Harrison Bay State Park Campground

Date of stay: August 2014

After staying with friends in Knoxville, they recommended that I spend a few days in Chattanooga. Good thing they did as I remembered there was a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga that I was able to tour. And it turns out Chattanooga is a nice city.

Harrison Bay State Park is pretty old, being built back in the 1930’s by the CCC. And you can tell. I was able to stay in Loop A which had just been renovated, so it was pretty nice. The other areas of the campground definitely were in need of a makeover, so I highly recommend Loop A until the other areas are spruced up.

Loop A is right on the lake and offers good spacing and alright privacy between sites.

There isn’t a tremendous amount of hiking opportunities at the park, though I was able to bike around a bit and even took advantage of the (only?) trail that went a couple of miles.

Harrison Bay State Park is a good launching area to check out Chattanooga (highly recommended), or to just chill for a bit.

I stayed here for 9 days in Oct 2016.

As I've been making my way through the US, Chattanooga was on my must see list. The city is known for being very outdoorsy and picturesque. I was not disappointed.
Chattanooga itself has a lot to see and do. Lookout Mountain, hiking, biking, fishing. It's a beautiful town with fun dining and shopping opportunities.

As for close by campgrounds, Harrison Bay fit the bill. Only about 20 min drive from downtown Chattanooga and pretty easy to get to off the highway.
The cost was also quite low. That was about all this place had going for it.
It's pretty clear some updating is in order. The A loop has been updated and it shows. Unfortunately it was completely booked and I was unable to get into the A loop so I ended up in the C loop. If you have anything over 30ft, this is a challenge. I have a 34 ft RV and it was a struggle getting into my site. I didn't even have the worst of it. There were other sites even harder to get into.

It's clear this is get together central for locals. When Friday rolled around the park filled to 100% with kids everywhere. The spots are so close together you can practically reach out and touch your neighbor. Not my cup of tea. I will say the people were all nice and not overly rowdy. They seemed like family folk out for a good time with their kids.

Site accessibility (I barely made it in. I saw other people also struggling) - 1
Campground location (20 minutes to Chattanooga) - 4
Nearby amenities (Shopping fairly close by) - 3
Site Privacy (Doesn't get much worse) - 1
Campground amenities (Bathrooms were gross. No laundry.) - 1
Dog friendly (Dogs allowed everywhere but trails were minimal) - 3
Activities (hiking trails but they weren't very good. The lake was pretty) - 3
Cost ($20/night for 50 amp/water but no sewer) - 4
Staff friendliness (No hosts onsite but rangers patrolled and they were polite) - 3
Connectivity (Decent signal w/out a booster for both ATT and Verizon. Good OTA TV) - 3
Total rating = 2.6

This is the first state park of TN. Because of that, the spots are not made for big rigs. They told us we would easily fit our 36 ft' Toy Hauler Fifth Wheel but the trees and spots were extremely challenging to get by/through. We had a really hard time parking & getting out without taking out several limbs or scratching our RV badly. The neighbor in the site next to us told us his friend that same week took out a branch when trying to park in our same spot just the week before. There is a lake here, which is beautiful. Swimming pool, small store and just water & electric (no sewer). Dump site on location. It's a great location to Chattanooga which allows you to explore nearby. We liked the state park as a whole, but with our size rig we'd park elsewhere in the future.

Camp sites are convenient to the lake. Bath houses are a little tired and could be cleaned more often. Park is busy and stays pretty full. Camp sites could use some gravel and leveling.
Power and water only. Not sure if 50amp is available.

The park is nice, but not what I expected from the maps on the web site or even Google aerial views. The sites are rather close and a fair amount offer very little shade. I noticed several campers had to resort to lots of blocks for leveling and stabilizing their rigs. I've found state parks usually afford more space and better but sites. If you're looking to camp near Chattanooga, you have better options.

This is a beautiful area that is close to my home. It was a rainy weekend but we still had fun. Stay in Loop A. Watch my linked review for more detailed information.

I reserved two sites during this visit using the Tennessee State Park online reservation system. Both on the A loop: A16 and A17. We had a large tent on A16 and a 15 ft T@B trailer on A17. Each site was $25/night - water and electric. Both sites were paved and included a picnic table and fire ring. Some of the sites are waterfront on Chickamauga Lake. Some campers anchored a boat at their site.

A well lit bathhouse was less than 100 yards from our site. The approach is paved so it keeps the bathhouse clean. There are 8 individual bathrooms with showers. The bathrooms were clean and well stocked with toilet paper and hand soap. The showers were hot with very good pressure. There was a large table near the shower and multiple wall hooks.

This is a family friendly campground. Across the street from our site was a large ball field. There were kickball and softball games everyday. Next to it was a playground, basketball court, and a massive pool. The pool is open to all park visitors but only costs $2.50 for campers. On the other side of the pool were tennis and volleyball courts. They also offer kayak and canoe rentals.

The Wi-Fi access in this campground was the best I had ever experienced. Our connection was never dropped or lost due to saturation even though the campground was full each night. It was remarkable.

Ice and wood are available at the camper registration office. A Food City grocery store is 3 miles away.

If you need a break from cooking at the campsite, the restaurant at the park marina was fantastic. If I had ate there the first night, I would have ate there every night. Their smoked brisket was delicious.

The park offers boating, trails, wildlife viewing, and golf. Downtown Chattanooga and Rock City is a short drive away.

State park link: https://tnstateparks.com/parks/harrison-bay

Great weekend getaway! HBSP has beautiful bay views and plenty of paved walking access. They also have a 4+ mile hiking trail. Clean campground and big bathrooms that are temperature controlled with private showers. Highly recommend!

Lots to see and do, They can take RV's up to 65'. Water and elec for most sites, they do have some primative as well. Hiking trails, fishing and very large pool area also. Nicely stocked store Large marina and Ramps. Quiet after 10:00pm.

B2, B4, B6 all are very steep grade to set up on, our Fifth wheel was almost 7' off the ground, as most of the B section is not level but these are the worst. Many trees very close to the roads and hangover so if your rig is high watch close and don't rub going in and out. It can be navigated but watch very closely.

However the A section is pretty level, the C section has some grade but not bad. All sites have water and electric, fire ring and picnic table. Some sites are on the water, the park has a great boat ramp area and marina. Lots of squirrels and dear around.

I probably would stay in area A & C but never in B again, even the lady that checked me in said these 3 sites mentioned are the last to go and she doesn't like putting people in them....