Persimmon Ridge Campground

Richard wrote:
I just found a new campground that I'm planning to check out. It's a mile out from Historic Jonesboro, TN and is owned by the city. It has full hookups and the rate is only $15 per night! It's called Persimmon Ridge Campground, and is across from the city owned golf course. If it's true, I may have a new quick and cheap camping place only 20 miles from home.

Found a little info on Persimmon Ridge CG




1527 Persimmon Ridge Rd.
Jonesborough, TN 37659
Phone: 423-753-2036

45 RV and tent sites, full hookups, bathhouse. Tents and Seniors: $11.00; RVs: $14.00. Campers receive 10% discount to neighboring Wetlands Water Park.

Quick Information
Dump Station, Electric (30 AMP), Electric (50 AMP), Freshwater Fishing, Full Hookups, Hiking Nature Trails, Open Year-round, Pay Phones, Picnic Area, Picnic Shelter, Playground, Restaurant Nearby, Restrooms, RVs Permitted, Showers, Tables, Tenters Welcome, Water Access

Parking Available, Pets Allowed on Leash, Total Sites: 45

Payment Types Accepted
Personal Check, Traveler's Checks

Discounts
Other Discounts

a little more info here: http://www.historicjonesborough.com/lodging/persimmon-ridge-campground-jonesborough-tn.php

Thanks for the info Chuck

Coolbreeze1

Well lookie here..a new CG, anyone wanta go camping..Did I say cold...

looks nice.. I'll wait for Richard's "in person" review. The CG is about 2 hours from my house.

My plan is to do a drive-through today. I'll post the results tomorrow. The price is certainly right, and Chuck get's a discount for being a senior citizen!

Richard wrote:The price is certainly right, and Chuck get's a discount for being a senior citizen!

ya know.. I need to find a club with older folks.. then I'll be the youngest.

chuck wrote:

Richard wrote:The price is certainly right, and Chuck get's a discount for being a senior citizen!

ya know.. I need to find a club with older folks.. then I'll be the youngest.

(Evil Grin) hahahaha

This is the nicest $14 full hookup campground I've ever seen. Then again, it's the worst $14 full hookup campground I've ever seen.

The campground is legit. It has plenty of slots, and can accommodate you bigger-rig fellas. They have the hokups at each site. The sites are gravel, but the grass has grown through the gravel. It is well mowed because it is part of a larger park complex that is owned by the City of Jonesboro. The park includes the senior center (for Chuck) and a pretty nice-looking waterpark. There is a small playground for the campsite, and there are basketball courts in the park. It has a woodsy feel, with a big forrested hill on one side and open area on the other side. There are plenty of shady spots in the park, and a few more open. Any restrooms are someplace else in the park complex. I didn't see anyplace to fish, but that may also be in another part of the larger park complex.

The rules are pretty standard, with a few odd ones. No firearms, be quiet late at night, etc. They don't allow bicycle riding in the campground (how odd) but this is likely to keep the kids visiting the other parts of the park from heading up to the campground and bothering the campers. There is no office. The sign says to just go ahead and set up and the park manager will be around to collect the fee later. There are only two campers set up there now. I didn't see fire rings, but I did see a fire spot one camper made from some old rocks/brick they got from someplace. There is no bathhouse or building of any sort. The campground looks old, and the main road could use re-paving.

This campground would really just be a nice place to camp while pursuing other activities as there just aren't any activities there. Still, the woodsy setting, convenience to a neat old town, wildly low price, etc. will put it on my list for at least one or two outings. I compare it to Warrior's Path and all it offers for the kids, and it will likely be worth the additional money to stay over at Warrior's. Still, in the summer when Warriors is full, this could be a good fallback site, along with the Sullivan County Owned Observation Knob (nice lakefront campground out from the Bristol Motor Speedway).

I don't think I'll recommend it for a group trip, but the group is welcome to join me on a quick trip there sometime. I certainly wouldn't drive from the Knoxvile area to camp there when you have those nice state parks all around.

I see from the first line in your post that this is not a great cg. A positive + negative=a negative

Coolbreeze1

Tim, this is far from "great". It's neat, it's clean, it's cheap, it has water and electric hookups, it's woodsy, it accomodates bigger rigs, you have a bit of space, it's on the edge of a town-owned park that offers much more in the summer than the winter. It's also Old and pretty basic. You are pretty much on your own with no bathhouse or staff (other than a promised park manager that will be "around later" to get your fee. I plan to camp there quite a bit, just for the convenience and price and feel of the place. Still, I wouldn't recommend it for a group trip. We'd have fun sitting around the campfire and such, but we can do that anyplace. If you guys are heading all the way over to my corner, we'd be better off at Warrior's Path or Observation Knob.

Coolbreeze and I did a drive-through on this campground on Saturday. There were only about half a dozen campers. There is no bathhouse at all. The grass is mowed, but the sites aren't maintained. It would be no problem camping there, but they don't have picknic tables or fire rings and the pavement/gravel on the campsites looks to have been done years and years ago. Still, it is located by a nice city park with a playground and basketball courts and a water park (http://www.wetlandsjonesborough.com/tickets.htm). There is plenty of shade. All sites have water and electric, but only some have sewer. The fee is only $15 per night. (They forbid bicycle riding. How silly. )

Mind you, it was race weekend here in the Bristol area, and everything was booked up, and some of the Bristol temporary campgrounds were flooded out. And they still only had 6 campers. I may camp there, but it won't be first or second choice.

There were only a few good choices there that I could get my 5'er into. I don't know if I would camp there, not a bad place if you live close by.

Richard wrote:Tim, this is far from "great". It's neat, it's clean, it's cheap, it has water and electric hookups, it's woodsy, it accomodates bigger rigs, you have a bit of space, it's on the edge of a town-owned park that offers much more in the summer than the winter. It's also Old and pretty basic. You are pretty much on your own with no bathhouse or staff (other than a promised park manager that will be "around later" to get your fee. I plan to camp there quite a bit, just for the convenience and price and feel of the place. Still, I wouldn't recommend it for a group trip. We'd have fun sitting around the campfire and such, but we can do that anyplace. If you guys are heading all the way over to my corner, we'd be better off at Warrior's Path or Observation Knob.

Chuck's first post states that there is a bathhouse....
" 45 RV and tent sites, full hookups, bathhouse. Tents and Seniors: $11.00; RVs: $14.00. Campers receive 10% discount to neighboring Wetlands Water Park."

I'm guessing that he got from their website.... Maybe they tore it down?

I'd like to camp there, but without a bathhouse kind of makes it hard on PUP's and Tents.

I haven't found a bathhouse for the campground. I guess you could use the water park's bathhouse when it's open, if you pay for the waterpark. I decided that I won't be camping there with all the other good campgrounds around. This place is not maintained well at all. Oh, and signs say that you can't ride bikes in the campground. I like wetlands, but I'm not going to bother with persimmon ridge campground.