Cardens Bluff Campground

This is a great Forest Service campground, but probably more so for tent campers. There are only 4 sites suitable for RVs, and none for large RVs. Note that all four RV sites state "suitable for a 20 foot camper" on the recreation.gov reservation site, but we were able to squeeze our 25-foot trailer into site 2.

None of the RV sites has any sort of hook up but there is potable water available in the campground. There is no dumpsite; the nearest place one could dump appears to be a small RV park in Hampton, TN but we didn't try it. (The Hamptons Campground & RV Park, 5322 Hwy 19 E, Hampton, TN; turn left when you reach Hwy 19E coming from Carden's Bluff.)

Note that site 2 has a reasonably long driveway, but that it is only level at the top for about 23 feet. We parked our trailer with the rear bumper about a foot from the stone wall at the back of the driveway, and our tongue jack was just into the downhill part of the driveway. There are pictures of the other sites on the recreation.gov site; they each seem to have a bit more of a steady grade.

Lake Watauga is a prime attraction and there are two day-use picnic areas within 5 minutes of the campground entrance (one in either direction). Pleasant swimming and canoeing, and one of the picnic areas has a large, sandy beach with a roped-off swimming area.

We were visiting family and friends in Johnson City; it's about 25 minutes to Johnson City on any of the three main routes that google maps will show you.