Meriwether Lewis Campground

We are staying in the campgrounds as I write this....what a great place! The hiking, the roads for biking, the campsites, the history, all wonderful. The Nat'l Parks Service has done a great job maintaining this site. Everything, including the restrooms, are kept very clean. If you're here on the weekends, be sure to check out the "stand" that was used by travelers coming through the area while heading to Natchez or Nashville.
The roads and sites are really nice blacktop. The sites are "mostly" level, nothing that a couple blocks won't cure. Plenty of space between neighbors and water spigots throughout the campground area.
A tip for travelers looking to spend the night here, come here early. It seems a popular place for campers coming in after driving a good part of the day only to find limited or no spots to park in overnight. (Or park in one of the parking lots until you can find a spot open)
Our only real negative was the Verizon coverage, usually only one bar and even that was really slow. So we hiked a bit more....
If you bring your bike(s), the Trace is bike friendly and there is a nice shoulder the whole way into Hohenwald. It's only 7ish miles into town so it was a nice ride.

Free camping is hard enough to find on the east coast, so this place is a real gem. All sites are paved and most are pull-through, but beware that sites are narrow so Class As and those with slide-outs need to be careful wiggling in and positioning themselves so slides have enough room to deploy.

Each site has a picnic bench, fire pit, and it's own trash can, which is emptied by a ranger every other day. The flush toilets are super clean and maintained frequently. There are water spigots and drinking fountains in a couple different locations throughout the campsite.

Cell service, both AT&T and Verizon, are spotty - you can get calls and texts through but you'll need a booster for anything that requires data.

I was so excited to be camping amongst great hiking trails and history (see our blog post for more details), but we were inundated with ticks. The one time we actually got brave and ventured onto a trail, we pulled at least 20 ticks off of ourselves and another 20-30 off the dog after only an hour. Even when we just stuck to our campsite on pavement, we were pulling a 3-5 off ourselves daily. We camped here at the height of tick season (May) and I'm sure that didn't help, but beware. An employee we met at Amber Falls Winery nearby even told us that Meriwether Lewis Park has the greatest amount of ticks he's ever seen.

Other campers here are mostly people rolling in for an overnight stop, but there were occasional tenters and hammockers that would stay a couple of nights at a time. Lots of motocyclists and bicyclists as well.

15 minute drive to Walmart, Tractor Supply, some fast food restaurants, and the Oliver Travel Trailer Factory. Give them a call and take the tour, they make great campers!

All in all, great campsite, but I would avoid high tick season here!

We spent 2 nights here, the campground is well spread out. However most sites will need some leveling, most are graded for water run off. The parking spots being paved is a welcomed surprise. The city of Hohenwald is just a few minutes down the road.

The AT&T signal in our site was strong enough to work with an antenna.

Un très beau camping situé sur la Natchez Trail!
C’est très boisé donc pour le solaire c’est un peu difficile!
Il n’y a pas d’égout ni d’électricité mais il y a des points d’eau potable et des toilettes!
Tout ça gratuitement!
Il y a des beaux sentiers de marche et c’est possible de faire du vélo.
Camping assez tranquille lors de notre passage.
Parc contre il y avait des tonnes de guêpes!!!!
Impossible de manger dehors ni même de s’assoir sans se faire piquer!
On serait rester plus que deux jours mais les guêpes ont eu raison de nous!
T-Mobile rentre bien à notre site en face des toilettes

-- Google Translate - French to English --

A very beautiful campsite located on the Natchez Trail!
It’s very wooded so for solar it’s a bit difficult!
There is no sewer or electricity but there are drinking water points and toilets!
All this for free!
There are beautiful walking trails and it is possible to cycle.
Fairly quiet campsite during our visit.
Park against there were tons of wasps!!!!
Impossible to eat outside or even sit down without getting bitten!
We would have stayed more than two days but the wasps got the better of us!
T-Mobile fits nicely into our site across from the restrooms

We stayed here from April 27-May 1st. There is no charge to stay here.The campground is absolutely beautiful. The sites are large, well spaced, allowing for a great deal of privacy. There are no services, but water is available, though not at the individual campsites. There is very little light, so you can enjoy the natural night sky through the trees. There is plenty of shade at each site as well. The grounds are well maintained, and heavy metal trashcans with well fitting lids are scattered throughout the campgrounds. In the short time we were there we saw staff empty the trash twice, though they may have come more often and we missed it. Each site has a picnic table and a fire ring. The restrooms were very clean.

I really would have like to have stayed longer. Unfortunately T-Mobile and Verizon service were too unreliable, even with a booster. Sometimes it was usable but pretty spotty. We work online, so could only stay Sunday.

The campground was beautiful, surrounded by trees, with pull-thru and back in spots. No showers, no hook ups, and no dump. Sites were mostly level but we did need our blocks. Bathroom was heated and clean. Close to a number of trails.

Meriwether Lewis Monument was about a mile away. Pieces of Natchez Trace throughout the area. Would 100% stay again.

Well maintained campground. Sites were reasonable size and spaced well apart. Very clean heated restrooms which was much needed as it got down to 27 degrees the night we were there. Water available outside of bathrooms. Very accommodating host couple.

We stumbled upon Meriwether Lewis Campground and were saddened to find each site (other than 1 handicapped site) to be taken. We were briefly chatting with the hosts when a kind man offered to move his van to the open site to free up his already settled in site! We were nestled between many other RVs (limiting privacy for us tent campers) with acces to trash cans, picnic tables, water fountain, spicket, and heated bathrooms. There is plenty of surrounding woods to hike in, mostly uphill so the terrain is on the advanced side. We would be happy to spend more time here if the opportunity arises!

This is our second time around at Meriwether Lewis. We timed our arrival just perfectly. We had left Jeff Busby campground very early so as to time our arrival when all the other campers were leaving. There is a natural turnover in these parks along the Trace. People rise early to hit the road so if you get in to any of the campgrounds before noon you can "usually" have a choice of spots to choose from.
Other reviewers have covered most of the basics so I won't bore. The biggest disappointment for us is the spotty cell service. (Verizon)
We always meet interesting people along the Trace and this was no exception. The Mississippi Redneck is the most notable.
Get in early and enjoy the history and beauty of this Campground!

We were here at the end of July and the campground was almost empty. Very peaceful. We camped near the rest rooms (flush toilets!) and hiked the trail that starts right there. We enjoyed the hike, but failed to notice the poison ivy! Be sure to shower after hiking! I wish I had!