Natchez Trace Campground in Hohenwald, TN (a Thousand Trails CG)

After a few weeks in Texas this spring, we zigzagged our way back up to New Hampshire in about a month. Leaving Texas, we made our way through Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and then New Hampshire, finding as many Thousand Trails (TT) campgrounds as we could. As you probably know, with this membership, you can stay at all of their campgrounds for free. But since they are free, you kind of take what you get. They aren’t luxurious RV resorts. Many are filled with residents who have RVs in pretty rough shape. Many have outdated facilities and amenities. But some are amazing and are super popular. But they are included in your membership and you can stay for free up to 3 weeks, if available. This Natchez Trace Campground was simply a place to rest our heads for a couple of days on our journey. While not the worst TT campground we’ve stayed at, it definitely could use some work.

Natchez Trace is in a town called Hohenwald, TN. We weren’t planning to visit Nashville while we were there, but once we realized it was only about an hour’s drive, we made the trip. But this was also in part because there was not much to do at the campground, and why not?

The number one thing I have to tell you about this campground is that there is a very low clearance bridge (11′) before the entrance, which will wreck your rig! It is not advertised on their website, and the only way we knew about it was from watching a random YouTube video someone created about the campground. Google Maps will take you right under the bridge. Huge no-no! Check out this video we took of someone who used Google Maps. See all those A/C units on the ground?

We’ve said it before, and will say it again. RV LIFE IS THE WAY TO GO! We put in the size of our camper and it only takes us on roads where we will fit. Perfect for RVers, no matter where you want to go. Click on the RV Life ad below to activate a free trial and see how amazing this app is. It syncs right with our Android Auto in our truck, so it will show right on the truck screen. Works wonders, and this is one particular park where not having it could cost you thousands!

If you are able to navigate around this bridge and get to the park, it is like many Thousand Trails campgrounds: off the beaten path. As in, it’s not close to the interstate. You have to drive some narrow winding roads to get there, but not the worst we’ve seen. There is a small entrance building with an attendant inside who will check you in. There was only room for one, maybe two rigs right there, so if you happen to arrive at the same time as anyone else, you will likely be waiting on the road (which makes it good that you really are out in the sticks without much traffic).

You are given a campground map at check-in and directions to your site. Here is a link to the map if you want to see it blown up, but the screenshot below is a sample of some of it. The campground is very spread out, as you can see. You pull in on the top left of the map, and most of the sites are all the way in the bottom right of the map. What you can’t see from the map is that the road that connects the two sections is an uphill road. As in, we didn’t even want to ride our ebikes down it back to the beach area because we were afraid the ride back up the hill would kill our batteries! The hill did make our diesel truck work hard getting up it, but luckily, the truck has the power to accommodate.

This is not a Thousand Trails where you get to pick your site. This one is assigned to you, and our given site was 215, which was to the left of the playground in the bottom right of the map. It was fairly easy to navigate to, but keep a close eye on the one-way roads and signs to get there. Some are narrow, and not everyone abided by the signs.

The playground here was a common spot for many children to hang out. In fact, the same group of kids appeared to be there pretty much all day, playing tag and other games. It was April when we were there, so there was still a lot of brown grass and the trees were just starting to bud leaves. This was about the time when we started missing those palm trees and the green grass we spent the winter with in Florida!

Our site was, well, decent. We were able to back in without much problem, though we did have to go on the grass with the truck since the roads were narrow. There wasn’t much room between us and the neighbors, and the fire pit was severely lacking, so that we didn’t even dare have a fire.

Once we were settled and saw how close we were to neighbors, we basically decided to spend the few days there inside the rig. We didn’t care to be sitting outside, plus it was a little on the chilly side. We got some paperwork done here and played many board games! There were kids playing at the beach on our way in and out of the campground, but that was much too chilly for us!

During our one walk exploring the campground here, we found that many of the campers were residents there. It seemed a lot of locals stay there, and there must be ATV and dirt bike trails nearby, which they were allowed to ride in the park to access the trails.

We ventured to the big rec center near the entrance of our section of the campground. It was a great big building advertising a movie theater and racquetball, both of which were apparently in “maintenance” mode and not viewable or operational. They did have a pool table, air hockey, ping pong, and a variety of board games available.

This whole space was deserted, however, and both times we went in, we saw no one else: staff or campers. As a side note, there was also supposed to be a pool by the entrance, but that too was shut down as they expanded.

With not much to do or experience here, one morning we decided to head to Nashville. While we had been there once before, we decided why not go again. It had been about 8 years, and it would mean more to the kids at this age. Plus we had a really cute picture of the girls in the mall there we wanted to recreate (which turned into an epic fail). So we loaded up and headed to Nashville.

The center of Nashville – a madhouse. What were we thinking driving there on a Saturday evening? There were bridal parties, tourists, locals, you name it! We drove down the center of it and did not stop. But did get an image of Alan Jackson’s bar for my grandmother!

What we had more fun doing was walking around the mall by the Opry. So much country music-ish stuff there that we had fun looking at. And what trip would be complete without new cowboy boots! If I only had found a shirt that said “I went to Nashville and all I got were these boots….”

But we can say we went back to Nashville. And we can say we didn’t hit the low bridge in Hohenwald, TN (which not everyone can say).

So if you are a Thousand Trails member and are passing through, this Natchez Trace Campground is included in your membership and is a place to rest your head. Perhaps in the summer months, it has more to offer than it did for us in April, but it is what it is.