At the June meeting it was suggested that we have a club campout in the near future.  Below are some locations that were suggested.  I know there were others, but I can't remember them.  Someone post the others that were mentioned and let's here more suggestions and comments about these locations . . . we'll finalize the plan at the July meeting.

TN:
Fall Creek Falls
Harrison Bay State Park

GA:
Sloppy Floyd State Park
Cloudland Canyon State Park

AL:
Desoto State Park

My personal comments:

Harrison Bay - It's close! I've been there a couple of times several years ago, but have never actually camped there.  Someone who has, please fill us in!

Fall Creek Falls - I've alway heard this is a beautiful campground . . . I've also heard it stays pretty crowded.  It might be hard to plan a campout there if we had to get reservations way in advance.

Sloppy Floyd - Fishing, Hiking, Playground, small john boats and pedal boats for rent . . . sun, shade, a little of it all.  Nice, kind'a out of the way campground.  Unless things have changed there in the last 10 years, it's usually not too crowded.

Cloudland Canyon - Hiking and scenic views, playground and a pool.  Nice campground and facilities, but if you don't like walking up and down hills, this ain't the place for you!

Desoto - I've heard lots of folks talk about how much they enjoyed camping at Desoto, but I've never been.  It's supposed to be a beautifull campground.

I'm game for any of those as long as it's not so crowded that we can't all camp in the same area.  I personally suggest Sloppy Floyd because it's got a wide variety of things to do and "shouldn't" be too crowded.  It's not the closest, but it's not "too" far away . . . maybe about an hour south of Chattanooga on Hwy 27.

Where ever we end up camping will be fine with me . . . as long as there's a few fellow VW nuts around, it'll be a blast!

I have noticed a new camping area near graysville/ringgold area.  It is located off of Graysville road near the watermill house.  It is called "Up the creek campground".  The hours of operation are Fridays at 4pm till sunday at 4pm.  The owner said all of the sites are next to the creek.  It is primative camping for now.  They have campfire rings and picnic tables.   He just recently opened it.  The price is $20 a day.  I haven't had a chance to go in and look around yet, but he said that the gate is open 90% of the time.  He acted like he may give a discount for a large group.  From what I can tell it looks like someone who is opening up a portion of his farm land next to the creek(the same creek that runs by the watermill house on graysville road).  The number is 965-CAMP(2267).

Brian  :lol:

We have to leave the VW's behind...

Sorry. No Volksie, no campee! :lol:

I like the idea of being near water (canoeing, paddleboats, tubing, etc.)

I've never heard of Sloppy Floyd. Tell us more.

The Hiwassee area sounds good, too.

Nice link.  I should have done some more research and found that out myself!  
I went as far as to test the "make reservations" feature.  I found out that on September 11, there are 21 sites available.  (This was just a test.)

I've got to say that Sloppy Floyd certainly looks nice, not too far, has watersports (the quiet kind) and hiking... yeah, I vote for Sloppy Floyd too.

I just checked the availability of campsites for a September 23 (Friday) check in and staying two nights (Friday and Saturday) at Sloppy Floyd.  They only have 25 total, and it looks like 6 of them must already be reserved.  There are only 19 available, but it looks like they allow 2 vehicles, two tents and up to 6 people per site.

TYPE 13
13 Available
Description: will hold one of the following pieces of equipment: 1 tent, 2 tents, a pop-up trailer, a trailer up to 60' or longer, or a motorhome up to 60' or longer. The site has water, electricity, picnic table, grill, and fire ring. Comfort station in campground along with access to a washer and dryer. Only 6 people per site allowed. Only 2 vehicles per site allowed.  

TYPE 16 PULL THRU
6 Available
Description: will hold one of the following pieces of equipment: 1 tent, 2 tents, a pop-up trailer, a trailer up to 50' or longer, or a motorhome up to 50' or longer. The site has water, electricity, picnic table, grill, and fire ring. Comfort station in campground along with access to a washer and dryer. Only 6 people per site allowed. Only 2 vehicles per site allowed.

There are 4 picnic shelters at the park, but two are rented out together.  None of them are available on Saturday the 24th, but the two together (near the lake, boardwalk and playground) are available on Sunday.

If we want to do this, it looks like Sloppy Floyd is a good location and the weekend of the 24th and 25th is a good weekend . . . but we need to decide quickly and make some reservations a.s.a.p. if that's what we want.

I make a motion that we plan for Sloppy Floyd on the weekend of September 23-25.  I also think that we should rent the picnic shelters near the playground for Sunday.  That way, we could camp Friday night or show up Saturday morning . . . hang out in the campground, go hiking, paddle boating, fishing, etc. all day Saturday, gather around a centrally located campfire and roast hot dogs and marshmallows Saturday evening.  When we break camp on Sunday morning, we could move over to the picnic area and have a club sponsored cookout about 1:00 PM.  Anyone who couldn't camp (or just didn't want to camp) could come down Sunday and spend a few hours with us and enjoy the park.

Just so you know . . . you need a $3 park pass per vehicle per day (or an annual GA State Park pass . . . I think they are $30 now).  I think the campsites are $22 per night.

Just a small correction, Zen...

PARKPASS  EFFECTIVE FRIDAY MAY 27, 2005 PARKPASS FEES WILL INCREASE TO $3.00 DAILY AND $30.00 ANNUAL. OVERNIGHT GUESTS PAY ONLY ONE FEE FOR THE DURATION OF THEIR STAY. EXCEPT FOR WEDNESDAY WHICH IS FREE. FREQUENT VISITORS CAN PURCHASE AN ANNUAL PARKPASS FOR $30, AVAILABLE AT PARK OFFICE.  

The $3 daily fee is only paid once for those staying overnight.

For example, under the old fee rate, when we stayed at Cloudland Canyon for the Dead of Winter campout, I paid $24 for the first night, and $22 for the second night.  The first night had the $2 parkpass fee tacked on to it.