Mammoth Meanders to Massachusetts Day 11

Thu June 15
Claytor Lake VA to Salt Lick Creek Campground 

But first, good-bye to Salt Lick Creek:

 Sunny and.warm with high hazy clouds. Lots of mountains to get through. Scary.

 

We spent the night at a COE park on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. It was a gorgeous place, but way too far off the highway to ever consider stopping at again. Unless we want spend two nights there and do some fishing or tootling around on the river. It appeared to have a dam somewhere near, because it was wide and slow-moving where we were.  (Actually, I have to correct this. We weren't on the river, we were on a dammed-up creek. Probably Salt Lick Creek. But the Cumberland was nearby.)

The campground was crowded with people but also crowded with birds--birds all over the place!  Our campsite was right on the water and we were serenaded by orioles, robins, catbirds, wood thrushes, summer tanagers, and many other little chirpers of many confusing varieties. One or more mommy Mallard ducks led their ducklings up and down and all around the water's edge. And this lovely little snake stopped by--

 

The water was full of fish, continually breaking the surface. It would be an amazing place to pull out the kayak and paddle the edges, or just do a a little bank fishing.

Molly got a decent walk, but like most COE parks, this one had no trails to explore. We walked around and around the campground and tried our best to stay out of the way of loose dogs. It was a little hot, and although I had on my jogging shoes and we were technically "jogging", I can't say we got it much exercise. But it was better than nothing.

Review:
Salt Lick Creek
Too far off road and too gorgeous for an overnighter.

It's a lovely campground on little lake not far from the Cumberland River.  The site surfaces were hard-packed gravel and pretty level, but not perfectly so. I believe we used a few blocks for our 32' Motorhome.  The picnic tables were ancient, but the whole park was incredibly clean.  The roads were well marked, too. But there was no cell phone service, even on AT&T--I'm surprised Google could navigate us there.

There was a mowed field where kids could play ball, and there may have been a small playground, but I saw no other amenities such as trails or bird blinds. There may have been a fishing pier over near the boat ramp, which was small but usable. It's a great place for boating or fishing. Maybe even swimming.

We were there on a Thursday night in late June and it was pretty crowded. Most campers had put out huge amounts of "party lights" and other nonsense--I tried to go sit at our picnic table and enjoy the night skies and moon over the lake, but it was as bright as day from our neighbor's outdoor lighting.