Ep 6. - Cherokee National Forest in the Oliver

This trip was to the Chilhowee Recreation Area campground in the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee.  I was excited about making this trip, hoping for some nice fall colors and I wasn't disappointed.  I was probably a week or two too late for the most colorful foliage.

In retrospect, I probably should have planned this trip for October.  The water release for the Ocoee was still being done on weekends and the foliage might have been a little more spectacular.

When I booked the trip on recreation.gov, it showed most campsites as being taken, so this one was one of the few that was a 30A electric site.  Plus, the sign at the start of the road up the mountain showed "No Vacancy"- not sure what was going on.  I believe this campground did shut down on Nov. 6th, and my reservation was for Oct. 29th through Nov. 3rd.  Maybe this was part of their year-end shutdown.

I did notice the camp host for loops A/B at the top of the hill had a very messy campsite.  There were plastic containers and junk lying around everywhere.  I believe they left while I was there, but I never saw them.  I did see the camp hosts for the C/D loops when I went down there to dump my tanks on the way out.  They were riding in the campground on their golf cart and waved to me and thanked me for coming.  I noticed their campsite was neat and orderly.  After the camp host on A/B left, I saw a Forest Service employee come by and he did not seem very happy with the state of the campsite.

This was my first trip using an outdoor rug outside the camper.  I really like it, I picked it up at Walmart and it was not very expensive.  It folds up to a very manageable size and has a carrying handle.  I found that it helps keep the floor inside the camper a little cleaner.  I carry an electric leaf blower with me and usually blow the leaves around the site.  After I did that, I put down the rug and then once during the stay I used the blower to clean off the rug.

Very close to the campground is McKamy (or McCamy) Lake.  It is pretty small, but has a man-made sandy beach and a day-use area that I think a lot of people use during the summer.  The picnic tables in that area are brand new. 

Extra photos