Wilderness Road Campground — Hotel in Harrogate

This is our favorite campground! Everything is well maintained. The public restrooms and shower rooms are very clean. In between campsites are a modest amount of trees so you aren't right on top of each other. Each site has a cooking ring with grates. There are bear proof dumpsters conveniently located throughout the campground. The park rangers are friendly and will stop and chat with you. We have made good friends with one of them.

The campground is laid out in loops with one way traffic. B loop and C loop have the electric hookups. The other loops are for non electric camping for those who use tents. There are a few electric spaces that will accommodate the larger RV's. It is perfectly acceptable to pick a spot a day or two ahead and pay for it in advance to reserve it.

Update: They no longer allow anyone to pick a spot in advance, even if you pay for it. Someone reserved a spot for a week or so, and never showed up. Granted, the space was paid for but someone complained bitterly and so the new policy was enacted. Sigh.

There is a lot of hiking trails from short ones to moderate, to all day hiking trails. Gap Cave can be toured with a guide, and a small fee. TriState Marker is not far, and there are paved parking areas for the trails and Gap Cave, with some trails starting within the campground. And of course there is the Pinnacle. A real must see! The town of Middlesboro, Kentucky is only 5 minutes away with all the modern conveniences. There is an amphitheater located in the park and they hold several free events a year. It just depends on when you go, and right now with Covid-19, they may have suspended that service.

For a primitive based campground, it has a...

We had a very fun and relaxing night away at this campground. We travel as a family with my husband and I being in our 40s and daughters being older teenagers and our 2 dogs. We tent camped and easily fit a 4 man and a 6 man tent on the site. The site was clean and flat, had a picnic table, a fire pit, and electric. The place you pull your car into is paved. The sites are separated by a wooded area but they are still pretty close. We saw no kids play area and the campsite was really quiet. The bath houses/restrooms are easily accessible and there are multiple ones placed throughout the campground that are connected by a paved walking path. The showers weren't real clean. They weren't terrible , but I'd definitely recommend shower shoes. The area doesn't really have any long hiking trails near it, but there are several very short easy to walk trails. You cannot bring your own wood so you have to buy it locally. We bought 4 packs of wood from the camp store and it was way over priced! It cost is over $40! We found an awesome little country store that is definitely worth going to called Montgomery Grocery. The wood was priced at about half the cost of the wood bundles from the campground and it contained more wood. Overall the campground provided us with a great place to tent camp for the weekend and we would return to camp there again. We would recommend a great hiking trail that is about a30 min drive away that is worth the trip. It is on an old railroad track that was converted to a hiking trail. There are several places to access the river and beautiful scenery along the way. It was about 2.4 miles total and called Clear Creek...

We visited for 5 days/4 nights in early October 2024. The leaves had just started to change but many were on the ground. The campground is well maintained and set up with 7 semi-circles connected to a common main road. The sites were a mix of open and private within easy walking distance to trash/recycling and bathroom/shower facilities. The ranger staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. You can buy firewood onsite for $10/bundle or at the nearby Circle K gas station (in Middlesboro) for $20/3 bundles.

The trails within the park are awesome with lots of grade differential. They are rated moderate and we'd recommend hiking sticks to help with stability. We encountered small to medium sized black bear (momma and two cubs and a lone adult) three times during our hikes but each time they were frightened off by our walking noises and ran quickly away from us so fast that we were unable to get any photos.

The Pinnacle Overlook was beautiful and worth the drive or hike (we hiked). We can only image the beauty during peak fall colors.

We try to minimize our trash but the park only recycles plastic bottles and cans. Glass and paper need to be taken out with you or deposited in the trash.

The showers are unisex and massive for a campground, but only two in each shower building. They have constant hot water and a large bench for changing.

We had beautiful temps with highs in the 70s and lows in the low 50s. We had a great experience and would...