Travels with sleeping bag
March 15, 2021 3:46 PM Subscribe
If YOU had a good tent and sleeping bag... and you the opportunity to meander from Massachusetts to Texas during the month of May, what would be your preferred stops?
I'm thinking heavy emphasis on Tennessee and the Carolinas, with a little Arkansas thrown in.
I may not camp the entire way down, but it would be nice to do a little, here and there.
Some amenities and company are important. I don't want to be out in the forest completely by myself (although I realize that no one here has a crystal ball).
Assume full vaccination 🙂 Also, I'm a 55 year old cis woman.
I'm thinking heavy emphasis on Tennessee and the Carolinas, with a little Arkansas thrown in.
I may not camp the entire way down, but it would be nice to do a little, here and there.
Some amenities and company are important. I don't want to be out in the forest completely by myself (although I realize that no one here has a crystal ball).
Assume full vaccination 🙂 Also, I'm a 55 year old cis woman.
I used National Geographic Scenic Highways and Byways to help plan my various trips. I would normally alternate between KOA and park campsites and then stay in hotels for the large cities. A map of KOAs will show you where the good stuff is.
posted by pdoege at 4:33 PM on March 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by pdoege at 4:33 PM on March 15, 2021 [3 favorites]
On your way to Tennessee, plot a route that crosses through Daniel Boone National Forest on a hot, sunny day. Pull off at a roadside parking area where the state highway crosses a wide, shallow, fast-moving river full of clear water running over smooth rounded stones. Put on your Tevas and wade out into shin-deep current. Sit down, and enjoy the cool water flowing around you. Watch the black bear foraging on the far shore. Smile at the child who wades out to show you the fish they just caught.
That’s how it went in May of ‘98, anyhow.
posted by jon1270 at 4:47 PM on March 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
That’s how it went in May of ‘98, anyhow.
posted by jon1270 at 4:47 PM on March 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
If you can find a way to avoid the hellscape that is I-95 between MA and VA, you'd be golden. Maybe head west first and mosey down the Alleghanies? Or do that awful stretch on day 1 in order to spend more time in Central VA's Blue Ridge Mountains (stunning in spring) and then the Smokies (also stunning).
posted by basalganglia at 5:33 PM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by basalganglia at 5:33 PM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
You could head out to the Finger Lakes for a little wine-tasting, gorge-hiking and camping first. Then maybe head down to Ohiopyle and stay in a yurt. Then down through West Virginia to Dolly Sods.
(assuming all this stuff is open by May)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:42 PM on March 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
(assuming all this stuff is open by May)
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:42 PM on March 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
Great Smokey Mountain National Park. If you are there the second week of May watch for me!
posted by COD at 7:21 PM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by COD at 7:21 PM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Texas state parks are quite nice (including clean shower facilities)! The Arkansas State park that I stayed at was rv-oriented rather than tenting-oriented and almost full at my time of stay, so very noisy and meh. Tennessee also doesn't seem to have a lot of decent camping options in the flatter, western half of the state. The TN state park nearer the mountains that I camped at was definitely oriented toward RVs over tents, but was empty enough that I found a quiet section to pitch my tent and had a really lovely night's stay. Other states with decent state parks for camping include New York and Connecticut. I have no info pro or con about Virginia, West Virginia, or Deleware state park camping facilities. There's not much (public park or private campground) in most of Pennsylvania, Ohio, or Kentucky. All national park campgrounds I've been to have been good for tenting in all respects except for not having shower facilities (there is running water in sinks for washing your hands, brushing teeth, and that sort of stuff though).
South Jersey has some lovely beaches (of the natural sand dunes, not the boardwalk and Skee ball variety) and scenery (see John MacPhee's book about the Pine Barrens). You could do the Atlantic + Gulf Coast route, as one option. North Carolina's barrier islands are pretty cool. I've not been yet, but the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia also sounds quite interesting, both historically and ecologically? Coastal SC and GA will be maybe less impressive after NC, but there's some really cool geology in northern/panhandle Florida. I have no info about Gulf Coast areas otherwise, though I have a vague impression that there might be more camping options along that route than through northern Alabama and Mississippi (where, if I recall correctly, there wasn't much for campgrounds).
But I'd maybe start off going west to the Catskills, myself. Pennsylvania... has some okay scenery around the Delaware Water Gap or in the Appalachian mountains, but not much otherwise and maybe not as much by way of decent camping options. The Smokey Mountains are definitely a good place to spend time, though. In other times, I'd recommend lunch/dinner in Asheville, NC, brunching in Knoxville, and stopping in Memphis, but I'm not sure if being around people in touristy towns will be a good idea again yet by May :/ (depends on how widespread the take-up on vaccination is, in part, I suspect).
A third option is heading straight west to the Mississippi River, then meandering down the river. Camping stopovers can include western NY, Finger Lakes region of NY, then a full day's drive to Indiana Sand Dunes State Park (on shore of Lake Michigan). Then either up through Upper Peninsula of Michigan and back down through the Wisconsin Dells and more scenic western half of Wisconsin, or another longer drive across Illinois to the Mississippi River. The river itself is pretty and culturally interesting, and you'll find camping along much of the length, as well as secondary highways to drive along next to the river.
posted by eviemath at 5:39 AM on March 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
South Jersey has some lovely beaches (of the natural sand dunes, not the boardwalk and Skee ball variety) and scenery (see John MacPhee's book about the Pine Barrens). You could do the Atlantic + Gulf Coast route, as one option. North Carolina's barrier islands are pretty cool. I've not been yet, but the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia also sounds quite interesting, both historically and ecologically? Coastal SC and GA will be maybe less impressive after NC, but there's some really cool geology in northern/panhandle Florida. I have no info about Gulf Coast areas otherwise, though I have a vague impression that there might be more camping options along that route than through northern Alabama and Mississippi (where, if I recall correctly, there wasn't much for campgrounds).
But I'd maybe start off going west to the Catskills, myself. Pennsylvania... has some okay scenery around the Delaware Water Gap or in the Appalachian mountains, but not much otherwise and maybe not as much by way of decent camping options. The Smokey Mountains are definitely a good place to spend time, though. In other times, I'd recommend lunch/dinner in Asheville, NC, brunching in Knoxville, and stopping in Memphis, but I'm not sure if being around people in touristy towns will be a good idea again yet by May :/ (depends on how widespread the take-up on vaccination is, in part, I suspect).
A third option is heading straight west to the Mississippi River, then meandering down the river. Camping stopovers can include western NY, Finger Lakes region of NY, then a full day's drive to Indiana Sand Dunes State Park (on shore of Lake Michigan). Then either up through Upper Peninsula of Michigan and back down through the Wisconsin Dells and more scenic western half of Wisconsin, or another longer drive across Illinois to the Mississippi River. The river itself is pretty and culturally interesting, and you'll find camping along much of the length, as well as secondary highways to drive along next to the river.
posted by eviemath at 5:39 AM on March 16, 2021 [1 favorite]
An alternative to the Great Smoky Mountains (lovely, but likely to be very crowded this season due to people catching up on vacation plans; camping in the backcountry requires a lot of hiking to the sites) is to go to the Chattanooga area, which has camping available and a big Civil War battlesite on Lookout Mountain. (Also a lot of tourist trap stuff like Rock City and Ruby Falls.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:21 AM on March 17, 2021
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:21 AM on March 17, 2021
This thread is closed to new comments.
Stop anywhere on the blue ridge parkway. I’ve been visiting all of the North Carolina state parks and all of them have been fantastic with well maintained camping facilities.
posted by raccoon409 at 4:17 PM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]