If you’ve been following along with our adventures, you may have seen our initial foray to Hidden Lake Campground in Tellico Plains, Tennessee. We loved the camp the first time around, so much so that we requested the same exact location for this Memorial Day 2022! This time, however, we were able to get some filming done and put out a video for those who prefer to check out a visual review of a location. Besides all of the content creation, videos, blogs, and everything we do, Hidden Lake is a wonderful escape away up to the mountains, and it brings nothing but peace and relaxation.
First of all, the campground has traditional campsites, RV hookups, and small cabins nestled into a small valley adorned with an emerald green lake. The individual campsites are varying in size, from literally almost 100 yards across to your more traditional 1-2 tent pads, and they even have some backpacking sites available well up the side of the mountain! Multiple RV hookups are hosted near the stage that can be used for live music, and the facilities sit in a central location.
The owner, Gerry, does a great job keeping the bathrooms nice and clean, and there is a wonderful, relaxing sitting area with a grill and large sink at the top of the hill overlooking the lake. This is also where the main office is located, along with the main location for trash. The entire campground is very well kept, and they actually have firewood and ice available for purchase onsite.
Wi-Fi is also provided up at the main office/bathhouse/sitting area, because you likely won’t have much cell service. It’s a wonderful escape, though, and the time can be occupied with plenty of campfires, fishing, swimming, boating, and hiking. The main hiking trail out of the camp leads up the nearby mountain to the top before arching over and back down to the shores of the Little Tennessee River. The lake itself, the focal point of the entire campground, has bass, bream, and crappie available to catch (pro-tip, bring some hot dog pieces or bread and small bream hooks, the kids will have a blast)!
If you’re anything like us, though, you’ll spend a majority of time in/on the lake itself. We bring inflatable tubes and a paddle board to float around the lake in, and there is also a small Jon boat available near the dock to take out on a first-come, first-serve basis. The water, with its emerald green tint, is actually very clear and stays a very refreshing, cool temperature. It’s truly a Godsend in 95-degree weather, especially because it’s so accessible via the shores and three docks spread around the lake.
We also do a ton of campfire meals and cooking, and we’d love for y’all to try out any of our recipes on the site’s recipes page. For this particular trip we knew good and well we’d be diving into a huge pot of our Cowboy Campfire Stew, which quickly became a huge hit when we made it up in the mountains a couple of months prior. Each of the campsites at Hidden Lake have a fire ring available, so they’re perfect for throwing up a tripod or laying a grate over to cook up something tasty.
Hidden Lake Campground is probably one of the simplest, yet most enticing campgrounds we’ve been honored to visit. The site itself has something for everyone, but it’s worth remembering that the area still has plenty to explore, also. For example, the amazing Lost Sea (an underground lake enveloped in a large cave) is only a short drive from the campground, and is one of those tourist attractions we’ll definitely be going back to visit because it simply looks astounding. No matter what you decide to fill the time with, though, this place was such an inspiration to us last year when we visited that we felt it deserved a second blog post. In many ways, our first trip here served as the catalyst for not only starting this website and our YouTube channel, but also for a job search and all of the many recent changes we’ve made in our life. Sometimes a nice, quiet place will do that to you, and we’re so glad it did for us!