Shellmound RV Resort & Campground

This is one of those places that you question whether you want to actually leave a public review or not… because you would like it to remain as is & not get over crowded. We loved everything about it!

The only reason I would consider giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is because there are no sites with sewer, but there is a dump station on site. Also, cell service was a bit shoddy so we just stayed hooked to our Starlink. I can’t speak for other sites in particular, but ours had decent signal through the trees.

The playground for the kiddos is super fun! You are right next to the river and there is a dock right next to the camp, along with a super cute park and pier. The weather was gorgeous, the lightning bugs were magical, and the sounds of the river were very calming! The campgrounds are also so very well maintained! The owners even decorate for holidays and we just LOVED that!!

Our site had plenty of shade and was very easy to navigate into and out of, with no intrusive trees to deal with. Easy to level, easy to hook up. Laundry was $5 total per load (wash & dry), and our clothes were actually completely dried (unlike some other parks we’ve been to). The owner was a very, very sweet lady who gave us so many fun recommendations! It is located outside of Chattanooga (so you don’t have any road noise) but close enough to the highways that you can easily get anywhere you want. We absolutely plan to be back!

The campground was well-maintained and the views were beautiful. Our heater died a few hours before a freezing-cold night and the hosts lent us a space heater. The laundry wasn’t perfect but got the job down. Lots of decorations as the other reviewers mentioned. The place has a lot of character and we will definitely return. Lots of good bird-watching!

The previous reviewer was right: the manager does like to decorate. As far as we could figure, this is a TVA managed site, not a resort exactly, but I'm not entirely sure. The signage looked official-like, but the proliferation of Christmas decorations throughout the campground is what you'd expect to find at a private camp. The manager couldn't be nicer, and everything is very old school. She let us pick a spot then walk back up to her house to pay. Showers were really clean, though nothing fancy. Site was nice and level enough, room for our dog to romp. It has a homey feel, and though there seemed to be some long-termers, not a lot of junk. I don't know why so many people have golf carts. One night wasn't enough to unlock the many mysteries of Shellmound!

It is first come first serve! Stop at the managers residence and she will let you know if they have sites and where. (Don’t call. ) We paid 30 for a site with water and 30 amp. We were near the water and easy walk to bathhouse. Issues include: a wide variety of camping- tents to permanent all over the place, lots of kids and golf carts. Could hear the train from across the lake but not bad. The manager loves to decorate! Clean, easy to access and quiet for as busy as it was.

This was FCFS campground but when we got there late afternoon they still had 3 sites to chose from. Lots of campers there pick a site for whole season but kept their sites clean so no issues with that. We had a water view site with nice breeze at night. Were able to drive 2.5 miles down the road and do a nice 4 mike hike. Had to use a few blocks to level our site.

I called and called. They don't call back, so it's definitely first come first serve. We ended up staying at Marion County RV park, who did answer the phone. We drove through Shellmound on a Tuesday and there were maybe three spaces open, one of which had a cone in front of it, so being saved? It was very pretty with many long term residents and seemed much more quiet than Marion County, as it is further away from the interstate. I cannot speak to anything else.

Our site was perfect, no one close by on either side. The power cord was over 35' away, but an extension is provided by the campground. Despite that, we still had to move our RV a bit closer to it as our cord was a few feet short. We filled with water before moving so that was never a factor. Outside of the sites near the lake, this may well be the best site to have. There were two RVs in our group and Mickie went out of her way to insure the sites met our needs.
There is a rail line on the other side of the lake. Its noise was never an issue, its moderate rrumblings made it easy to sleep even with windows open.
Only one shower but never had to wait to use it.
Very nice campground, we'll be back.