up, and they never seemed to get them clean. (sometimes they were dirtier after cleaning?) 

today, most if not all of the camp loops have been modernized  with 20, 30 and some 50 amp services along with sewer and paved sites.  the bath houses are also very clean and modern.the result of several years of upgrades.   the sites are clean, however that does seem to be up to the campers (you leave it clean for me, i leave it clean for you.)

Fall Creek Falls is one of my favorite parks in the country.  But I haven't camped there, only stayed in the lodge.  I do hope to get back there with the camper some day.

Oh and Ron, you ought to try Scenic 7 in a charter bus.  The kids in the back of the bus were really green when we got to Hot Springs