Trip number 25 saw the Freedom Rolling crew staying at the Raccoon Valley RV Park in Heiskell, Tennessee. This is a privately owned and sponsored park just outside of the greater Knoxville area. A two week stay was had here.
Grounds: Raccoon Valley is well situated for access to many things around the area, only about a mile or so from Interstate 75. With Knoxville being nearby, there are plenty of resupply opportunities available, as well as other sights to see. And if you don't mind the drive, even Nashville can be done as a day trip.
Sites: This park has 68 full-hook up sites, a combination of back-in and pull-through. However, with the actual park sitting along a hill and the sites at an angle, the gravel pads themselves are not flat, so be ready to use leveling blocks. These are also probably the tiniest sites that you'll find for a privately owned campground, so we were barely able to fit everything. Although they have both 30 and 50 amp service, be prepared to pay extra for 50 amp service.
Staff: Though we seemed to have an acceptable experience while reserving, we came to find a rude and condescending person running the park when we arrived, and seemed like they were stalking during our stay. It was someone we encountered before, and actually chose not to stay at another campground because of the same person, who had since been transferred to this park. Maintenance decided they were going to pesticide spray near occupied lots with pets present, making a difficult situation for the fur baby.
Amenities: The park has very limited things to offer within its grounds, including a dog park and nature trails that patrons were discouraged from using. Laundry facilities exist, but be prepared to use extra quarters for the dryer. The bathrooms are stocked in such a way that the management insists paying customers do the housekeeping work, with squeegees and spray bottles at each shower and an abundance of signage to the same extent. We've seen this at some of this corporation's other locations, and felt lucky we weren't harassed about it this time.
Atmosphere: This campground is certainly meant for the 55+ crowd, as families didn't seem as welcome. If it weren't for Knoxville being nearby, this may very well have been a disaster of a location to stay, as it was incredibly uncomfortable, and was one of the leading factors to us doing further due diligence and changing plans for another of the corporation's parks.
Overall, Raccoon Valley RV Park receives a six out of a possible 10 rating. One of the few redeeming factors for this location is the price, as it is lower than many of the other parks where we had stayed during this recent run. Unfortunately it is not enough to salvage the experience had, as if our Internal Compass brings us to the Knoxville area again, it would be best to choose a different campground.
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