Harrison Bay State Park

Harrison Bay State Park, Chattanooga TN. Well almost in Chattanooga anyway.

HBSP has a nice campground but the bath houses are a little run down. It is a state park and during these tight econmic times they have had to cut back on help down there. They have a really large pool and ball field, lots of trails to ride bikes, and a marina and on site restaraunt for thos that don't cook.
Here is a couple of pics of the maps that I made for it.

https://2img.net/h/i99.photobucket.com/albums/l298/fisherpal2k/Harrison%20Bay/HBSPCLOOP.jpg

https://2img.net/h/i99.photobucket.com/albums/l298/fisherpal2k/Harrison%20Bay/HBSPBLOOP.jpg

https://2img.net/h/i99.photobucket.com/albums/l298/fisherpal2k/Harrison%20Bay/HBSPALOOP.jpg

I did not add loop D as it is a tent only area. Lots of things to do in the area and it is close to camping world and the aquarium and other sites in town.

There are other pics in the photo bucket account that was from one of our earlier trips when we had the pop up.

https://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l298/fisherpal2k/Harrison%20Bay/

I Like the looks of Harrison Bay.. nice large sites. Thanks for posting the pics.

Harrison Bay is the campground that is about 20 minutes from my house. We love to go there, especially if it is a quick trip that hasn't been planned out well. The only problem is it doesn't accept reservations. I must say that I have never been in the park when I couldn't find a site (not the best site maybe). Even on holidays I have always been able to find something.

abivens wrote:Harrison Bay is the campground that is about 20 minutes from my house. We love to go there, especially if it is a quick trip that hasn't been planned out well. The only problem is it doesn't accept reservations. I must say that I have never been in the park when I couldn't find a site (not the best site maybe). Even on holidays I have always been able to find something.

We have Harrison Bay on our list of possible campgrounds for a trip in 2010.

Alan, being from that area, which campgrounds near the Chattanooga area would you recommend for a trip to see Ruby Falls, Lookout mountain, and/or Civil War battlefeilds or other historic/landmark sites like these?

KralCamper wrote:

abivens wrote:Harrison Bay is the campground that is about 20 minutes from my house. We love to go there, especially if it is a quick trip that hasn't been planned out well. The only problem is it doesn't accept reservations. I must say that I have never been in the park when I couldn't find a site (not the best site maybe). Even on holidays I have always been able to find something.

We have Harrison Bay on our list of possible campgrounds for a trip in 2010.

Alan, being from that area, which campgrounds near the Chattanooga area would you recommend for a trip to see Ruby Falls, Lookout mountain, and/or Civil War battlefeilds or other historic/landmark sites like these?

There are 6 campgrounds that I know of that will probebly be what you are looking for.
1. Harrison Bay State Park
http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/HarrisonBay/
This is a great campground, very woodsy, access to water. The only problems are, no reservations, and you are still about 30 to 45 minutes from any of those attractions you spoke of

2. Cloudland Canyon State Park
http://www.gastateparks.org/CloudLand
Exteremly beautiful, was featured in backpacking magagzine as one of the best RV CGs in the nation. Problems, it is a good 45minutes to an hour away from your attractions.

3. Raccoon Mountain Campground
http://www.raccoonmountain.com/
This CG is neat because it has a cavern on the property that you can pay to take a guided tour of. The tour is neat and worth the money. There is also a go-cart track that you can ride, this is a plus and a minus as you can imagine the noise that you could hear all day. Unfortunately the campground has some people who appear to be living there full time. Some of the sites are tight and you definately do not get that woodsy feel there.

4. Cloudland Canyon State Park
http://www.gastateparks.org/CloudLand
This CG is probebly the best choice. It is a very nice and wooded area with access to a nice lake, and it is probebly the closest to all the Chattanooga attractions. It has been a while since I have stayed there but when I was there it was really nice with waterside camping sites.

5. Lookout MTN/ West Chatt KOA
http://www.lookoutmountainkoa.com/
This CG would probebly be the closest to all attractions, I have just never been there so I cannot comment on it.

6. CampingWorld Chattanooga
http://www.campingworldofchattanooga.com/about
This CG is literally outside the front doors of the Camping World store. It is a CG of utility not beauty. You can stay there realatively cheap but it is not a beautriful place. It is however convienient to all of Chatt. If this one is your choice just let me know, I am sure I can get you some free nights there (I am friends with one of the sales guys).

Wow! What a wealth of information about the campgrounds in and around the Chattanooga area. Thanks so much for the time and effort you put into this post. We had been thinking about Raccoon Mountain, but had not given any thought to the part about the go cart track and noise. We definitely prefer a more woodsy feel when we are camping and when possible, also prefer to be near water for some fishing, in this particular trip's case, it would be more of a sightseeing trip than a camping/fishing trip, not so concerned about water access.

Great Post!

HO.... my hats off to you Alan, this is so much info and we will need as much as possible. We try to pre-drive but this trip we will not do this. Maybe?????

Finally getting to visit HBSP...

This will probably be my longest trip of the year.