Recommended places to camp along the way

[oddball]

My son and I are going to be provisional campers at Swamp Base this year.  We're leaving Fredericksburg, VA heading to Lafayette, LA.  Looking for advice on places to camp along the way.

 

Overnight stops will be:

1. Somewhere close to Chatanooga, TN on the way down.

2. Spartanburg, SC, or Charlotte, NC on the way back.

 

Does anyone know of any good campgrounds, which allow tent camping near either location?  We would be interested in local outdoor attractions where we could do some exploring.

 

Thanks,

 

[Chisos]

DeSoto State Park in Alabama is about an hour south of Chattanooga on I-59...that might be an idea.

[cyclops]

Not too far from Chattanooga are several TVA campgrounds on the river and there's a commercial cave experience that's quite good (Raccoon Mountain) and they have a campground for tents. If you have time for a guided wild cave experience, it's a lot of fun too.

 

On the way back, there are state parks around Lake Norman north of Charlotte and there's also King's Mountain State Park and I know they have a designated tent area. It's an interesting geological formation too with Revolutionary War historical significance.

 

Also, keep away from the Spartanburg, SC area. It's the stuff that nightmares are made of. Keep going until you get to Kings Mountain State Park which isn't much farther along than Spartanburg, right at the state line, and if you want to get past Charlotte, there's Lake Norman State Park north of the town on I-77 and it has tent camping.

In case Atlanta takes too much out of you to make it past Spartanburg, there's Victoria Bryant State Park in Georgia not too far from the SC line. It's a really nice place to camp as well.

Edited September 18, 2015 by cyclops

[walk in the woods]

GSMNP isn't too far from Chattanooga.  I can't speak to the campgrounds but hiking is good and there's a Lodge Factory Outlet store nearby .

[perdidochas]

My son and I are going to be provisional campers at Swamp Base this year.  We're leaving Fredericksburg, VA heading to Lafayette, LA.  Looking for advice on places to camp along the way.

 

Overnight stops will be:

1. Somewhere close to Chatanooga, TN on the way down.

2. Spartanburg, SC, or Charlotte, NC on the way back.

 

Does anyone know of any good campgrounds, which allow tent camping near either location?  We would be interested in local outdoor attractions where we could do some exploring.

 

Thanks,

 

For a beautiful campground close to Chatanooga (maybe an hour out of your way round trip), go to Cloudland Canyon in Rising Fawn, GA.     It's in the corner of GA that you pass through on I-59 between Tennessee and Alabama. 

[Krampus]

If you want a nice view the Pisgah National Forest is west of Charlotte near Ashville. You can camp there. Of the 44+ peaks above 6,000 feet in the Appalachians, nearly half (22) are in the county surrounding the forest. Cold Mountain is near Camp Daniel Boone. Great overlook!!!

 

If you take 81 back, in Abingdon, VA there's a good BBQ joint (even for a Texan like me) called Bonefire Smokehouse. West of the interstate about 2 miles. Great food and non-scouting adult beverages.

[oddball]

Thanks for all the good suggestions.  I'll check some of those out.

[qwazse]

Gas prices were lower this last drive south, but Mrs. Q and I made up for it. If we bought any more d/o’s, I could have mounted matching hubcaps on all four wheels.