Edgar Evins State Park - Silver Point, Tennessee (October 2022)

We were looking for some campgrounds to enjoy the leaves changing colors and the online reviews of Tennessee's Edgar Evins State Park were very positive. The location was good so we were convinced to give it a try. There were a few reviews that weren’t glowing, but those could easily be dismissed as cases of hard-to-please people. 

Sign at the entrance to this park

You cannot talk about this park without focusing on what makes it unique. Each site was on a substantial elevated wooden deck that went out over the steep slope of a hill. Some of those sites had water views. We were able to reserve a lakeside deck and were excited about camping in this park. 

Then we arrived. 

The decks appeared to be much smaller than we imagined as we hunted for our site. Also, some sites had sharp inclines guaranteed to bottom out your RV as you backed in. 

An empty deck site

We found our site and it had only a slight incline. The only effect from that slope would be that it would be harder to release our trailer’s weight equalizer bars when we unhitched. 

Our site was rated for RVs up to 31 feet in length. I think they used a fisherman’s measuring tape to determine that. There were multiple complications that made backing into our site a challenge. First, there was no shoulder on the side of the narrow access road beside our site, only a rocky cliff. That limited being able to maneuver as we backed into our site. Second, there were two substantial concrete columns on either side of our site. Those probably added structural integrity to the decks and helped protect the wooden sides to the sites, but they made backing in more tedious. Third, there was only a tiny space to place our tow vehicle next to Rosie, our Airstream trailer, on our deck.  What could have been an area to park our truck on outside our site’s wooden deck was too washed away and at too much of an angle down the hill to feel safe. 

Truck and Rosie in our site

Well, we were able to successfully park Rosie and squeeze our truck beside her on our platform. Things were looking up, but there were a few nervous conversations about our plans to safely pull Rosie out of this site when it was time to leave. 

Several of our camping neighbors asked us about our plans for the big Halloween celebration over the weekend. That was the first we heard about it, but it was easy to see that this was a big deal among those in the park. 

As predicted, the campground was full for the weekend. We were able to get to a store and buy some candy to give out to the children who were on a trick-or-treat mission. 

Rosie with her Halloween decorations 

Our neighbor's decorations

We felt that we lucked into being in this park at a great time to enjoy it. Many sites were decorated for Halloween and we enjoyed seeing the children in their costumes. 

The temperatures dropped below freezing our first two nights in this park. Rosie’s heat pumps and furnace kept us warm and cozy. 

This wasn’t a campground that we wanted to ride our bikes in. Most roads in this park had steep inclines and scary declines that would have made riding our bikes very difficult and not very safe. 

The hills in this park

The leaves were changing colors

The marina across the lake

Our verdict was that this was an interesting place to camp. It was also a white-knuckle experience backing into and leaving our site. We recommend people wanting to camp here call the park directly to learn the size of the decks and if it has a slope at its access that could bottom out your RV. 

The lake

Looking at Rosie from beneath the deck

By the way, we didn’t see any huge fifth-wheel units nor large motor homes in this park. There were a few sites that could accommodate larger rigs, but most sites appeared to be designed to fit campers less than 30 feet in size. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground.  All sites were a wooden deck that jutted out over a hill
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with wood and was level
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site did not have a sewer connection
• There was a dump station in this park. It was up several steep hills and not easy to reach
• The trash dumpsters were at the entrance of the campground. You had to walk up some steep hills to get there
• There were several bathhouses in the campground. The one closest to Rosie was clean and warm
• We were confused about WiFi service in this campground. WiFi units were on poles around the park. In fact, one was next to Rosie. It didn’t work and I found only one while walking around the campground that actually worked. I was able to use a marginal WiFi signal from the marina across the lake while standing outside Rosie 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were unable to pick up any TV stations using Rosie’s antenna 
• Plan on a drive if you want to go to restaurants or shopping
• This was a pet friendly park 

Selfie at the visitors center

Saving our Yorkie from the monster