Travel Day To Defeated Creek Campground - (Carthage, TN)

After staying an extra day at River Plantation in Sevierville, we prepared to travel.  Our target was Defeated Creek Corps of Engineers (COE) Campground on Cordell Hull Lake just north of Carthage, TN.

It's in a rural area away from crowds and traffic and will be a great location for us to hang out for a couple weeks before making a short drive to the RVSEF Conference in Bowling Green, KY in early May.

With it being Easter weekend and the campground only having a few non-reservable sites, we wanted to arrive early.  I called ahead just to be sure they still had sites and we would fit.  But if there were no sites upon arrival, there is a sister campground called Salt Lick Creek about 10 miles away as a back-up plan.  It has plenty of sites available.

We were on the road by 9:00 and made the 178-mile trek mostly across I-40 west before taking the Carthage exit.  Along the way, we crossed into the Central time zone which I had failed to take into account.  So we arrived at Defeated Creek at 11:00 a.m.  :)

We parked the rig inside the gate.  The gate attendant gave us a map and highlighted the non-reservable sites as well as a couple of reservable sites open for the weekend.  The campground has water and electric sites and full hook-up sites.  Since we planned to be here two weeks, we hoped for a full hook-up site, but none of those were available.

Driving through with the Jeep, we ultimately chose Site 16 - a great reservable site that was mysteriously open through the weekend.  It is easy to back into although there are some over-hanging limbs that kept us from parking the rig exactly where we wanted it.  But it ain't too shabby.  :)

 

 

We've got a huge yard opening out to the lake ...

 

 

and nice lake views from inside.

 

 

 

If the clouds ever go away, we should have some great sunsets.  :)

We got set up, and I had to put the portable dish out for TV.  With the trees blocking our rooftop dish, we also have to rely on cellular internet.  Fortunately, there is a great signal, and we don't even need our external antenna or amplifier.

We had all afternoon to check out the campground and get our bearings in the surrounding area.  Linda likes arriving at campgrounds early, but she just isn't too keen on the early morning departure times to make that happen.  :)

We checked out the bathhouses and rode our bikes around the campground to pick out other sites.  There is also a marina right outside the campground with a cafe', cabin rentals, boat rentals, and fishing supplies.

Later, we drove over to Salt Lick Creek to check it out.  It's even more rural and the roads get a little more narrow and curvy, but it's certainly doable.  Our current site isn't available for the second weekend we are here, so we might just move to Salt Lick Creek since we'll have to change sites anyway.

Back at the rig, we had some leftovers for dinner and then went to the bathhouse for some long, hot showers.

It looked like we might be in for some heavy rain or storms after midnight.  We'll cross our fingers and hope they pass harmlessly.

Well, it's really nice to be in another COE campground.  It'll be home here in north central Tennessee for several days.  :)

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Comments

[Timothy Fansler]

Looks like another COE home-run. Too bad you couldn't get a full hookup site, but I guess that's what the Blue-Boys are for (yuch)... :-)

Whitetail near LaGrange where we met was gorgeous and serene, and of course I've seen photos in your journal of the other COE campgrounds where you've stayed... that's what I'd be looking for...

As always, safe travels...

Tim

[Susan Cronin]

I can hardly wait until we can do some of this too! House is scheduled to close in one week!!!! We'll see you somewhere down the road, I am sure.

[Syl]

Now that's a nice campsite! Maybe some paddle time this week. Enjoy!!
Syl

[Connie Cozart]

Howard & Linda, are the two of you driving separate rigs? Or do you pull the jeep behind the 5th? Sorry that I just noticed this if you've already answered this.

[Darby R Corwin]

Howard you are in one of our favorite campgrounds. We like it very much. There is a old Hotel in Carthage that has a great Buffet lunch. Also a Mexican resturant that is pretty good too. We always go over to the grocery in South Carthage and buy some steaks, they have always been very good and a lot cheaper than here at home. We love their Ribeyes. I wish I was there with you. Have a gret time .

[Howard]

Hi Connie,

We drive separately. More details of why we have the Jeep and do what we do can be found at this link - Reasons For Our Jeep:

http://rv-dreams.typepad.com/rvdreams_journal/2009/07/reasons-for-our-jeep-revisited-chester-ca.html