Rock Island State Park - Rock Island, Tennessee (June 2026)

Rock Island State Park is less than an hour away from the previous campgroun, so we took our time arriving for our next camping adventure. 

On the way into Rock Island State Park

Sign at Rock Island State Park

We followed the check-in procedure at the previous Tennessee State Park. We drove to our site and set up Rosie, our Airstream trailer. After unhitching our truck, we went by the park's Visitors Center to get a campground map. There we learned that this park wants campers to check in first then head to their sites. 

Rosie in our site at Rock Island State Park

Speaking of our site, it was one of the few in this campground that had very limited shade and was in full sun during the afternoon. We were thankful that our site had reliable 50 amp electrical service and that Rosie's two air conditioners worked to cool off the trailer. 

Waterfall in the park

There was a significant amount of poison ivy around our site and the campground. We didn't remember that from the first time we camped here. 

We were thankful that the park provided usable WiFi service in the campground. Our iPhones had trouble finding a usable cell signal. We were able to use the "WiFi Calling" feature on our iPhones to talk to our family members. 

Another waterfall in the park

The building we call Rapunzel's Tower

We drove to Franklin, Tennessee one morning. There are a couple of stores there that Becky enjoys visiting. I read a story about the best ice cream stores in the region and one of the highlighted shops was close to Franklin. It took much longer to get to that shop, but we saw the historical district of that community and the ice cream was good. 

Suzy enjoyed seeing the historical district of Franklin, Tenn

The main reason we were in this campground was to rest and Rock Island is a perfect place to do that. 

We were puzzled while walking around the campground to hear sounds typically associated with a basketball court. We ended up walking across a parking lot to find basketball and tennis courts hidden down a steep hill. 

Selfie in Rock Island State Park

We were scheduled to camp in this park for another week but the weather forecast for home and the park convinced us to leave early. Temperatures were mostly in the low to mid-80s during the afternoons while there. The temperatures were predicted to rise into the high 90s with triple digit heat indexes for both the park and at home. We didn't want to hitch-up, drive in and unload Rosie at home with temperatures that high, so we left while the temperatures were still decent. Our plan was to camp south of Birmingham, Alabama, then to arrive home during the morning hours the following day. 

I had it in my head that we wanted to get to I-24, drive towards Chattanooga then get on I-59 and hit I-65 south of Birmingham. Apple Maps kept arguing with us over this route. We should have listened to Apple Maps because I-24 was stop-and-go traffic and the road condition of I-59 was horrible for about 50 miles. I should have listened to Apple Maps. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had very little shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and we had to use leveling tools to correct a left to right lean
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection
• There was a dump station in this park 
• The trash dumpsters were near the dump station. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There were several bathhouses in the campground. The bathhouse closest to Rosie was outdated but clean
• The park provided WiFi service. We measured 21.27 mbps download and 15.22 mbps upload speeds
• AT&T provided maybe one bar of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were unable to pickup any TV stations using Rosie's antenna 
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Sign directing traffic into the campground

Rosie in Rock Island State Park

Rock Island State Park - Rock Island, Tennessee (October 2022)

Several of the campground review sites we trust convinced us to make reservations for Rock Island State Park. Their reviews were positive and we decided to check it out for ourselves. 

The RV GPS was helpful in that it alerted us to multiple sharp turns and narrow roads as we weaved our way through Tennessee's hills to get to the park. It became clear that you had to travel some state roads to reach this park. After checking in, we were given a map to our site. 

Bridge heading into the park

Sign at the entrance to the park

We found ourselves saying “Oh my” as we pulled Rosie, our Airstream trailer, to our site. The campground had many mature trees and their leaves were in the process of changing colors. 

The colors of the leaves were amazing

That changed to, “Our sons would have loved this campground” as we arrived at our site. It had trees all around it and it was on a slope. We felt like we were in hill country. Also, there was space between Rosie and our camping neighbors. It really felt as if we were camping in the woods. Yes, this was a campground that our sons would have loved when they were small. 

Rosie in the campground

We quickly figured out that this was not a park that we would be riding our bicycles around. There were too many steep hills and we knew we would be walking our bikes up them. 

The main features in this park were the waterfalls. There were several and you ended up having to drive to them because they were five or more miles from the campground. The multiple waterfalls were impressive and fun to hike to after parking our truck in the parking lots. 

First view of the waterfalls

Selfie by the falls

The falls in this park

There were other things that were interesting to see in the park. There was an old cotton mill and something we called Rapunzel's Tower, a water spring house for the mill.  

The water spring house in the park

One of the reasons for this trip was to enjoy the fall colors and we were not disappointed. While the colors were not at peak, we enjoyed seeing them. 

Rosie's site in this park

The temperature did dip below freezing while camping here. Between Rosie's heat pump and furnace, we were warm and hoped the people in tents had cold weather sleeping bags. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had lots shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt 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 
• The trash dumpsters were near the dump station. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There were several bathhouses in the campground 
• The park provided WiFi service. We measured 5.89 mbps download and 3.05 mbps upload speeds
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were unable to pickup any TV stations using Rosie's antenna 
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park