For this year's trip we did something a little different. Usually we wait until morning to start our travels. This time, we decided to leave the night before. Living in Georgia, it takes over a day to get out of the East. Once we pass St. Louis we feel like the trip is really starting. By 4:30PM we were heading out. We drove 5 hours to camp in the Franklin State Forest. It's free to camp at the Franklin State Forest. The vehicle use map will help you both find the correct turn and also find the area for camping. It is available here: https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/forests/state-forests/franklin.html
When we got to Franklin State Forest it was around 10PM and there were several people camping already there. Someone's dog was running around and chased our car. Once we got past the dog we accidently drove a little to far and almost got stuck. It had been raining and the ground was really muddy and wet. Also, with the basket on the truck the turn was narrow and we had to do about a 1000 point turn to turn around. Jennifer got out to help tell Jerry when to stop while backing, but the dog ran up and she had to jump back in. After we parked we realized the dog was car-aggressive and not people- aggressive so we told it to go away and quickly got our dog into the back (just in case).
The next day we got to look around and it was really pretty area. From research prior to the trip, we had read that the pond was good for swimming. The pond was stagnant and had a lot of plant growth, so I would not recommend swimming. Although we did see a big fish surface while we were looking. Also, I would recommend watching your dog or small children closely here because there were poisonous mushrooms. Our dog loves to sample plants so we always keep a close eye on her, but we were extra vigilant here.
