Cherokee Dam Campground

We have stayed at Cherokee for the last time I refuse to pay to be treated like 2nd class citizen! The manager is extremely rude and unprofessional he marches around the campground like he’s king of the world! You can’t do this you can’t do that! Unbelievable Cherokee use to be our favorite place to go now I would t recommend it to my worse enemy! Something needs to be done about this man he is unbelievable and by reading reviews I am not the only person that has a problem with him! I’m starting to think upper management doesn’t care what he does! The facilities are dirty and unkept I don’t understand why there are signs in the swimming area promoting the store that is hardly ever open! The picnic area is nasty trash everywhere knee high grass. Do better guys before you run everyone off.

My wife and I were out driving around looking for a local campground to set up for a few days because we didn't feel like travelling far this trip. We had been to this on a few years ago but wanted to go through it and refresh our memory on what we thought the best spots were. We no sooner than we got in the park, what seemed like out of nowhere this gray-haired guy with a moustache stops us and asked if we were campers. Since I had no idea who he was I politely asked who he was. Well, I guess he didn't like that and told us he was the one telling us to leave and proceeded to go into a full-blown expletive-ridden tirade on how he was the manager and we would never get a campsite here, we were banned and being trespassed and so forth. I tried to tell him I didn't mean any disrespect and what we were doing but he was having none of it. Mind you, we stopped at the guard shack and told them what we were doing. By this time my wife was crying and shaking (he was on her side of the truck) so I just said ok, turned around, and left. He followed us all the way out, taking video or pictures. This guy is out of control and going to hurt someone or get hurt one of these days, Sorry for the book but it needs to be said.

We’ve stayed twice at Cherokee Dam campground in a 26’ travel trailer. We stayed 5 nights in November and liked it so much we came back in April for another 5 nights. The campground is about 13 miles from I-40 and Hwy 92 that takes you there is easily traveled without a bunch of curvy roads or low tree branches to worry about. There are several TVA dam signs along the way. There is plenty of room to park your RV while checking in. The check in process was quick and easy. When I checked in I presented my Access Pass and they credited my account $9 a night making my stay about $26 daily. The host goes over the campground rules during the check in process.

The asphalt roads inside the campground are in good shape and easy to navigate. The sites have gravel driveways and pads. Some sites have driveways wide enough for two vehicles side by side. While sites seem mostly level the driveways often are not with up or down slope. I stayed in sites 19 & 44, both were end of row sites with no afternoon shade on the trailer. Most sites in the campground have better shade. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring, water and 50 amp electric. I was able to receive about a dozen TV channels with my antenna, mostly PBS and my AT&T cellular showed 3 bars. The campground info says the water pressure is 100 psi so a pressure regulator is recommended. Even though there were some big rigs in the campground I wouldn’t call it big rig friendly. The sites with the sloped driveways will be problematic for many big rigs. I’m sure you could call the campground to see which ones would be best before making a reservation for a large rig.

The campground has a large gravel lot for overflow parking. The dump station loop is easily accessed with only one trailer able to dump at a time. It was clean with a working rinse water hose and a potable water hose nearby. The campground presents an inviting appearance with the grass cut and trimmed and the debris blown away. The trees are trimmed of low branches along the road and at the sites. It’s obvious the host takes pride in making the campground nice. The area by the dam offers walking paths, picnic areas, swim areas and boat ramps. If you need supplies there is a Walmart in nearby Jefferson City.
I like that office goes over the campground rules when checking in and they are willing to enforce them. This makes the stay enjoyable for everyone. I’ve been to too many campgrounds that had rules but never enforced them. This results in loud people and music, multiple cars parked at sites along the road making it hard to get to your site and generally an annoying camping experience. The host here is always busy, constantly moving throughout the campground taking care of stuff. He often stopped for a brief chat, asking how our stay was going and seeing if we needed anything. We had a peaceful stay both times here and I’d come back again.

Stayed at Cherokee Dam Campground for the first time and really enjoyed my stay. Small campground but very peaceful and spread out spots. I have a 41 foot motor home and they have several sites that could accommodate my rig and car. Grounds were very well cared for and bathrooms were clean. There is a cute camp store where I met the manager Earnest who was very friendly and helpful. I will be back.

I was at the dam park, and I needed some air in the tires of my child’s stroller. Earnest, the campground manager was willing to let us use his air compressor and was very polite and accommodating. The campground is also extremely clean and well kept.