TN Army Corps Poole Knobs Recreation Area (near Nashville)

This is a Corps of Engineers campground on the shores of J. Percy Priest Lake, located southeast of Nashville. Pricewise, the private campgrounds in the area (most are $50-$65 per night) are WAY more expensive, so it makes sense to stay here. We generally like COE campgrounds for their low cost, access to water and the ability to reserve online without a reservation fee. But a lot of COE campgrounds are poorly laid out, at least from the perspective of non-self contained RVs, like our Camp Inns.

The campground (with around 90 campsites) is laid out at the base of one of the knobs, with the sites with power encircling the knob. Then there is a cul de sac in the middle with primitive sites. At one end is the shower house, and near the other end is a bathroom. That's it. None on the main loop!

We actually stayed here for free. Someone had paid, but had to leave early, so he asked the volunteers at the registration shack to give it to someone else. That happened to be us. We looked at the campground map and thought to ourselves - "Heck, it is right across from the shower house. Sweet!" Only there was a very long, steep bush whack of a climb through dense brush between us and the shower house. So we looked at the map again, seeing a path to the bathroom to the north. So I went exploring with the dog. We found a very steep gravel path to the bathroom, probably too steep to navigate at night in the heavy rain that we were having.

So, there are perhaps a handful of powered sites within a half mile hike of the shower house. The only sites that are located conveniently to either bathroom are the primitive sites. Since it was free we can't complain. And since we only stayed one night it wasn't that much of an inconvenience. But of the many poorly designed COE campgrounds that we've stayed at, this one is hands down the worst in terms of bathroom placement (the #1 flaw at many COE campgrounds).

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. We recently stay at the COE campground Lone Point at Lake Shelbyville in Illinois. It was wonderful. Many toilet houses and a large shower house just down the road from our site, farther if you were at the end of the loop. They even had a great tent site right across the road (campers present) and several by the shower house. It's a little out of the way and doesn't seem as popular as others in the area but was nice a quiet with nice near boat ramp. 50 amp electric at our site ( for our new trailer) with picnic table, light hook pole, and fire grate and box. $16. $8 with senior card. Easy on line reservation. Very nice host.
Gina
PS love your blog.

 

I edited my comment to state that bathroom placement is the #1 flaw at many COE campgrounds, not most. The COE's in the northern half of the intermountain west seem to be more poorly laid out than those we've stayed at in the midwest, which is why Poole's Knobs was a bit of a surprise to us and why we figured it was worth giving folks a heads up.

 

Thanks. Keep on posting you campground reviews on your blog. Now we want to travel the Trace.
Gina