Hilham, Tennessee: Standing Stone State Park

April - May 2024, weekend-weekdays, 3 nights

View out side camper window on site 13 in Standing Stone State Park

Reservations and arrival

We chose this campground because it was enroute between Mammoth Caves and Smoky Mountains. We wanted a place where we could hike and charge our camper for a couple of nights, and this campground looked like it fit our needs. I made a reservation online for campsite 13. We paid a $5 reservation fee, and received a 25% senior discount on the nightly rate. 

Campground arrival/check-in sign in Standing Stone State Park

There is no staff in the campground area of this park, and there is a sign at the entrance with instructions about how to register. Our site had a tag on it with our name and the reserved dates when we got to it. 

Campsite 13 in Standing Stone State Park

Campsite 13 and more

The roads in this campground are narrow and hilly, as are most of the campsites. The campground looked neglected, and there was a lot of erosion. It took us quite a bit of effort to get level on our site because of the ground sinkage. The driver’s side of site 13 when backing in was considerably lower. We backed in as far toward the fire pit as we could get without running into the boards alongside the drive. 

Campsite 13 in Standing Stone State Park

After we tried a few of different positions and blocks of our own to level our camper side to side, we decided we needed to use the concrete slabs that had been left on the site—apparently, for campers like us!

Above: Campsite 7 in Standing Stone State Park
Below: Campsite 19 in Standing Stone State Park

There are only a couple of sites in this campground that are somewhat level. Campsite 7, and campsites 19 and 20 near the restrooms are somewhat level sites. The view of campsite 19 from the bathrooms is more secluded than we expected. There was a reserved tag on this site for the night before we left; however, no one arrived before we departed. We chatted with some folks from Texas on campsite 29 who later moved to site 20 during our stay. Their trailer tongue was on the ground on site 29, and their trailer was still not level. I do not know how many nights they had been on this site before we arrived; the woman told me she could not take it any more, and they were moving. She was frustrated because she said they also did not fit on the site (there was not enough room in front of the trailer for their truck), and she said she had carefully read the site dimensions when booking. 

All of the campsites have water hookup and 50 amp power. 

Amenities and cabins

This campground has free WiFi, which we were able to connect to from inside our camper most times. This may not be the case when the campground is full, however. There were never more than five sites taken at any time during our stay.

Flush toilets and showers are available in both campground loops. The laundry room in our loop (same building as toilets and showers) contained one washer and one dryer. The cost was $1 for the washer, and $1 for the dryer. This was the least expensive laundry facility we used this trip. The sanitation station is located on the main road before you enter the campground.

Above: Cabins in Standing Stone State Park
Below: Inside park office and store

This park has several nice looking cabins for rent near the park office and store. The park office is located about a mile down the road from the campground. We did not go inside any of the cabins, although they looked nice from the outside.

Pool area in Standing Stone State Park

Recreation

The park pool is located between the park store and campground. This was not open yet for the season during our stay. I assume the $6 admission fee posted on the building is in addition to the campground and cabin rental fee, although we did not ask.

Above: Lake Trail from boat launch in Standing Stone State Park
Below: Lake Trail access between cabins near park office

We did not hike as much as we had hoped because we could not find good trail maps, and we were not given good information at the ranger station/store. The person I spoke with told us to park at the boat ramp, and access Lake Trail from there. We got on the trail from the boat launch area; however, we parked in the picnic area, as there is only room for one vehicle in the boat launch area. The trail from the boat launch is overgrown, slippery, and on the edge of the lake, so we did not venture far. We saw two better trail access points the next day when we were out walking from the campground: between the cabins, which gets directly on Lake Trail (photo above), and across the street from the park office/store, which heads down to the picnic area and dam starting point (photo below). There is parking at the park office to access the trail from either of these points, if you do not want to start from your campsite.

Above: Trail access across from park store in Standing Stone State Park
Below: Lake Trail from dam and picnic area in Standing Stone State Park

If you get on Lake Trail from the picnic area and dam, you can travel in the opposite direction and end at the boat launch. We hiked this way a short distance.

Standing Stone State Park

We drove across the one-lane dam bridge, and up to Lookout Point. There is a pavilion at the point, and a trash can, which looked like it had been scattered by a bear.

Standing Stone State Park
Below: View from Lookout Point

Overall and misc.

Overall, this was a satisfactory stay, although it was also a bit disappointing. I think we would have enjoyed our stay more, if we had seen the trail access sign by the cabins sooner, and then started our hike around the lake from there. We certainly would have seen more on the trail in that area. We enjoyed the peacefulness in the campground. Most all of the campsites had reserved tags on the posts from the weekend before our stay, so apparently this campground had been quite busy before we arrived. The notes on the park page advising campers not to arrive via 136 from the south are correct; you will not be able to make the bends on either side of the one-lane bridge, if your overall length is more than 30 feet.

Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to share this post for others!