Check out the Jellystone in Cosby TN. very nice place. you can get 4 sites next to each other and they are right on a nice creek that comes down out of the mountains. very nice relaxing setting. we loved it.
Wife Kim
Son Brandon 11yrs
Daughter Marissa 10yrs
Dog Shadow
07 Cherokee 32B
02 Excursion 4X4 V-10 4.30 gear 5Star tuner Y-pipe mod Hellwig sway bar
Reese HP dualcam Prodigy brake controller
A bad day of camping is
better than a good day at work!
Thank you everyone for the information -- I will be looking into all of the suggestions.
As far as dry camping goes, I do not have a generator (nor do I plan to buy one) -- how long does a camper battery typically last? I know it would depend on what you actually use, but if we were dry camping I would assume it might be pretty much limited to just a light or two at night when getting ready for bed, water pump, etc. Other than that, the refrig would run on gas which is really the most important thing. It would be nice to be able to run my Maxxair fan to keep air flow going though.
dbsbigfoot - It takes more than just getting a generator - believe me... You buy the 2KW Honda generator first with the RV30A-15A adapter so you can connect your trailer directly to the generator.
Most places you will find on the East side of the US will only allow the use of generators during certain hours. This is normally from 8AM-10AM and then again from 4:30PM to 7:30PM. Then the camp sites like ELKMONT only have certain areas designated as generator areas on top of that.
What we decided to do to make it really nice camping off the power grid was to beef-up the trailer battery systems. This involved getting a smart-mode converter/charger unit, installing more batteries (Min two but four works like gang busters), beefing up battery cables and using good quality marine quality battery switches and fuse blocks, etc, changing out the high current incandescent bulbs for LED boards, installing an pure sine wave INVERTER to run what 120VAC appliances you want to run like your home entertainment center etc.
We ended up with 255AH battery bank of three 85AH interstate 12VDC batteries and using a smart mode PD9260C converter/charge unit. We also ended up with a 600W PSW Inverter...
With all of this we can do almost anything we wanted to do at regular camp sites except NO AIR CONDITIONING. this included watching HDTV/DVDs every night using the OTA outside antenna picking up the Natl Broadcast free HDTV CBS-NBC-ABC-FOX-PBS, I got to play with my Ham radio items, lit up our corner of the camp ground with any and all interior and exterior lights as needed, momabear would sometimes use an electric blanket in her lap watching HDTV at night, All of the trailer 12VDc appliances would work just fine including running some fans as needed.
I could do all of this in the one day/night battery run and end up with around 11.9VDC to 12.0VDC battery voltage remaining and then would connect up the Trailer shore power cable directly to the generator to re-charge my battery bank back up to its 90% charge state in a 2-3 hours generator run time period. Since only two hours was allowed during breakfast I would have to run the generator setup again during the evening generator run time period to really get my batteries up to the required 90% charge state. I always make up my fresh made bean coffee during the breakfast generator time for the day (pours up in a thermos). Sometimes during the evening meal run time we will use the electric skillet for some special meals..
We have visited ELKMONT on many camping trips doing all of this. All they have is water available from the bath house spigot. It is a very doable thing to do but you have to plan for it and keep in mind not just one thing you do will make it successful for you. I had to do all my upgrades in spurts to be able to afford them all but in the end I really got something nice and again very successful for us when camping off the power grid. Adding solar panels is the next item to add to really make it very successful.
No matter where we end up now if we need to run a 20-inch box fan around the camp fire to keep mosquitoes off of us I just run an 120VAC extension out to it and plug it in...
All of these beefed-up resources really comes in handy in CAMP BACKYARD when the power company goes off for a week during a hurricane event... All the neighbors will come over and watch HDTV with you sitting out in the patio then go back home to their flashlights and candles.
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me Roy and Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
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Townsend Koa not only has all you want but has all the sites next to each other. We will be camping in our water and electric site(they have FU also) which is right next to a tent site where my sister will be staying. Right across the road from us is the Camping Cabins that my inlaws will be staying out for a couple days.
Ditto on Yogi in the smokies.
It is a great family cg. Cabins are mixed in with camp sites.
I have many pics nelow of Yogi. It is beautiful!. tubing right in the cg. Just a few miles from the BRPW. Nice cool temps. It is 7 miles up the mt from Cherokee. We have a large group 35 people. who just returned. Great base camp.
it is 50 min back over the mt to gatlinburg. We do day trips.
Also sliding rock is a fav thing to do. Look it up on youtube. here
In my pics below you can see many pics of the cg. Album.Cherokee/Ober
Another vote for Great Smoky Jellystone in Cosby, Tn. They have a tent area, full hookups including cable AND cabins! We have made the trip from Kansas City three different times and keep going back there because of the owners, the Landry's. They run a top notch campground with plenty of activities for the kids. Tell them Chris Cline sent ya!
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