Holleman's Bend Camping Area

Nice Quiet Spot With Several Sites Equipped With Trash Bins, Picnic Table & Fire Ring. There Are 2 Port A Potties That Desperately Need A Serious Cleaning. Graffiti Covered The Walls Of One & What Looked Like Dried White Paint Was Brushed On The Toilet Seat. The Other Porta Pottie Was “cleaner”. The Loop Has Sites On The Outside & Some On The Inside Of The Loop(see Map & Pics). One Site Has A Lean to. When We Pulled Up There Was A Single Elderly Woman With The Table Covered In What Looked Like All Her Earthly Possessions & The Lean to Had A Smoker Of Some Sort. Not Sure If She “Lived” There On That Site Or Not. There Are 2 Sites Down By The Water. These You’ll Need To Park At The Loop & Walk Down About 20 Yards. One Truck Pulled In At The Port A Potties & A Guy Went In For About 20 Minutes With A Bag Of Chips. When He Came Out, He Looked Nervous As He Kept Looking Side To Side. Ok, That’s The First Red Flag. Second Red Flag: We Planned On Staying The Night However, After About The 8th “local” Drove Around The Loop & Slowed As They Passed Us,(2 Cars Actually Stopped Just Before Our Site & Watched Us For About A Minute Before Leaving) We Decided We Weren’t Ready To Become A Part Of Deliverance & Left.

Nice spot next to water, was able to find a slightly flat area next to a wood structure on the grounds for Class B van. The location did have trash receptacles, fire rings, a bbq grill, and porta potties, but someone had put what appeared to be caulk on the toilet rims. Stayed 10/29/2023 and three other campers and a little bit of road traffic noise from the local residents. Got 1 bar service but not useful really at all while there.

Verizon coverage was 1 or 2 bars but not usable for anything significant. Very high >1000ms latency and ~2Mbps speed. No T-Mobile or AT&T coverage. Verizon and T-Mobile taken with a roof mounted Pepwave antenna. No tree cover so it is decent for Starlink and solar depending on orientation.

The access road here is about a lane and 3 quarters wide so it's a bit narrow. Otherwise, it's paved and in decent shape. We showed up on a Monday morning and there was only one other camper here who I'm pretty sure was a squatter. It was empty all week until a couple more people showed up for the weekend, but there were still plenty of available spots.

We were able to find a level spot without issues. Trash barrels and portapotties were available and both were serviced when we were there.

There was some local road traffic and people driving through the loop but it wasn't more than 1 or 2 an hour. One local did have a screaming match with another camper over a dog.

Access to the river/lake was available.

This camp spot was very pretty and quiet (lake is beautiful!). I got there on a thursday and stayed till sunday, it wasnt until saturday that people (i assume locals) started driving through. The only downside is that service is awful for at&t, it was super spotty and the second youd get it it'd be gone (and it was only ever 1 bar). Otherwise it was great and each site had a trash can and picnic table, and there were two porta potties you can walk to. I followed these coordinates to get there N36°18.7798’ W085°47.7939’ , you'll see the sign that says "camping is limited to 14 days in a 30 day period" and it's right past that sign.

I camped here September 10th-11th '22 by the water. Lots of places to put tent, great fire pit (without grate), picnic table, clean trash bins, and FRESH portapoties!
I never saw another person while I was there... superb! It was well kept and totally free. The water was beautiful. I met a stray cat I eventually named Ozzy, and we became great friends over the cookies I continually gave her. She left after I gave her the last one, which hurt, but as they say, "its better to have loved and lost then not have loved at all." Some trash out and about, and people down the street suddenly started blasting 80's hits like "Renegade" and "Come Sail Away" by Styx late at night. While will love sex, drugs, and rock n' roll till the day I die, I could've done without these rock anthems echoing across the river as I tried to meditate and fall asleep.
Just far enough away, perfect amount of people, great amenities, great music, decent cleanliness, and beautiful nature. Highly recommend!

Pulled off here on my way to New Mexico, fairly convenient to I-40. I camped at the small spot all the way at the end of the road. There's a decent amount of traffic here, as people come out to fish and most folks just end up turning around at the end. For quieter spots, bear right at the last intersection before the river, onto the loop here, 36.3129401, -85.7965245.
There were two porta johns, a shelter and more than ten places to camp. You might not be able to get your car all the way up to it, but there's a beautiful spot near the water.
Verizon coverage was 2-3 MBps and not very reliable. Suitable for checking email or sending texts, but too slow to browse.

Alright. The coordinates for this place are off. GPS has you go to the end of the dead end road. There is a large gravel patch and a boat ramp. THIS IS NOT THE CAMPGROUND! We did however stay at the boat ramp for the night and other than one car driving by, we were not bothered by anyone. The correct coordinates are
N36°18.7798’ W085°47.7939’ for the camping area entrance.
The campground is actually before the dead end on the right hand side. It’s labeled “Horse Trails”. Nothing I saw actually called this place “Hollemans Bend Campground”. There is a bunch of campsites with trash cans, fire pits and a few grills. There is also two porta potties! A few sites (better for tents or car campers) are right on the water. Many sites would accommodate larger rigs because it’s designed for horses. There are horse trails (no ATV’s allowed). If you have kayaks/canoes this would be a great place to paddle. I couldn’t find any information on the board with max nightly stay limit. Overall this is a great place.

This camp is great in the off season and is easy to get in and out of for any sized rig. It is easy to find a level spot! If it is raining there is a small lean-to. There are horse trails and if you want to do a 3-7 mile hike there are great trails for that right from camp. I have been here 3 times in November/December and never seen anyone else.

This location was really beautiful for the area. It is on the water next to a boat ramp. Would be great if you had a kayak or canoe.

There were several unsavory characters that did drive-bys during the day and late evening. We couldn't tell if they were locals looking to party at the spot or if we were getting cased. It was uncomfortable but infrequent and nothing happened after dark.

You can get cell service when standing on the boat ramp, but no cell service outside of that spot.

There is one campsite on the point by the water, plenty of room for 2 or 3 RVs or vans around, then a couple more sites away from the water closer to the horse trails. The one site by the water had a trash bin and a fire circle, as did the sites by the horse trails. The ones by the horse trails away from the water also had an outhouse. The GPS coordinates are for the site near the water.

We set up our tent in an area that was barely big enough for a tent and made up our own site in order to be closer to the water and have a little more privacy.

This site would be great for van lifers with a cell booster.