Tenn. Trip Planning

There is a beautiful state park maybe southeast of Crossville, not sure of hiway. Really nice. I have a feeling it's cheaper. Very shaded and some nice hiking. Not far from town. Nice town too.

We are planning to relocate in the Townsend/ Maryville area in 2014. The campgrounds in the area are all expensive due to high tourist traffic to Smoky Mountain NP. There is an Escapee campground north of Knoxville that we stay for longer periods.

My recommendation is to stay at least 3-4 days in each location to get a sense of what area is a good fit for you.

Cumberland Mountain is a nice park in the Crossville area.

Townsend is very nice little town. Maryville would be the closet city of any size. ( Have a Wal Mart / Target) I love the area!

You will enjoy Tennessee. The drive from Cookeville to Crossville is about 30 - 45 mintues and the weather will be about 8 -10 degrees cooler in the summer. Townsend is less than 90 monuts from Crossville. Cookeville is a typical Tennessee college town, and has lots of things to do. Crossvile is a "resort" community with lots of golf and part time residents. Townsend is beautiful, but mostly tourism.

You might consider the Maryville / Ft. Loudon or Smithville areas.

Good luck

We've been through that area a few times. You can't really tell how an area is within a couple of days because you can't test out the weather without spending a season or two.

But even if you had week or two, it would make it easy to scout around the area. The two farthest points are within an hour, easily drivable for an afternoon of site seeing.

OK, to answer the question that you posed.....by the middle of August, a lot of the schools have begun, so the crowds that you would get during July will no longer exist. That said, many people will still be out on the weekends. As long as you don't plan to go to one of the MAJOR tourist areas (Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg), you will probably be fine. I would just make sure to pull in during mid-week and check on weekend availability. Labor Day might pose a problem, so I would probably make a reservation soon for that.

For the days in each area, I would just play that by ear. You might find some things that interest you and you wouldn't want to rush that since you have no time frame.....

I really don't know of any campgrounds in/around those areas, so someone else will have to help you with that.

Just for your research, you might want to consider the Tri-City area - Bristol, Kingsport, Johnson City. It is also very "interstate" friendly, but has a lower cost of living than some of the more metropolitan areas. Plenty of lake/water (TVA) areas, more outdoor activities than the metro areas, but still have universities, symphonies, great hospitals, shopping and other amenities.

We just left a campground near Townsend. It's a very small town. the nearest shopping is Sevierville which is a very touristy area with lots of traffic. So I would say Cookeville or Crossville might be better choices for access to services.
You can look for COE campgrounds in TN on www.recreation.gov but if I recall lots of the campgrounds in TN are run by the TVA. http://www.tva.com/river/recreation/camping.htm
Also check out TN state parks. Some of them are beautiful.

We lived in Crossville many years ago and in fact our daughter was born there. We loved the place. Nice parks, close to interstate for quick travel to Knoxville and other cities for college football, shopping, etc. It's changed quite a bit in the many years since we left. It's a prime area for camping these days and there are resorts in the area as well. I'm prejudiced because I love the golf courses.

If I had to pick from the 3 cities you list, I would have to choose Cookeville. You would be only a couple of hours from some amazing recreational opportunities, plus 3 major cities. Then the town is large enough to have all the support amenities that you would need.

Even though you are a Floridian, we welcome you to the Volunteer State. :B