Looking for areas to camp in the Tellico area (Tennessee) where ATVs can be ridden from the camp onto the trails. I rode in from Tellico Plains last year via truck and unloaded at some trail head but don't remember seeing campgrounds. Also, are you permitted to camp along the trails? If anyone has GPS coordinates to camping areas, I'll appreciate it very much if you send them to me.

 

Have you ridden at Windrock / Coal Creek yet? You can camp at the trail head or anywhere along the trails. It's about an hour and a half away from Tellico.

 

If drove in from Tellico Plains in TN, then you drove right through the middle of the campground. You can ride your atv from the Forest Service campground, however, you can not ride it on the pavement and there are only a few camping sites past where the pavement ends. These are the pay sites. Past them and beyond where trail #6 goes off to the left, alot of folks will camp on the side of the road just before you get to the bridge. There are now rails up preventing you from parking too far off the road, but you do have room to camp and alot of people do. All of these sites fill up fast, you'd have to be there on a slow weekend or by early Friday to even stand a chance of getting one.

Since this is US Forest Service land you can camp anywhere you want unless it is posted otherwise. The only rules are basic: don't block roads (even old unused woods rds), don't leave trash and etc. I am not sure about fires, but you can contact the local district and find out.

As for camping on the actual trails, I have some friends that always either camp on trail #5 at the creek crossing or on trail #2 just up from the bottom in the hairpin curves. They drive jeeps and unload them in the parking area and haul everything in with them. Unless you pack light you might want to stay out near the bridge or the actual campground.

Also, if your driving up from Florida, then you might consider coming in from the Murphy, NC side (no campgrounds on this side though, you'd have to trailer through to the stateline). Looking at a map, it looks like you could get on either HWY 19 or I-575 out of Atlanta and get there much faster.

LY

 

My wife's Mother lives in Athens, TN and she has an Aunt living in Tellico Plains. We will be going back through that same way through Tellico Plains, I guess. I don't remember seeing a campground when we rode through but that don't mean anything, I was probably looking at everthng else. I remember some good riding and we have planned on going back for maybe some camping. I haven't heard of Winrock but maybe we can check it out also while we're up there. Later...

 

I remember seeing some folks camping on a road but wasn't sure that was government property. My wife's Mother lives in Athens, TN so we would be coming in from Tellico. She has an Aunt living in Tellico Plains also. I don't know where Winrock is but I'm sure that's some good riding too. Later....

 

I haven't been to Windrock myself, but it sounds like a good place. Another good place for you to try would be Royal Blue ORV Area just north of Knoxville. I have been there and loved it, course it was pouring and everything was sloppy. Both places are probably just over an hours drive from Athens, barring traffic. If you get a chance you should really check them out. I know you can camp at Royal Blue (without a fire), it's also free.

LY

 

Windrock /CCMMC (Coal Creek Mining & Manufacturing Corporation) actually borders Royal Blue. Camping is free there also but there is also a "no open fires" rule. You can use a grill or maybe a cut-off barrel to contain the fire. Windrock has only been officially open to the public for a couple of years but there are over 72,000 acres with trails every where and new ones are being built frequently. Many of the trails are mapped and ranked according to difficulty. The map is shown on their website. There was a big ATV event there just a couple of weeks ago that drew over 500 riders from all over the country. Land use permits are required to ride there. They cost $10 per day or $50 for a yearly permit. Check out this link http://www.windrockatv.com/ and the link to the CCMMC site in the left banner for more info.