Norris Dam State Park

Here's a few of my pictures from trips to NORRIS DAM STATE PARK:

a few sites (taken during off season)
http://www.hometownsitedesign.com/cgnorris.html

Camping in 2008:
http://www.hometownsitedesign.com/campnd2008.html

Camping in 2009:
http://www.hometownsitedesign.com/campnd2009.html

Camping in 2010:
http://www.hometownsitedesign.com/campnd2010.html

Here's a few individual campsite pictures from NORRIS: CLICK HERE

Norris has two different areas to camp. A east campground close to the dam and a west campground that is further away from the dam. I do prefer the west which is the older of the two.

Here's a few individual campsite pictures from NORRIS: CLICK HERE

We went to NDSP last year early before we bought our camper. We stayed in the rustic cabins... I think sometime in April. Lots of hiking trails which we enjoyed. We can't wait to go back and take the camper. We drove through both campgrounds. Which ones did you guys like the best? If I remember correctly, there was a campground kind of right beside the rustic cabins and another back up the street, maybe near the deluxe cabins?

Just an observation... Did anyone notice the motel on the right, I think just before you get to the park. I got a weird vibe when driving by it. Something about it just seemed kind of creepy to me.

Tennessee_Nomads wrote:

Just an observation... Did anyone notice the motel on the right, I think just before you get to the park. I got a weird vibe when driving by it. Something about it just seemed kind of creepy to me.

I know the motel you are talking about.. it is kinda creepy. I think it was probably a pretty nice place.. back in the day.

If you look at these pics: http://www.hometownsitedesign.com/vcsitesnorris.html you will see them labeled east and west campground. I like the west CG the best. The motel you mentioned is between the dam and the west CG.

by the way.. I live about 20 mins from Norris Dam SP.

chuck wrote:I think it was probably a pretty nice place.. back in the day.

I wonder if it was built around the time the park was being built. Maybe housing some of the workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps? I think they played a big part in the construction of the park.

We camped at Norris twice already this year so I thought I'd add a few comments in this thread. Of the two campgrounds, we prefer the west one. It is situated up on a ridge with a huge water tower in the middle. Most of the sites have some shade, many are fully shaded. There is a brand new awesome playground that I believe was just built in the past few months. As of April they had not yet completed the volleyball area which I assume they are going to fill in with sand soon. There is a fantastic loop trail (Hootin Hollow) that begins on the northern end of the campground, has great leaf-off views of the lake, intersects another trail (Andrew Ridge) and brings you back around to the southern end of the campground. A little over a mile long. There is a system of other trails that connect in where those two trails intersect. There is a primitive back country tent camping area a couple of miles into that trail system. One day I'd like to setup a base camp with the camper then hike over there for a night of tent camping. Excellent campground, especially with the new playground facilities.

The east campground is.. ok. We actually really enjoyed staying there in March when there were almost no other people camping. Most of the sites are not shaded so I would not enjoy being there in the heat of summer. There is a tent camping area in the southern section of the campground which is pretty cool. The best RV site is the one closest to the tent area. You can walk up to the cabin area and there is a basic playground and a juncture where several trails come together. They appeared to be very long trails so we didn't take the kids on them at that time. It is nice to be situated on that side of the dam with easy access to the grist mill and Lenoir Museum.

One sad thing, I was talking to the ranger and he said the pool is permanently closed. Their funding has been cut to the bone and they can't afford to staff it. It's a shame because that was a nice pool and a major reason to visit the park if you have kids. He said they can barely afford to pay someone to staff the grist mill so it is turned off most of the year and the shop closed. I really hope the state pumps some money into these parks because I'd hate to see them go downhill due to these cuts.