Day 381 – Late to get up this morning, we didn’t get out of the campground until about 11 a.m. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We got gas in the Honda and then headed out for an exploratory drive.
The Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area is the land that lies between two north-south running Lakes: Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. The Woodlands Trace National Scenic Byway is the highway that runs through the Recreation Area land between the two Lakes. The entire area is located in northwestern Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. It is a gorgeous, well-maintained road deep in the forest, and at this time of year it was just past peak fall colors.
The Scenic Byway began at U.S. 79, not far from the campground. We drove north. There are few roads intersecting the Byway, and most of the roads that intersect the Byway are gravel. The poor Honda! LOL.
We took many of these roads. The signage was great. Anytime a gravel road was approached and it said “Boat Launch” in conjunction with “Campground”, we made that turn. We found many wonderful places to camp off National Forest Service roads where most people wouldn’t travel (no hook-ups), but campsites sitting right on a river, pond, or lake. The cost for staying in this secluded, beautiful, peaceful setting was $5 per night (with the senior discount), or $10 without. We will be coming back to this area. (Several of these campgrounds will be noted in the Campground Review section.)
We stopped at pull-outs to see various sites as annotated by the signs. There were numerous old cemetery’s noted; we did not stop at them, but will visit for the history another time. Signs that showed where the old schoolhouse had been until it burned down in 1940. The old furnaces – iron was mined and smelted in the area in the 19th century. The villages that used to exist long ago. Numerous campgrounds. Fishing holes. Hunting grounds. Picnic areas and day use areas. Nature Watch areas set aside just for what we love to do. A Planetarium. An 1850’s Farm, Homeplace, to tour. There was so much we didn’t do – we will come back – we drove approximately 30 miles north before turning around (of the approximately 50-mile road, one way). And what did they have, surprise, surprise, before we turned around and headed back to the RV? The South Bison Range and the Elk & Bison Prairie.
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For more detailed information about Paris Landing/Kentucky Lake KOA Holiday Campground, Buchanan, TN, click here.
