We made a deal that no one was working on this vacation and except for one minor emergency business call, we kept that promise. It’s been a long time since we really got away and I can say that the long-awaited trip was worth every day that I stressed about not bringing work with me!
We visited northeast Tennessee and southeast Kentucky to hike, camp and go whitewater rafting. We had a great time discovering the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area, the Daniel Boone National Forest and Cumberland Falls and River.
We were amazed by the sandstone arches after about a 1 1/2 mile hike. We couldn’t believe the massive beauties and the access we had to climb atop of the arch and walk across it! We also rafted the Cumberland River, beginning at the falls – no we didn’t go over them, but paddled up to the falls and then went from there. We also hiked to the Yahoo Falls, which you can walk behind. However, with the lack of rain, it was only a drip, but still a remarkable drip!
We also discovered a town called Rugby, Tenn., which is on the National Registry and was incredible! A one-time utopia project in the works, the town was left behind, but later rediscovered and restored, as much as possible.
Then, when we were done with the outside wonders, we headed north to Cedar Point, you know, the roller coaster capital of the world! There, we experienced some of the most incredible man-made sights and rides. The Maverick is everything you heard – fantastic!
All in all we had a great time, and the time we spent in the national park campgrounds and private campgrounds was as relaxing and interesting as the rest of the trip.
While on the Tennessee side of the Big South Fork, we stayed in the campground in the park that took us down and up and up and down 13% grades and near u-turn turns, an interesting ride with the new camper. But once we arrived at the park that offered lots of space, horse barns for horse campers and numerous trails, we were happy with our choice.
The sites are set up in circles with easy back-in access and roomy spaces so we could stretch and let Bert, the Jack Russell Terrier of the family get out a little. We were warned about the bears and the Copperheads, but didn’t see any – that’s probably a good thing, although I was looking forward to some photos.
The campground hosts were very efficient here, although they weren’t as busy as the retired couple we encountered on the Kentucky side of the Big South Fork. There the couple from Ohio handled the trash and some of the clean up. They also watched a bear mosey in to camp from their breakfast table – probably not part of the deal.
We also spent some time at a Corbin KOA in Corbin, Ky., near the Cumberland Falls, that was very nice and gave us a chance to swim in a pool and have cable, which our 16-year-old son was grateful for about four days without anything but two stations. We don’t yet have a dish on our rig. He thinks we need one!
The sites were roomy and we had everything we needed, including a laundry room in the office/store. The owners and "workampers" were very helpful, giving us information on the sites of the area and offering assistance. They even had to let us out of our camper when we had a small mishap with a loose lock!
Thank goodness they were there. They even had had the same issue with their camper on a trip, so knew exactly what was wrong and how to fix it! The campground was very CLEAN and inviting and we met some interesting folks from Pennsylvania and other parts of Kentucky.
They offered sites with several different types of hookups. We took the full package, which gave us electric, water, sewer, cable and free W-Fi. Oh yeah, they wouldn’t let me bring my computer!
When we visited Cedar Point we stayed at their Camper Village, which we had stayed in before with our popup camper. This is a campground that isn’t cheap, but also doesn’t offer a lot of frills. You pay for the park access, but that’s what we wanted. Those that stay in the campground or one of the other Cedar Point facilities get early entry into the park, which this summer meant getting on the Maverick before the lines were two-hours long!
A tip for those who might go here, fill up your water tank, there are no full hookups here, only electric. However, the sites are big enough and they do offer pull-thru sites – but tell them how big your RV is, so they put in the right place!
The staff does keep a nice clean facility and the bathhouses were clean with adequate supplies of hot water!
