“haven for campers, boaters, fishermen”
Harrison Bay State Park is a state demonstration park, TVA built in the 1930s along the shores of Chickamauga Lake. The bay gets it names from the now partially submerged town of Harrison, Tennessee. The park was constructed at the same time as Booker T. Washington State Park with Harrison Bay State Park segregated for whites only. Activities offered at the park include camping, fishing, biking, boating, hiking, and swimming.
Reviews of Harrison Bay State Park Campground
25 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G
Confirmed by 17 users | Last reported on April 27, 2022AT&T 4G
Confirmed by 13 users | Last reported on March 12, 2022T-Mobile 4G
Confirmed by 3 users | Last reported on March 12, 2022Pretty park with new water spigots and electrical.
No internet. Was told it has been out more than one year. Pool is unusable, and was told that it will never be repaired. Now it is an eyesore.
Roads and pads are quite narrow. Serious trimming of foliage on the roads is needed. Impossible to avoid the branches. Dicey in and out.
Nightly Rate: $23.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: B34
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
We stayed here for 4 nights at the end of July, 2023 and loved it! Why? Because we had the perfect site! I only walked around areas A & part of B, so there might be some great sites in C & D and the lower end of B. Check in was easy in the A Frame building. A map was given and we found our site relatively easily enough. Very tight turn at the end of A by sites 36 & 37 - would not recommend it for larger trailers or RVs. Our Imagine is 22' and it was tight but fine (our truck is long). Level site with a fence around the picnic / patio area. The other two sites next to us were nice, but I think our site was the best! A40-47 are all decent, but much closer together. Our view was completely lake! 40-47's were more views of the neighbors. Site A1-14 were just in a big grassy area - nothing to write home about. And a lot of the B sites were close together and no great view.
And there is a new dog park between area B & Fishing Pier Road!
Nightly Rate: $45.00
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: A37
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.
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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
Nightly Rate: $20.00
Days Stayed: 9
Site Number: C38
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
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.
Nightly Rate: -
Days Stayed: 4
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
AT&T 4G
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.
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: 17
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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.
Nightly Rate: $30.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: B31
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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.
Nightly Rate: $25.00
Days Stayed: 3
Site Number: 22
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
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
Nightly Rate: $25.00
Days Stayed: 5
Site Number: A16 and A17
Cell Coverage Rating
AT&T 4G
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!
Nightly Rate: $32.00
Days Stayed: 2
Site Number: A36
Be the first to add a review to the Harrison Bay State Park Campground.
Harrison Bay State Park Campground
Hours
- Sun - Sat: 8:00 am - 10:00 pm
Problem with this listing? Let us know.
Has RV parking changed? Let us know.
-
Parking
-
Pets Allowed
-
Restrooms
-
Wifi
-
Wheelchair Accessible
-
Credit Cards Accepted
- Affiliation
- State park or forest
- Back In RV Sites Count
- 35
- Last Nightly Rate
- 45.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 44.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 4.0
- Max Length
- 45 ft
- Max Stay
- 14
- Sites Count
- 168
-
Swimming Pool
-
Paved Sites
-
Fifty Amp
-
Full Hookup
-
Pull Through
-
Tent Sites
-
Dump Station
-
Big Rigs
-
Open Seasonally
-
Age Restricted
-
Back In RV Sites
-
Boondock
-
Cabin Sites
-
Dispersed Sites
-
Firewood
-
Fulltime Residents
-
Group Tent Sites
-
Laundry
-
Mobile Homes
-
Permit Required
-
Potable Water
-
Propane
-
Public Water
-
Pull Through RV Sites
-
Reservations
-
Sewer Hookup
-
Showers
-
Sites
-
Standard Tent Sites
-
Vehicle Wash Permitted
-
Water Hookup
Campground, Restrooms
Nearby Hotels
Related Trip Guides
The top things to do on a Blue Ridge Parkway road trip
- 85 Places
- 36:11
- 1,293 mi
The top things to do on an I-40 road trip
- 35 Places
- 49:44
- 2,851 mi
Things to do in Nashville
- 9 Places
Road trip back in time along the Natchez Trace
- 13 Places
- 12:01
- 598 mi