Natchez Trace RV Campground

We all know Thousand Trails parks are hit or miss situation and we are usually up for any type of campground - NOT THIS ONE. This campground is full of locals - they pull a huge 5th wheel into a decent lake site and it stays there for decades. The park management is totally blind to actual RV travelers- the small number of useable sites are unlevel bumpy narrow death traps and the utilities are ancient. The only full hook up site we could find was actually marked on the map as having electrical problems. Nice. Why not fix it rather than note it? And the park roads? Horrible - they must be waiting for all of the old pavement to crumble into gravel. And there are three massive hills inside the park as well. It’s insulting. Do not make the mistake that we made- stay away. And we’re rethinking our TT membership. Also the wifi that you have to buy doesn’t well. Also typical of a TT park.

The campground is quite large with lots of things to explore. A lot of the roads, especially around the campsites were in need of repair. I had full hookup with 30 amp service, though not all of the sites have sewer. All of the lakeside sites are taken up by resident campers (of which there are a lot). I had absolutely no cell service through Verizon and my T-Mobile 5g internet had no reception either (even with a booster). Luckily, I was able to rely on my Starlink. A lot of the buildings looked like they had seen better days, but were maintained as well as they could be. Staff were nice and pleasant. Meriwether Lewis death/gravesite was nearby and interesting to check out. Not a whole lot else to do in the area. There is a low bridge (11ft) that you need to pass under to get onto the Natchez Trace Parkway. If you can’t fit, you have to take Napier road north several miles. There is a wal-mart in town about 20 or so minutes away.

First of all the Natchez Trace (Highway) is beautiful. No trucks and it looks like it was just cut out of the forest, two lanes and smooth. However if you are over 11’ (I am 13’6”)you have to make a five mile detour on a road that says “closed” Oy vey. I finally decided well I’ll go on the closed road. It’s the only way to get to the campground. As it turned out it was some road construction but I was able to get by. The campground looks like they just cut out the out of the woods. Really very nice on the lake. Lots of permanent residences, no big deal. Ended up with a pull through site on the hill. Pretty neat.

Site:
--First-come-first serve for Thousand Trails members. Chose Phase 2, which was the newest area in the park. --Annual Residents took up every single lakeside spot. Do not expect a view of the lake. You'll be driving to see the lake.
-The site was not level, mostly a bumpy gravel driveway, then the rest of the ground was uneven and pitted, so we couldn't even set up a screen tent.

Electric and Maintenance Issues:
--We discovered "hot skin" on our camper when I was shocked by one of our cargo handles. Our surge protector showed that we had a hot wire - it was not grounded. We unplugged, called the front desk. They said someone could come possibly the next day to fix it, or we had the option to move to another spot. A big inconvenience because we were already unhitched.

We started re-hitching because I had to work remotely, and no electricity was not an option. A half-hour into hitching up, a maintenance man came with the electrician. No communication on this; just showed up on golf carts. It took them an hour to figure out the problem - this site was wired incorrectly. While they fixed it they were calling someone else to ask how to rewire it and sent photos. It was fairly alarming that they didn't seem to know what they were doing. At one point, they said it was fixed, but our surge protector still threw an error. Finally got it fixed... wouldn't let them leave until the surge protector showed it was good to go! Otherwise, they would have left it still broken.

Maintenance was VERY dismissive about our electric concerns and acted put-out that we'd called for assistance. At one point, the maintenance guy tried to tell us that hot skin won't hurt anyone when it is well known that this is a dangerous situation, especially in wet weather. It's 30-Amp service, sir. Yikes.

The Vibe:
This is a depressing place, there are no two ways around it.

--All of the recreation buildings are severely run down. You can see that this once used to be a vibrant campground with a happening community center and lots of activities. The gym is permanently closed, the indoor basketball/racquetball building might as well be haunted, the game room is dirty and everything is broken and not maintained at all.

--The only consistent activity is their church, which all of the permanent residents advertise outside of their campers with signs. To each their own, but it's not appropriate to put so much attention on church activities and no other activities. Other than church, there was really no draw for people to go to the rundown community center.

--This place is centered around the annual residents, full stop. They had all the dedicated spots by the lake (with many not even present, slides in, and the camper shut down).

--The staff doesn't seem like they want to be there. Every encounter we had was abrupt, and it was just a few. Might be zombies, the jury is still out.

Cell Service/WiFi:
T-Mobile hotspot did not work at all. Zero service. Purchased the WiFi and it barely worked. Streaming was a struggle, as well as Zoom meetings.

Tips:
This campground is huge and you will need to drive to go to between the store, rec center, and the lake. There are steep hills on the road, so golf carts won't work well for that journey. Natchez Trace Parkway was there and relatively interesting, but how many dead white guys can someone read about in a day.

Location:
Was at least half an hour from anything. The small towns nearby are equally rundown and depressing.

That low bridge everyone talks about is REAL and you have to take Napier road there from the North, not the Natchez Trace Parkway.

It is very quiet. Everyone here seemed intensely depressed, so not surprised.

Sites are hit and miss for working electrical. Grounds could use a lot of cleaning up. Love that the campground is in the forest. Peaceful and relaxing campground. WiFi is available for a price. Our phones worked fine on LTE. We would stay again. Wish they had more 50 amp sites. 30 amp wasn’t enough at times but we made it work. Again staff ladies were very helpful and nice.

This location is ONLY for people that want to get away and get back to nature, without any devices. I, however, work remote and only had emergency cell phone service. The WIFI offered at the park kicks you off every 2-3 minutes. I didn't even stay 24-hours.

The roads in the campground are in disrepair, there are numerous potholes. It's 1st come, 1st serve with most of the 50-amp sites going to the seasonal campers.

This is a fine campground if you're not planning on being around it very much. The roads, as others have surely noted, are rough. The hills to get around the campground are very steep in some areas — surprisingly so. The place is not much to look at in general. That said, it's fully functional, you ought to drive slow with your rig anyway so the roads aren't too much worry, and it's on a pretty neat road/park that's a beautiful drive. So take it with a grain of salt :)

The other reviews were scary with the bridge and internet - maybe our expectations were low but this campsite wasn’t too bad!
Bridge was terrifying (in a big fifth wheel) and you will have no service about an hour outside of the park. There is a make shift dirt side road beside the paved road under the bridge that gives at least 2 feet to additional clearance. We are about 13.5’ tall and made it with all AC’s intact.
Also we purchased the internet for $15 for the week and we have been able to stream Netflix, work remote, and play Xbox with little issues (not perfect but better then anticipated). I had 4 bars of 5g for AT&T and no bars on my Verizon jet pack.

We came in February and there are a lot of full timers/annuals here but it’s pretty quiet. It’s not very private in the spots. Staff has been amazing and helped us get into a double 30 AMP spot so we have no issue with power plus we had sewer hook ups.

Hohenwald is like 30 minutes away and it’s a small town so when we come back I would already have a full gas tank and a full fridge this time.

#1 watch out for the low bridge! Check directions before you come!

I’d give this a 3.5 if I could

This campground is fine for a base for a little while.

Pros:
-Friendly/helpful staff
-It’s pretty here
-Lakes
-There’s a pool but it was closed for winter so I don’t know if it’s good
-Mini golf is so so
-Quiet
-Nice playground
-Nice Dog park
-Feels very safe
-Pretty Clean bathrooms

Cons:
-The roads suck
-We had some issues with power but they did send out an electrician to fix it.
-WiFi isn’t great even if you buy it
-Not many lake side or full hook ups available to non-annuals, most sites are 30 amp W/E
-Some areas are pretty tightly packed
-I’d recommend against arriving at night if at all possible

Things to do:
Natchez Trace has a number of stops in the area
Amish Wagon Tour was really neat
Shafer Meat Market has really good BBQ
Lots of water falls in the area

As many have said their are a lot of yearly residents here so forget about a space along the lake. Also finding a full hook up site is next to impossible due to probably over 50% of the full hook up sites are taken by yearly residents. We are new Thousand trails members and did not realize they sold yearly spaces. The park was pretty much full when we stayed and due to the long term resident there is a lot of traffic mainly in Side by sides and golf carts. People drive way to fast with in the park.

The park is nice and the facilities are clean getting access to the lake is tough due to the lakeside sites. There is a store on site If you are looking for a place to get away for a week you could do worse. We camped at Natchez Trace Thousand Trails NACO in a Fifth Wheel.