Rock Island State Park

Spring time is here in Tennessee, and I've been itching to get the RV out of storage and go on our first family camping trip of the year. I love camping in our Tennessee State Parks. While KOAs and  Good Sam RV Parks are nice, when I go camping, I want to get somewhat away from civilization and enjoy the beauty of God's creation. Several of the state parks here in Tennessee actually have some really nice campgrounds, and Rock Island State Park is no exception.

Rock Island State Park is located on the headwaters of Center Hill Lake at the confluence of the Caney Fork, Collins, and Rocky Rivers. In fact, Rock Island is not actually an island, but a peninsula that exists between the Caney Fork and Collins Rivers. In 1917, a hydroelectric plant and dam was built by the Tennessee Electric Power Company just downstream from the Caney/Collins confluence. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) took over operations in the 1940s, and in 1966, leased a portion of their property to the State of Tennessee for park development. While Rock Island State Park is well off the beaten path, the presence of the TVA is very noticeable, with a large power station and large power cables sometimes dominating the landscape. Rock Island has several hiking trails, picnic areas, boating and fishing opportunities, and a 50 site RV-friendly campground.

All sites in the main campground have water and electric hookups, and 4 (sites 31-34) have sewer hookups. The park boasts having free wi-fi available at the campground - and they do - but the wi-fi is spotty at best. The campground looks like it has just undergone an extensive renovation, and the wi-fi is part of the newness of that renovation. While talking with the campground hosts, I learned that they are actively working out the bugs in their wi-fi system. All of the sites are paved with asphalt and tent-appropriate sites have sizable dirt pads in addition to the paved parking area.

We pulled into camp late Friday afternoon and set up camp in site #34 - the last of the sewer equipped sites.

Site #34 at Rock Island State Park campground
Equipped with water, electric, sewer, fire ring, and picnic table/patio. 

The park office and check-in site closes at 4:00 pm, and we arrived a little after 5:00. Thankfully, we had reservations and were able to pull right in.

Tennessee requires campers to burn only locally harvested wood in order to prevent wood-born parasites from entering the forest ecology. Because of that, State Parks typically sell locally harvested firewood for campers to buy. For some reason, Rock Island does not offer that service. I looked around for a place to buy firewood and couldn't find any. When I asked the campground host, he told me I could buy some at Taylor's Corner Market in the nearby town of Rock Island. Since it was near dusk, he offered to give me a few of his personal stash - which was definitely going above and beyond, in my opinion.

Leading up to our weekend, all of the weather forecasts were calling for 90%-100% chance of rain that Saturday with a high likelihood of severe weather. Leading up to our trip, I said several prayers asking for mercy in the weather department; and we were all hopeful that we would get enough breaks in the rain to explore the park and take in the scenery. As we turned in for the night that Friday night, it began to rain, which didn't offer much hope.

To our surprise, when we awoke Saturday morning, all of the rain had blown over and the forecast for the day had completely changed. There were chances of rain in the morning and evening - but for the bulk of the day, rain chances were minimal. My prayers were answered!

A little mound of moss along the Moonshine Trail.

While the rest of the family showered and got ready for the day, I decided to do a little exploring on my own. At the campground, there is a short half-mile trail called the Moonshine Trail. The trail meanders through the woods, past the base of an old moonshine still - hense the name.

A millipede I found along the way

The trail was definitely a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I had the whole trail to myself... well myself and a few curious squirrels and an interesting insect or two.

Once I returned to camp, I found that a few family members had actually ventured outside and were enjoying the beautiful day as they read their daily devotions.

Daily reading in the great outdoors

Angel resting by the fire ring (she doesn't read).

While our eldest child was still getting ready, Aaron and I decided to go on a little adventure of our own. We hopped on our bikes and headed into the park to find some places to explore. We quickly found the Eagle Trail - a 0.7 mile trail that runs along the Caney Fork between two picnic areas. At the end of the Eagle Trail was the Blue Hole Trail, which is a steep, wet, and rugged half-mile trail that descends to the edge of the Caney Fork, along a couple of small, yet picturesque waterfalls.

Small waterfall hidden away at the end of a spur off the Eagle Trail.

A lot of water was flowing down the gorge as we descended the Blue Hole trail.

One of the waterfalls at the end of the Blue Hole trail.

Another waterfall at the end of the Blue Hole trail. As we hiked beneath these falls, I was thankful for waterproof hiking boots.

Poison ivy - and lots of it. Don't touch!

Along the banks of the Caney Fork River. These are the headwaters of Center Hill Lake.

After hiking back to our bikes, we rode back to camp and met up with Lea and Haley, and had a quick lunch.

After lunch, we all decided to go exploring the park as a family. The main draw of the park is Great Falls, just downstream from the Great Falls TVA Power Station. In order to see the falls, you have to go to the other side of the Caney Fork. The quickest way to the other side of the river is across the dam, but currently the dam is closed to vehicle and foot traffic. With the dam closed, we had to leave the park, cross the bridge on the other side of Rock Island, and re-enter the park on Powerhouse Road.

Great Falls, standing right across the river from the Great Falls Power Station. 

Great Falls from the same viewpoint

We walked west along the trail that runs along side the Caney Fork. This is Great Falls from the west side of the falls. From here, you can see the main falls, plus a series of cascades.

Great Falls, directly across the river from the falls.

After seeing the falls, we drove back to the Warren County side of the river to see a few more of the park's attractions.

This Spring House "Castle" used to serve as the Rock Island community water supply. The spring is still active, but the spring house is no longer functional

Some smaller falls upstream of Great Falls near the Old Mill parking lot. There is a trail from the parking lot that goes down into the gorge for a close-up view of Great Falls. Because of all the recent rains, the trail was closed. When water is released from the dam, this entire gorge becomes so flooded, that these falls are no longer visible.

After getting our fill of the park, we headed back to the campsite for dinner and our last night at the park. After dinner, we ended our evening with the obligatory campfire.

Sitting around the campfire

And almost as if on cue, as soon as we went in the camper for the night, the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. As I lay in bed, listening to the rain - I couldn't help but thank the Lord for sparing us from the rain and giving us a beautiful day to enjoy just a small part of His amazing creation.