Michigan to the Carolina Coast & back with 3 kids?

[Jettix2]

Hey guys & gals;

I have a business convention in June, and am trying to work a family vacation around it.

We're in northern Michigan, and the convention is in Charlotte, NC. Figured it would be a good "excuse" to spend some quality family time;)

Kids will be 1.5, 4, and 8 in early June. Truck is a 2015 MegaCab Ram 3500 Single Wheel, Cummins HO/Aisin. Trailer is an 07 Sierra 321BHT which is just shy of 40ft, triple slides, 4 bunks in the back (appx 12k lbs loaded). I have a Pro-Pride 3P hitch.

Thought is that we spend 10-12ish days on the trip. Max drive time 6 hours in any one day, after the kids are settled down after dinner, drive until midnight so we still get rest. I want to spend an absolute minimum of 2 or 3 nights in any one campground, so-as not to have to set up and tear down every single day.

Day 1 evening after dinner: Drive Frankfort MI to friends house in Toledo, OH (6hr)

Day 2: Spend the day at the Toledo zoo, after dinner drive from Toledo OH to the Smokey Mountains, TN. (6hr)

Day 3/4: Relax in Smokey Mountains.
evening of the 4th, drive to Charlotte for convention (3hr)

Day 5/6: in Charlotte for the convention....easy work, just 6 hours each day) Evening of Day 6, drive to the NC coast....(4hr). Maybe something like Pirates cove or another fun kids style campground.

Day 7/8/9: Relax on the NC Coast. Evening of the 8th, drive to West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains.

Day 9/10/ stay in the blue Ridge Mtns area.

Evening 11/Day 12, come home through Ohio.

Whaddya think? Too ambitious? Ripe for disaster?? The last leg of the trip is the worst, and I haven't ironed it out well yet;)

I;m trying to make sure we have enough "down time" before each leg of the trip so that we are not constantly on the go.....looks like about 2500 miles total over the 12-ish days, which is flexible.

Any thoughts appreciated:)

[ken56]

Pigeon Forge is wide open for pulling a 5er thru but downtown G'burg, while not totally impossible it would be lets say... intense. LOTS of cars and people that time of year. Smoky bear is out towards Cosby on 321, there are a lot of good CG choices there.

[BillMFl]

You already have lots of good advice. I would agree with the person who said you should check your travel times. As a rule of thumb I use an average of 50mph which includes driving the speed limit and time for food, fuel and rest stops. Traveling by myself I can easily do 500 miles per day but with wife and dogs 400 max. And those trip distances would be mostly Interstates and/or 4 lane highways without a lot of small towns.

[Merrykalia]

In the Gatlinburg area, how about Misty River RV Park. It's in Wallen, TN and about a 45 minute drive into Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. We had a group camping trip there several years ago and it was nice and had a huge field in front of the campers, toward the river that the kids played in.

They have a decent playground and about 75 sites, a pool, clubhouse and is rated really high. They have about 6 bathrooms with commodes, sinks and showers within the bath house. That sure helps with several kids and they also have a laundry in there, too. Put some clothes in, go shower the kids, put them in the dryer and then take your shower. Clothes are ready when you get out and you can head back to your trailer. The rates were not bad.

We picked site E3 or E4, which are pull-in sites, then you bring your vehicle back around to park behind. It was kinda strange, but it was really easy to park. It was also very convenient for watching the kids play in the field.

There are several seasonal sites, but they were very well kept.

Just a suggestion. There are lots and lots of campgrounds in the area and most of them are nice.

[Jettix2]

Thanks for the info:)

I'm trying to get my wife to drop the whole Myrtle Beach thing, but she's insistent at this point that we visit the ocean. Ok, we'll see;))

kohldad wrote:
I'll disagree with MerryKalia about Gatlinburg. You can pull a trailer through the area as the roads are nice without any tight corners. However, I would not WANT to pull through there from noon to midnight because of the bumper-bumper traffic and all the pedestrians.

For Smoky Bear and Jellystone campgrounds, take I40 exit 435. In about 1 mile stop for fuel (best price in eastern TN) and food at Walmart. This is the last decent place for food. Continue on down the road, right at stop sign, few hundred feet then left at next stop sign. Follow the signs for Gatlinburg. Smoky Bear will be on the right about a mile past the apple orchid. Directions work well for Jellystone too but not as far as Smoky Bear. I would not recommend pulling the trailer over the Foothills Parkway as it is just one long steep climb on both sides.

I personally would drop Myrtle Beach and give more time at the other stops. If the kids were older I would say yes, but such a young age the extra miles doesn't seem worth it.

You know your kids best, but when ours were younger, we found getting up early (5am) and traveling with stopping around lunch worked out best. They would tend to sleep for the first couple hours and then would be getting restless by the time we stopped. But the important thing is they had the afternoon to run around, go swimming, etc to get all tuckered out in time for bed. Plus campgrounds tend to like folks coming in at 1pm much better than 1am not to mention easier to negotiate them.

[kohldad]

I'll disagree with MerryKalia about Gatlinburg. You can pull a trailer through the area as the roads are nice without any tight corners. However, I would not WANT to pull through there from noon to midnight because of the bumper-bumper traffic and all the pedestrians.

For Smoky Bear and Jellystone campgrounds, take I40 exit 435. In about 1 mile stop for fuel (best price in eastern TN) and food at Walmart. This is the last decent place for food. Continue on down the road, right at stop sign, few hundred feet then left at next stop sign. Follow the signs for Gatlinburg. Smoky Bear will be on the right about a mile past the apple orchid. Directions work well for Jellystone too but not as far as Smoky Bear. I would not recommend pulling the trailer over the Foothills Parkway as it is just one long steep climb on both sides.

I personally would drop Myrtle Beach and give more time at the other stops. If the kids were older I would say yes, but such a young age the extra miles doesn't seem worth it.

You know your kids best, but when ours were younger, we found getting up early (5am) and traveling with stopping around lunch worked out best. They would tend to sleep for the first couple hours and then would be getting restless by the time we stopped. But the important thing is they had the afternoon to run around, go swimming, etc to get all tuckered out in time for bed. Plus campgrounds tend to like folks coming in at 1pm much better than 1am not to mention easier to negotiate them.

[Jettix2]

Thank you!!!:)))
Up here in "sticks" Northern Michigan, we don't even think about not being able to get a trailer through an area;)

OK....so first and foremost, from Michigan......Toledo.......Blue Ridge Mountains......Charlotte......Myrtle Beach......Smokey Mountains and back home. Need to make sure we don't have any "hairy" areas where we can't easily pull the trailer. I don't want to be on a 2-track somewhere where I have to worry about the trailer wheels falling off a cliff;)

We can adjust plans as needed. If Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is too tight, we'll go someplace else;)

We would prefer a quieter campground without 1000 kids, while still having something for our 3 little ones to do. I know, I'm being picky:)

Merrykalia wrote:

Jettix2 wrote:


am I going to have issues pulling a 40ft trailer through that area, and/or is there even a way to safely get through the area with my rig?

YOU CAN NOT PULL A 40 FT TRAILER THROUGH GATLINBURG!!!!

(Yes, I know they are all caps and I am screaming).

You won't really want to drive your pickup through Gatlinburg. You MUST take the back way in to Smoky Bear. On their website, they give you great directions to get in there.

Again, do NOT plan to pull your trailer through Gatlinburg.


We have stayed at Smoky Bear and the owners are on-site and very friendly. They have music most weekend nights in their clubhouse. It has a nice pool, but it is NOT big on kid-friendly like the Jellystone is. Our kids had fun and the playground was utilized by all the kids that were with our group (about 10 of them). I'm not trying to talk you out of staying there because it is nice, but just want you to know.

It is about a 30 to 40 minute drive into Gatlinburg, depending on how heavy traffic is. If you want to use the trolley, the station is right before you get into town beside another campground, which I can't think of the name at present.

When we go, we usually stay at Pine Mountain in Pigeon Forge. It is also not as kid-friendly as some. It has no playground, but great pools. One at the campground and an indoor at the hotel right beside of it as well as a lazy river outdoor pool, which the kids love. (We also travel in on a back road and don't hit the "parkway") Rt 66/421

[Merrykalia]

Jettix2 wrote:


am I going to have issues pulling a 40ft trailer through that area, and/or is there even a way to safely get through the area with my rig?

YOU CAN NOT PULL A 40 FT TRAILER THROUGH GATLINBURG!!!!

(Yes, I know they are all caps and I am screaming).

You won't really want to drive your pickup through Gatlinburg. You MUST take the back way in to Smoky Bear. On their website, they give you great directions to get in there.

Again, do NOT plan to pull your trailer through Gatlinburg.


We have stayed at Smoky Bear and the owners are on-site and very friendly. They have music most weekend nights in their clubhouse. It has a nice pool, but it is NOT big on kid-friendly like the Jellystone is. Our kids had fun and the playground was utilized by all the kids that were with our group (about 10 of them). I'm not trying to talk you out of staying there because it is nice, but just want you to know.

It is about a 30 to 40 minute drive into Gatlinburg, depending on how heavy traffic is. If you want to use the trolley, the station is right before you get into town beside another campground, which I can't think of the name at present.

When we go, we usually stay at Pine Mountain in Pigeon Forge. It is also not as kid-friendly as some. It has no playground, but great pools. One at the campground and an indoor at the hotel right beside of it as well as a lazy river outdoor pool, which the kids love. (We also travel in on a back road and don't hit the "parkway") Rt 66/421

[Jettix2]

We may run the trip in reverse direction, to spend more time in the Blue Ridge Mountains first, while we're "fresh"....and to do Gatlinburg/Smokies on the way home.

Some campgrounds that we have narrowed it down to (please comment if you have thoughts):

Pipestem State Park in West Virginia, looks incredible (2-3 nights)

Willow Tree RV Resort in Longs, SC (about 15 miles inland from Myrtle Beach, which is fine, because it won't be a zoo......2 nights) We can drive to the beach for a couple hours.

Smokey Bear Campground in Gatlinburg.....(looks fun, 2-3 nights). Reading some online reviews about how crowded Gatlinburg is, am I going to have issues pulling a 40ft trailer through that area, and/or is there even a way to safely get through the area with my rig? We plan on bringing the truck back into town after we set up the camper to do the tourist bit;)

Need something near Charlotte for 2 nights. Lake Norman Motorcoach Resort in Sherrills Ford, NC looks nice but it's 45 minutes away.

Any thoughts on those campgrounds?

[Jettix2]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll update tonight with some of the places we narrowed it down to:)

[Merrykalia]

The Jellystone is set up just for kids and it is on I-40 east of Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. It will get you onto the right side of the area, so your trip on to Charlotte should be easy to get there.

You will have some traffic getting into Gatlinburg, and especially Pigeon Forge, but you will also be in the mountains and it will be cooler and much, much less tourist traffic.

[ken56]

Bear cove village in Pigeon Forge is nice and close by Dollywood and Dolly's Splash Country water park, but is pricey, like $50 a night. The thing is, they are all pricey in the high season. There is a trolley that covers the area very well for a reasonable fee so taking the truck everywhere is not necessary. Do a search on Cosby area camping, its more removed from the hubbub but still an easy drive to town and attractions. There are coupons online for a lot of the attractions too.

[rexlion]

Nope, it just won't work. You'll have to pick one of them to leave at home.


Just kidding! 😄

[pulsar]

Jettix2 wrote:

pulsar wrote:
I don't know of a Pirate's Cove campground on the NC coast. Their is a Pirates's Cove community between Manteo and Nags Head, but I don't think they have a campground.

I would suggest that from Charlotte, you go to Myrtle Beach, SC. It will have the closest beach campgrounds to Charlotte and will be closer to West Virginia than anywhere on the North Carolina coast.

Tom

Thanks for the info and suggestion for Myrtle Beach. Any campground recommendations in the Myrtle beach area appreciated.

Thanks!

You will find many campgrounds in the Myrtle Beach area. If we were staying in a privately owned campground, we would choose between Pirate Land or Ocean Lakes. We have enjoyed stays at both.

But we would be more likely to drive a few miles further (say 8 mile) to stay at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrels Inlet.

If your next leg is to take you to West Virginia, you will be pushing your 6 hour limit. You could consider Pipestem State Park in Pipestem, WV.

Tom

[sdianel_-acct_c]

We like River Plantation in Sevierville but it is a commercial type campground. Read the reviews and zoom in on Google Maps earth view to see details. You might check into Townsend and drive into the park. The KOA in Townsend probably has more for kids to do. There is a Jellystone Campground in Cosby TN about 30 minutes from entrance to the park.
In Sweetwater TN is Lost Sea Cavern. Walk down and then boat ride.
In WV: Cass Scenic RR in Cass WV is neat.
New River Gorge Bridge is nice to visit. Near there is Lake Summerville Corps of Engineers park. No sewer at site but dump station.
We liked Luray KOA in Luray VA but not sure the caverns would be good for very small children. (read reviews).