Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area

I grew up on land drained by the Cumberland River in Kentucky and in a family who pioneered the area.  I found camping there to be like going home to land that was an old friend.

Bandy Creek Campground

Big South Fork NRRA is west of I-75, north of Knoxville, and just west of Oneida, TN.  The National Park covers 125,000 acres of mostly wild land and reaches north into southeastern Kentucky.  The area is full of sandstone ridges and bluffs and has a few high arches (surprise!) and deep gorges.  The wild South Fork of the Cumberland River flows through here and the area supports a wide diversity of biology.  The area has seen human occupation over the past 10,000 years by groups as diverse as paleo-indians to coal miners.
Civil War history gets personal here, where some of the bizarre stories and hardships will make your skin crawl.  Julia Marcum, wounded by confederate soldiers is the only woman in the US to receive a pension for active Civil War duty.  The community names of Troublesome, Difficulty and No Business tell how difficult life was here in the 1800's.

A stream along a hiking trail

The park supports RVcamping with 96 sites with water & electric at Bandy Creek. The Park also great for tent camping from your car (181 total sites), backpacking, hiking, mountain bicycling, and extensive white water kayaking.  The Blue Heron Camping area offers 45 tent sites and costs $17 nightly.
The Blue Heron mine, operated by the Stearns Coal & Lumber Company, brought heavy industry to the area.  When it closed in 1962, most of the buildings were removed.  The "Ghost Structures" you now see in this part of the park are a new interpretation tool to get a better understanding of the area and time.  Look in the Ghost Structures for the life-sized photo of the Blue Heron Quartet gospel singing group from nearby Stearns, KY, singing into the WSFC microphone.  That was my father's radio station in Somerset, Ky.  While there, do enjoy the Big South Fork Scenic Railway trip into the Blue Heron portion of Park.
For a Park map, CLICK HERE.
For camping, the park has 3 campgrounds, two with hot water showers (thanks Army Corps of Engineers) and one primitive campsite at Alum Ford.  We stayed at Bandy Creek.  Camping runs $19 a night for tents, $22 a night for RV's.  Do check the website for current pricing.
The Park also offers Charit Creek Lodge, a hike-in-only (or bicycle or horseback) lodge with food service, showers and overnight accommodations.  This would be similar to staying at the Mount LeConte Lodge in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

Twin Arches

Hiking at Big South Fork is extensive, and includes more trails than are mentioned in the state websites.  The Park Service link above includes 9 downloadable trail maps to sample the area.  I really liked hiking the trails to the Twin Arches and remember my wife's surprise and amazement when she first saw them.  7 other arches have hiking trails or road access to them.  It is much like a small version of Arches National Park with trees.  The John Muir National Recreation Trail has a section you can backpack that runs through the park along with other trails that could add up to a week-long backpacking trip.  There are also some remains of old farms you can tour along hiking trails.
Mountain Biking is supported by several trails, many built by the Big South Fork Mountain Bike Club in tandem with the Park Service.

Ride your bike to a scenic overlook

There is also horseback riding with some tack available at Bandy Creek.  There are no other stores inside the park, plan on carrying everything in except firewood. Bringing in outside firewood is prevented due to Park efforts in controlling beetle infestation.
There are also many things to do just outside the Park including a visit to historic Rugby, a drive across Yamacraw, Brewster and Peters Bridges, and trips to Devils Jump, Yahoo Falls, Split Bow Arch and the East Rim Overlooks.  Stores, hotels and restaurants are available in and around Oneida.
My suggestion is to plan several days here, bring your mountain bikes, kayaks and hiking gear and have a great time enjoying the sunsets from your camp site.  The Big South Fork offers more varied recreation opportunities than many other National Parks in the country.
To get there, from I-75 north of Knoxville, take exit 141 onto TN 63 and go west to US 27, then north toward Oneida.  At Oneida, turn left at the first traffic light onto highway 297 west.  Drive about 15 miles and cross the South Fork of the Cumberland River at Leatherwood Ford to reach the Bandy Creek Campground.  Caution, the roads near the Park are steep!