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Observation Knob County Park

County Park Tennessee

Visited April 2016

Entrance sign for Observation Knob County Park

Observation Knob County Park is located near Bristol in the extreme northeast corner of Tennessee. It's a large park on South Holston Lake with mostly seasonal sites. Boating and fishing are the major activities here.

Tel: 423-878-1881

As you approach the park you get a feel for its setting on a hillside on an inlet of the lake.

Greetings from

Observation Knob County Park

As you approach the park you get a feel for its setting on a hillside on an inlet of the lake.

Ribbit! The WxToad

Around the campground

We had called the morning of our planned arrival just to make sure the park was open and that we could get a site. — We had called the morning of our planned arrival just to make sure the park was open and that we could get a site. "No problem" was the response. We arrived about noon and yeap, not a problem. We were the only transients here and had our choice of a number of sites. Site 14 struck our fancy, out on a point of land with a great view of the water (and the marina across the inlet).

Sites 7 and 6. — Sites 7 and 6. Most of the transient sites are in the B loop, and to the park's credit, they are the nice waterfront sites.

Sites 8-12. — Sites 8-12. Most of the 30 B loop sites are pull-offs along the camp road, although a few are back-in sites.

Sites 15 and 16 look across to a large marina, which is not park of the park.

Sites 18-20. — Sites 18-20. It should be noted that the electric hookups are 30-amp only and do not include a breaker. I never like having to plug in "hot".

Sites 23-28.

There are 22 sites in the T loop; these are basically tent sites, although we were told we could put our RV there if... — There are 22 sites in the T loop; these are basically tent sites, although we were told we could put our RV there if we liked. The first four sites, shown here, do not have any hookups.

The rest of the tent sites, 5-22, do have hookups.

I didn't bother to record site numbers for the seasonal sites; I'm only including a few pictures to show the rest of... — I didn't bother to record site numbers for the seasonal sites; I'm only including a few pictures to show the rest of the campground. These three sites are definitely the best, situated on a grassy hill with a great view.

Situated on a steep hillside, these sites provide at least a little view of the lake.

Some are more sunny than others.

More hillside sites.

These sites are the farthest back in the campground, far from the lake.

There are several of these small bathhouses scattered through the campground. — There are several of these small bathhouses scattered through the campground. They're a bit rundown and are unheated, but they do offer free hot showers.

If you have your boat with you, there is a large launch facility with a ramp and parking area.

In the background behind our rig is Observation Knob.

The trail to the Knob begins at the day-use picnic area. — The trail to the Knob begins at the day-use picnic area. It starts out fairly gently, but soon becomes VERY steep. Rather than zigzag up the side of the Knob, the trail simply heads straight up.

The sun is about to set as we enjoy the view out our front window.

Nearby campgrounds

Sugar Hollow City ParkVA · 6 miles away

Warriors' Path State ParkTN · 26 miles away

Persimmon Ridge City ParkTN · 32 miles away

Hungry Mother State ParkVA · 36 miles away

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