Cummins Ferry RV Park, RV Resort, Campground & Marina

En route from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to our home in Chicago, I had been driving long enough that I needed to pull over and get some sleep. I tried one campground, but they had gates across their entrance and did not answer their late check in call box. On the way back out to the main road, I passed a police officer and asked if he had a recommendation for a local campground. He said he really likes
Cummins Ferry Campground. I got the address off of Google and drove over to discover the same setup. Gated entrance, no way to check in for late arriving travelers. By this point I was exhausted to the point of tears. I was traveling with 2 children and there were no other campgrounds in the area, at least none that showed up via Siri or Google. At first I considered parking in a lot and opening the windows for air, but it was a very hot and muggy night and I couldn't fall asleep. I tried the campground again, hoping I had missed something about how to register as a late night arrival. In all my years of camping, I've never come across this situation. When I drove through again, I noticed they had grassy camp spots with electric posts outside the gate. Thank heaven!!! I plugged in, put the kids in their beds, and went to sleep. 3 hours later the woman who owns the place banged on my door and said I had parked in a non-RV spot. I woke up out of a deep sleep, terrified. I apologized, explained the situation, said I absolutely intended to pay and asked how much it was. She said $35, so I handed her my credit card. She said, "You'll have to come with me." I told her I was in my nightgown and have my two children with me. She said she'd wait for me to get dressed. Mind you, this is all happening with 3 hours of sleep.

After she had my credit card, she said, "You're going to have to pack up and leave right now." AFTER she intended to charge me for full hookups and a full stay. I asked her why. She said we had driven on her grass. (There isn't another option even for tent campers.) I said I was very sorry, but had limited options, that I would be happy to pay for a full site. She said she was going to charge us for the full night and we'd have to leave without what I had paid for.

At that point I tried again to explain that my intentions were honest and that I just wanted to do an after hours checkin as is very common with most campgrounds. -You arrive late, hookup, then register in the morning. She then relented and said she'd jumped the gun, nodding at our vintage Avion (similar to an Airstream) and said she'd gotten a lot of bad types in the area we camped in. In short, she thought our nearly mint vintage camper looked like trouble next to the $100k new RVs.

I was told I could stay until 11. So I slept for 3 hours, was woken up and dragged out of bed with a great deal of hostility for half an hour, then was allowed to sleep for 3 more hours, most of which I spent jumping at every sound and worrying that I wasn't getting enough sleep to drive safely. This does not a restful sleep make. Sure enough, at 10:45 she was banging on my door again to remind me to leave at 11.

In short, if you're headed here expecting welcoming hospitality, avoid like the plague. If you're on a road trip and needing an overnight stay, avoid like the plague. If you're traveling in a vintage camper (no matter how nice or cute), avoid like the plague.

I'm now at another campground about 2 hours north, paying to rest yet again so that I can drive safely. Such a hassle.

Stay away, owners feel it’s ok the curse in front of our kids and flip them off when I ask them to reserve their choice of words.

Gail & Dan (owners) are salt of the earth folks. They treat you like family from the time that you show up! The grounds are kept clean and immaculate throughout the year. Views of the waterfall and river don’t get old, plus a pool to cool off in, and a dock to watch the sunset from.
A boat ramp is a nice touch for launching a fishing boat or kayak. Will be camping here for many more seasons and years to come.
No cell service but great WiFi for working and calling.

Gated RV Park - must get gate pass to re-enter Park
Site# : 42 (back-in river front site)
Check in: 2pm-7pm
Check out: 11:00am
All Full hook- up
Pull-through options in the middle of campground or back-in on sides
Easy to level in the middle but a little hard to level in back-in spots - there is a row of river front spots but many of those taken by seasonal rentals

Shaded with lots of trees in back-sites/Not shaded with zero trees on pull-through

Average sized lots

No concrete patio - picnic table and fire ring

Tricky access to campground from parkway (six miles of 2-lane curvy road and steep decline into RV Park) -@15 miles from Bluegrass Parkway

Free WiFi - supposedly non-existent in pull-through lots but good in ours
No Cable TV- limited channels

They sell wood - $5 for a small bundle or $25 for load of wood

Allowed to ride golf carts if you own one - two fun golf cart trails through the woods by the river

Small Swimming pool
River- can fish but not able to rent boats/canoes/kayaks/pedal bikes - marina available if you own your own boat - no swimming allowed from campground

Playground

Basic general store

Occasional activities for kids/families like bike parade, potlucks, chili cook-off, Halloween & 4th of July

Streets are paved and good for riding bikes within campground-No where to ride bikes outside of campground

No cabin rentals and no tent camping allowed any longer (only RVs-may have one tent if you have an RV on the same lot)-

Bathrooms- Typical stalls, small, clean - decent area to hang clothes and store toiletries

Laundry facility (cash only).

Dog area - not fenced in

There were some bugs/flies - bug spray needed occasionally

There were not trails to hike off of the campground.

Things to do while here outside of campground:

Near Bluegrass Parkway so easy access to Bourbon Trail, Wineries, Shakertown

Great campground for a few days of touring the distilleries on the Bourbon Trail. Sites are nicely spaced and the ones right on the river are nice. Cynthia in the office was so nice! Sent a text asking about our arrival, brought us firewood and our package we had delivered from Amazon. The park did have some season RVs and full timers, but the rigs were well maintained and didn't seem rundown. We have a 44 foot motor home and got in without any issue. The road off of 127 was rural but fine. Make sure you take Cummings Ferry road, not McAfee Ln. The final 1/4 mile is steep and curvy but don't worry, the park and 2-3 residence are the only ones that use it; you'll be fine. Only bad part was Verizon coverage....non existent. We could get Dish, but texting was limited and outbound calls impossible. We will return!

Just checked in and will edit as we leave.
Low hanging branches on the road into the campground so rubber roof owners beware along a very (very) narrow long road to reach the campground.

The park is nice. Very scenic. The hosts are nice people who are very helpful. Full hookups. Don’t take McAfee Ln in (it’s a one lane road). Last mile into the park is a semi tight one lane road, too. Cell reception is non existent on ATT and TMo. Park WiFi is okay. That being said, this park is great for people escaping. However, it is probably not for the working remote crowd.

Would’ve rated higher if the permanent folk had better kept spots and if our 30A service didn’t have reversed polarity.
Super nice staff!

We stayed Monday through Friday and really enjoyed the quiet and peaceful atmosphere. We’d like to come back over a weekend when the live music, food truck, and Sunday pot luck happens! The staff were super friendly as well as the full timers there. The campground was well cared for and the bathhouse was spotless. There are improvements in the works so it’s only going to get better here. One word of caution: slow down and be careful on the last mile into camp; not hard for us with a small camper, but the road is narrow and curved.

After driving down the one lane steep road to a beautiful setting of rim rocks along the river, we were excited. As stated by previous reviews, the hosts were very nice. That is where our experience totally differs. The campground is very unlevel, poorly maintained and confining. At least 50% full time renters with no restrictions on what can be stored around it. The premium “river front” sites have very limited glimpses of the river through trees. Construction is going on throughout the grounds and we had an excavator working right out our door. The construction appears to only be putting in patio areas off the unlevel gravel/partial asphalt sites. The ongoing construction should have been disclosed at rental or check in. Not worth any amount!