Douglas Dam Tailwater Campground

Site 4 was an easy back-in site of pea rock that was plenty long enough for our truck and trailer. Neighboring sites were pretty close, with no foliage between, but there were a few trees for some shade. The bridge over the river is busy and noisy during morning and evening rush hours but pretty quiet overnight. Reservations and check-in were easy. Well maintained grounds, clean and spacious restrooms. The restroom closest to the camp host sites had only one shower stall, didn’t check the other restrooms. It’s a nice spot for fishing or bird watching and close to area attractions and restaurants. Good price for the amenities.

Check-in was easy, just stop by the campground store and get your tag. Sites are pea gravel,fairly level, electric (30amp) and water worked well. Sites are nicely spaced with a few trees throughout.

There is some road noise from the bridge especially with the sites closest to the bridge.

A few sites were open during the week, filled up on weekend. Dump station on site.

Fishing is near impossible with 2-3 generators running. 0-1 generators is a nice slow current.

Good AT&T cell service , no HDTV channels.

Wonderful location and host are friendly, but you need to pick your campsite carefully! Many sites in this campground are snug and squeeze you in next to your neighbor. Other sites are nice and spacious. The campsite map is NOT helpful or accurate when picking a site. If you choose to camp here without seeing the campground I would highly recommend calling the campground store and asking questions about the specific sites that you are considering.
That said; if you are in a good site, this campground is heaven! Most sites are a few feet from the river therefore have a great view! The bathhouses are kept nice and clean, but do get hot in the summer months since they only have screened windows for ventilation. The campground is very flat for east TN which makes for pleasant and easy strolls through the campground and along the river up to the dam. The river water levels change throughout the day as TVA releases water through the dam.
We enjoy putting in our Kayaks at the boat ramp and paddling to the public boat ramp that is under Hwy 66 3.5 miles down river. When the dam isn’t running the river is quite shallow and takes about 1.5 hrs to make your way to the take out. We like this float because of the bald eagles and osprey generally keep us company. Not to mention all the large fish you can spot when going through the shoals. If the dam is running 3 or 4 gates open then it’s a quick 40 minute paddle to the take out.

We camped here 4 nights in June 2021. Our site, 32B is probably the nicest one here - great views down the river, access for kayaking or fishing, all day shade - almost perfect. Only drawback is that the site is pretty close to site #33, nothing to separate the sites. I’m amazed there are no reviews on here for 2021 even though campground almost full Friday & Saturday night. Staff very friendly, grounds clean & well maintained. We’ll be back if we’re in this area again.

Our stay was split between site 52 (ADA site) and site 48. 52 was fine other than the odd layout that backed in very close to the Camp Host site. Site 48 however, was directly under a huge black walnut tree that was dropping the walnuts on to our 5th wheel all night! It sounded like someone throwing baseballs at our trailer. There were also a tremendous amount of fallen walnut husks on the ground, rotting, and attracting a lot of gnats. The campground itself was ok but could have been better if those rotten walnuts were cleaned up from time to time.

gravel pads, first site #3 was nice. It was in the water. Cell service decent. Had to move to 37. Not great. At the end. Camper right on top of us. Poor cell service. Overall clean and easy access. Was noisy during the week with construction on opposite side of the river. They started at 8 am. Would stay again if we knew they was no construction. So call first. ( someone always answers )!

Great place! Glad we did not camp at either end, The end near the entrance is more in the sun and near the bridge where people see how loud their cars trucks and bikes can be. The other end had a cranes nest (great to watch) but their squawking and crying all night was crazy. Site 31 is a massive spot with dual tables and can easily fit a large party. We booked 31 and 32 with our friends and never used our spot. Instead I pulled thru and our friends backed in so we were awning to awning. Site 31 is mostly sunny where 32 is under a large tree. We had a late afternoon shade. There are no sewer connections but the dump station is not far away. Our Lab (13 years old) swam all day in the river until she could barely make it back to the campground, my kids and I were fishing on and off all day, and we walked the campground and played on the playground. Great place for families or a place to relax and enjoy nature.

I stayed here just one night in late October 2019 and found the staff friendly and helpful. The bathhouse was clean. My site was at the very end and had a nice view of the water. There was plenty of room though for me in my 20' motorhome not much is needed. The sites have water and 30amp hookups. My site was level and that was really appreciated. I was surprised at how busy the campground was on a Thursday. I had good cell signal both on Verizon and AT&T. The one knock I might give the place is for noise as even as far away as I was I could hear traffic noise from the nearby road though it wasn't terrible.