Long Branch CG (Center Hill Lake COE), Lancaster, TN

Date of Stay:  Sunday September 18 – Wednesday September 21, 2016 (3 nights)

Rate:  $13/night (Access Pass discount)

Website:  Long Branch CG
   478 Lancaster Road (use gps 36.09903,  85.83176)
   Lancaster, TN 38569
   615-548-8002

Description:  Located near I-40 about 50 miles east of Nashville, Tennessee on the spillway side of Center Hill Dam on Caney Fork River.  We stayed on site 35.  There are 60 sites here with 3 of them being FHU (50A).  The rest are W/E (50A) with fine gravel manicured sites and paved roads.  All sites are reservable.  There are several that are sat tv friendly (30, 26, 27, 29 and 32 to name a few).  There is a boat ramp to the river near the spillway and across the dam (which you drive over) is another ramp and a nice Nature Trail of 0.75 miles.  There are other COE campgrounds and a state park on this lake.  Next to site 25 is a concrete stairway leading to the river which is full of trout.  There are two bath houses and both have inexpensive laundry.

Trash and Recycle:  There are a few dumpsters in the cg but no recycling.

Activities:  The mornings were foggy but the water was clear and cool.  Many people enjoyed kayaking the river to the spillway and there were quite a few people fly rod fishing.  We stood on the bank at the bottom of the steps next to site 25 and watched the water rise after it was released at the dam.  We could see some Brown trout and Brook trout.  The current increased and the lazy river got about 3 feet deeper in about 10 minutes.

 

On site 35

 

View from our patio                                Boat ramp to Caney Fork River

 

Center Hill Dam spillway

 

Information signs

 

Driving over the dam…  Center Hill Lake on one side and Caney Fork River on the other

 

Center Hill Lake                                         Caney Fork River

 

On the dam                                           Buffalo Valley Nature Trail

Old Post Road Park CG (Arkansas River COE), Russellville, AR

Date of Stay:  Thursday September 15 – Sunday September 18, 2016 (3 nights)

Rate:  $10/night (Access Pass discount)

Website:  Old Post Road Park CG
   1063 Lock and Dam Road
   Russellville, AR 72802
   479-968-7962

Description:  Located in west-central Arkansas near I-40 and the town of Russellville (pop. 29,000) on the Arkansas Rivier at the Dardanelle Lock and Dam.  The cg has about 40 sites and 3 of those are first come first serve.  The road and sites are paved and all have W/E (50A).  Some have a shelter over the picnic table.  We stayed on site B15 and got sat tv somewhat.  There is a very steep boat ramp to the river and the town has a soccer field complex at the entrance to the cg.  There is a separate park with basketball and tennis courts along with disc golf.  The Arkansas River Visitor Center is near the Lock and Dam.

Trash and Recycle:  There are several dumpsters in the cg and the check-in office has a basket for drink cans recycling.

Activities:  Morning walks were enjoyable with a bit of wildlife sightings such as deer and raccoons.  There is a paved path that goes around the soccer fields under the trees.  The cg filled up on the weekend so it may be hard to get a spot during the busy summer season.  Russellville is a large enough town to get whatever is needed for a nice visit.  The Visitor Center is small and closed on the weekends.  It was hard to time the ships correctly to watch them come and go at the lock but they do have some traffic.  It was quite hot and humid here and we heard Southern accents again.

 

On site B15

 

Our patio and view towards the river

 

               Very steep boat ramp                Huge rock formation across the river from the ramp

   

Nice walking path around the soccer complex

 

Lock and dam…                             cargo waiting to go through

Snake Creek CG (Tenkiller Lake COE), Gore, OK

Date of Stay:  Tuesday September 13 – Thursday September 15, 2016 (2 nights)

Rate:  $10/night (Access Pass discount)

Website:  Snake Creek CG
   18576 W Snake Creek Road (gps 35.6475,  94.97222)
   Cookson, OK 74427
   918-457-5674
  
Description:  Located in the foothills of the Ozarks in eastern Oklahoma on crystal clear Tenkiller Lake, a COE project from the mid 1950’s on the Illinois River.  We stayed on site 18 which is gravel W/E (50A).  There are about 110 wooded sites here with either gravel, paved or concrete sites.  Most sites are W/E 30A (only five 50A which are all first come first serve).  Some are FHU 30A.  There are a total of 44 first come first serve sites.  There is a swim area and two boat ramps.  Also there is a separate Snake Creek Cove Marina.  Practically zero Verizon reception which meant no internet or phone.

Trash and Recycle:  Several blue dumpsters throughout the cg but no recycle.

Activities:  Quiet here during the week.  Great natural setting for walks.  We drove over to the marina for good Verizon reception. 

 

On site 18

 

On site 18

 

Fall is in the air                                            Neighboring marina

 

Canada geese                                         Fox squirrel

 

Boat ramp                                         View from the ramp

 

Tenkiller Lake has a rocky shore and bottom making the water very clear

Grant River CG (Mississippi River COE), Potosi, WI

Date of Stay:  Thursday July 21 – Sunday July 24, 2016 (3 nights)

Rate:  $10/night (Access Pass discount)

Website:  Grant River CG
   3990 Park Lane (42*39'34"N, 90*42'35"W)
   Potosi, WI 53820
   563-582-0881

Description:  Located right on the banks of the Mississippi River in the south west tip of Wisconsin.  There are about 60 camp sites.  We stayed on site 25 only 100 yards or so from the train tracks which were annoying very active day and night.  All sites have 50A with water spigots spread throughout the park.  No water fill at the dump station however.  Most sites, ours included, have a concrete parking pad with a nicely maintained picnic table and gravel patio.  Enough shade trees but our site was satellite friendly.  Playground for the kids and nice boat launch onto the Mississippi which looks to be about a mile wide here.  Several sites were empty all weekend.

Trash and Recycle:  Dumpster near the exit with a recycle bin for drink cans only.

Activities:  Gin had just gotten a new motor for her bike so we rode around in the cg a little bit.  A couple of bad storms came through while we were here so we pulled all our awnings in.  This was our first stop without T&D so it was quiet.  The trains were rather annoying though.  There were probably 8 or 9 per hour much of the day and 2 or 3 per hour all night.  To get away from the trains one day, we rode in to the nearby town of Dickeyville for lunch at Katina’s and to visit the Grotto and Shrines at the Holy Ghost Parish.  It was built in the late 1920’s using stone, mortar, and bright colored objects from all over the world to create a hodgepodge of bricka brack mosaics.  It may be a bit tacky looking, but it was still an interesting bit of roadside America.  We then rode over to the nearby Potosi Point Observation Deck.  This point juts out into the river so far that you feel like you are on the water.  Lots of waterlilies and white pelicans.

 

Driving over the Mississippi from Dubuque, IA into the pretty countryside of Wisconsin

 

On site 25… empty around us!

 

Train!… and another train!…  only 100 yards away blowing their horn!

 

Boat launch in the cg                              Gin checking out the waterlilies

 

A couple fishing the day away

 

The Main Grotto at Holy Ghost Parish

 

Walkway in the Gardens                            Christopher Columbus Shrine

 

Bless Us Oh Sacred Heart                           Cemetery behind the church

 

Tree of Life                  Jesus Christ King of Heaven and Earth

 

Mississippi River from Potosi Point                   Waterlilies everywhere

 

Lots of white pelicans at the Point

   

One…  two…  three…  sunset from the cg boat launch