Stayed at Montgomery Bell Lodge in Tennessee and it's worth the trip. Clean, modern lodge tucked right inside the state park, overlooking the lake. Rooms are simple but solid -- everything you need after a long hike or day on the water. Restaurant downstairs is convenient, food's better than you'd expect for park dining, and you can grab coffee before heading out. Best part? You walk right out the door into trails, woods, and lake views without ever touching your truck. Not luxury, but not trying to be. Lodge and loaded with what matters: comfort, location, and that Tennessee outdoors feel. read more

Montgomery Bell State Park - Parks Near Me - Burns, Tennessee

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Tranquility. That defines this beautiful green park as well as the small lake. Easy to get to, lots of parking and pavilions and dense with forested areas. Lots of picnic tables and places for kids to have fun! The small relatively clear Southern lake had a couple of fishing boats working the shores. The lake is chock full of bass. Fingerling bass line the shore line and 1-3 pounders were seen in the water everywhere. The trails take you up along the ridges and other areas walk you along the dam and lakeshore. The afternoon sun is filtered through the trees giving a warm greenish yellow backdrop. The shady areas are beyond restful and recharged me for another day! read more

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We went to the park to swim on the lake and it was disappointing - the water was very green, there was barely a beach, and there was some trash. Would not recommend for swimming. However, there seemed to be lots of great hiking trails and the accommodations seemed nice! read more

Montgomery Bell State Park - Parks Near Me - Burns, Tennessee

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This land was originally the home of the iron industry of middle Tennessee, and the park is named after an iron industry titan, Montgomery Bell himself. It has a lodge, a golf course, 20 miles of mountain bike trails, over 80 RV sites, 22 tent sites, 20 miles of hiking trails, eight premium cabins, three lakes, a swimming pool, boating, and a beach. The website has tickets to guided hikes and kayak tours. Fishing is allowed on property, and annual events include Special Needs Ranger events, 5ks and other runs, and several golf tournaments. It was built and established under the New Deal in connection with the federal government. Trails include the Baker Cemetery Trail loop (.95 mile), the Creech Hollow Trail (1.25 miles), the Jim Bailey Nature Trail loop (.60 mile), the Montgomery Bell Trail loop (10.25 miles), the Ore Pit Trail loop (1.5 miles), and the Spillway Trail Wildcat Trail (0.55 mil). I have a lot of memories of Montgomery Bell National Park, and in particular one swimming area that my family went to a lot when I was a kid. I was surprised to pull in, and realize that the park is insanely bigger than I originally thought. At over 3,700 acres, I must've only really seen maybe 100 acres, and the same 100 acres over and over as a kid. I was super excited to explore more, to realize I had 0% cellular signal. Luckily, the park store had a map available. There's still a ton to do, and it's just in my backyard, so I'll be back. read more

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Very good food on the buffet with friendly staff. Nice atmosphere and nice outer scenery on a lake.

The park is a absolutely the best State Park that we have every stayed at in TN. The Park is definitely the "Queen of the state parks" as stated on the website. We had a great camper site with all the comforts of home. Backing in was a breeze and the creek that ran along the camp site was a giant bonus. The pups loved the walking areas and we walked in the creek. Since we have older pups we didn't get to see all the other areas we wanted, but what a great day trip from Nashville. I would be remiss not to mention that I called in advance to get directions. I was told once I exited 182 to turn off my GPS and just take highway 96 to Dickson then right on route 70 and the entrance was 2.2 miles on the right. The gentleman who provided me the information was extremely patient and friendly. If I would have listened to the GPS I would have ended up on route 46 which with my 10 foot 4 inch camper would have been wedge under a notorious low bridge. My thanks to that gentleman who steered me away from that fate of hitting that bridge and ridding my anxiety of the unknown. Awesome internet connectivity and full hook ups. The check in experience was also great and we bought 2 bundles of wood. We realized once unpacked that we had forgotten to get ice so I walked back to the check in spot at about 6pm and they were open so I was able to get ice! The site was clean and lighting bugs were out for a perfect night. We will be back as soon as possible!!! read more

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The cabin and grounds were wonderful. The staff was not. We rented a cabin and brought our dog. A week after our stay, we received an email stating our dog damaged the curtains in the cabin and they attempted to charge my credit card $500 for the damage. First, my dog did zero damage. We travel with him all the time. Second, the curtains were no where near $500 in value. They did not call me or even attempt to provide images of the damage before trying charge my card. I was told it was their policy. It is absurb to charge a customer without their approval or knowledge! Dog owners beware. Do not rent their cabins! If you do, take pictures when you arrive and when you leave to prove your pets didn't do any damage. Common courtesy would be to at least talk to the customer before attempting to charge them!!! Poor customer service. read more

Beautiful area with lots of space. Great hiking trails, great golf course and great camping! So blessed to have such a beautiful park so close! read more

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This park offers some great trails, a beach, beautiful views of the lake, cabins, a lodge/restaurant, some historical sites and an old country church. It's well worth your time if you're in the middle TN area. read more

Love playing golf here. The staff are friendly and professional. The wild life and surrounding area is beautiful

Nice little place to take a hike and explore to get away from all the craziness going on. A friend and i picnicked here and decided to take a hike and walk around the creek for a while. Super fun area to be at! read more

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Beautiful, peaceful! Went here to take pictures and hike with my kiddos! Very well maintained. Lots of information available.

Love this sweet little park. The creek front camping spots are my favorite. Even though we are 3 1/2 hours away we try to camp here at least once a year.Check out Fishers off road in near by Williamsport for an exciting day of SXS riding in the beautiful TN countryside! read more

We will be going back with the whole family. The rooms where good sized, loved the lake view from the patio, love that fishing was available right out side. Tons of hiking, nice indoor pool (outdoor pool was still closed) the buffet was good standard buffet food at a reasonable price. The beds and pillows where not the best but ok for a night or two. I'm excited to go back over the summer months. However, I do wish they had some pet friendly rooms. read more

Montgomery Bell State Park - Parks Near Me - Burns, Tennessee

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We stopped at Montgomery Bell State Park on Wednesday April 16, 2014..We had a great cookout there and it was so cold. Too cold but it was still a good time..this weekend was really really strange...but for middle April...weird. We cookout near the creek side and the kids played in the playground. Everyone had a really great time.. read more

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This park is nice and has a lot of amenities. Sand volleyball, basketball, baseball, tennis, golf etc. the campground is nice but pretty tight quarters. Sites are pretty close and tight quarters for maneuvering. A lot of small sites that will not accommodate larger rigs but the reservation site had adequate information so we could determine which sites we would fit in. read more

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Our toilet overflowed the first night. After 2 calls, maintenance came down with a plunger and left it with us. Sunday morning, overflowed again and Zach on the maintenance team was very helpful. Kid at the front desk offered a new room which was helpful, but he moved us to an occupied room down the hall. Very embarrassing. Finally moved floors to a new room and it was good, but after nearly an hour and a half, it set the day off. We go up to have breakfast at the restaurant on a Sun am and it's closed because "they just couldn't get any staff to come in." The continental breakfast area was very scarce so we drove to Dickson to eat fast food. We did eat dinner on Sat night at the restaurant. Had the fish & chips. It felt like it had been reheated before coming out to us. Never received the appetizer that we ordered. Lots of menu items were not available. The remodel is lovely, but the lack of staff and experience was very apparent and made us regret spending the holiday weekend there. The park itself could use some attention. Wooden picnic tables were falling apart and it was obvious that no one had used a weed eater anywhere in several weeks. read more

This place is usually great with a restaurant on site and good service. Right now, it is undergoing renovations and looks like a war zone. They did not disclose that they were under renovations or that the restaurant was closed when we called to book the room. When we saw online that the restaurant was closed and tried to cancel, they said they would still charge us for the room. When we got there, the place was totally gutted and uninhabitable! They still wanted to charge us $168 to stay there. Our "room" had no furniture, door, or bathroom fixtures! It was full of construction trash on the floor. I demanded my money back. read more

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My favorite place n Dickson County! Beautiful lake and renovated Inn. Great hiking trails.

So before I went on another trail site that was different but also a part of the park. The State Park is actually much better then the other one I was on earlier in the week. I was able to get off the first hiking trail and go into another hiking trail. I really like that there are so many trails and if you want more lake views you can go along a different trail as well. It's nice honestly. I would suggest going to this park and doing the first trail by the office and getting off it once you see the campsites through the trees and crossing the small bridge onto two other trails you can choose from. read more

Had to attend a meeting there and spent one night at the end. Rooms appear to have not been updated in 25 years. Make sure you do not leave anything in the room when you leave. I mistakenly left a jacket in the room. I made several phone calls before getting instructions about getting it sent to me. Complying with their directions, I spent $30 to send to them a prepaid postage box to return jacket to me. Jacket was never returned. PostScript. I did receive jacket a few days after posting review. read more

We stayed RV site #80 by the creek for 2 weeks. What a wonderful site! We are from Florida and this is our second time here. The last summer we did tent camping and stayed 4 days. This time, we enjoyed cool early spring with trailing, fishing, and camp fire cooking. Witnessing the Nature changing it's color right front of our eyes. The office people are very friendly and helpful. We will be back ! read more

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Stayed at the lodge for two nights while attending a wedding last month. Rooms were spotlessly clean and newly-remodeled. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Seems like it is geared to professional conferences (no in-room microwave and mini-fridge available only on request) but we did enjoy our stay. One suggestion: would have been nice to have coffee available in the lobby instead of having to order it in the restaurant. Didn't get a chance to do any hiking (it rained for most of our stay) but the location was very nice and secluded, saw lots of deer. read more

Did several of the trails here Saturday and was not impressed. The trails aren't thoughtfully mapped out and are very confusing. Several times the trails will go alongside a busy road or by the RV campsite. The trails will split off and not identify which direction to stay on and you'll have to pick a direction until you stumble upon a different colored marketer and then have to back track. read more

Beautiful campground. We had spot 106 that butted up to the creek. Although there are tons of families with children it was a relatively quiet park. We enjoyed watching the fireflies the one night here with our travel trailer read more

Montgomery Bell State Park - Parks Near Me - Burns, Tennessee

Sites are tight to get into. But so shady and quaint. We rented kayaks for an hour for 7.00. So much fun. The quite hours were not enforced. So at 2 am I was awaken by loud laughter. That is hard when you get up at 5. Made me want to wake them up when I got up. The park should ride through shortly after quite hour starts and remind folks that are outside that others are sleeping. read more

Fun place to camp, drink, and hang with friends. Very pretty landscaping and nice large areas to camp.

Let's first separate the people, from the place. And by people, I mean people working there, because if the other patrons counted toward my review, it would be a negative 10 stars. The people working here were courteous and friendly. From the moment we checked in, two elderly employees shared with us maps, instructions and friendly smiles that set the tone for a really pleasant weekend. Covered in a little shack, they sold firewood, s'mores paraphernalia and Tennessee state park merch. Pretty cool. (If you have little kids, try not to let them see they sell stuffed animals as well) So we drove to our lot, passed a large number of other tent campers, but also RVs, intertwined. First red flag was the lack of separation of the two. Call me a snob, the two need to have separate areas for so many reasons. Avoiding generator sounds and exhaust fumes are generally the reason I wanted to go camping in the first place. Second red flag was the extreme closeness to the other lots. They were so tightly packed, in fact, that we actually unpacked and slept an entire night on an incorrect lot, thinking it was ours. After some polite apologies and a quick move, we were sandwiched in between two other groups. I say with absolute honesty that if I had known this in advance, I would literally have paid an additional $26 to reserve the lot on either side of us, if but for nothing more than the privacy. * Lots have no power connections (not a negative, just observation) * No lot-specific parking (in the grass, unless you're in an RV), but lot within the park * Park ranger regularly patrols, was extremely courteous * RV campers will offer you blankets if it's cold. That was super nice * Park offered enclosed showers and restrooms, both were as gross as you'd imagine a state park shower would be, but perfectly acceptable. (Bring shower sandals!) * Dog friendly was a plus, lock & dam did not allow dogs, but plenty of available creek opportunities * Hiking was fine, I underestimated the "hills of Tennessee" read more

Beautiful trees and lakes. Lots of birds and deer. Great hiking trails. Rangers are friendly, patrol often. Orderly. Friendly people. Fireflies in the forest at dusk are amazing. Kid and Dog friendly. Bring a kayak. Eat at Carl's Perfect Pig on 70. Negatives- RV sites are quite close together. Advertised internet doesn't work. Use bug spray!! read more

Montgomery Bell State Park - Montgomery Bell State Park TN - Parks Near Me - Burns, Tennessee

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I really love the updates done to the restaurant & menu. But this place is always understaffed. Ridiculous

So Ive noticed that Tennessee really likes to resort-ify its state parks: what happened to enjoying the wilderness and protecting its treasures? Anyways, the reason is that this is a consistently well regarded state park, but despite containing a golf course, two lakes, and a plethora of cabins, campgrounds and hotels, what it doesn't have are too many hiking trails. Two long trails roughly circle the perimeter of the large park, but are mostly second-growth forests occasionally interrupted with a creek, a clearing, or a semi-abandoned cemetery. Shorter hikes are also possible around a nice, simple church located near the parking lot and next to a cabin where the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was founded. Nearby, there are a series of deep pits that look like a herd of giant gophers ran through. These are ore mines dug at the turn of the century, and without some background knowledge they probably would have been missed entirely. Despite being in a 1-square mile area we were where all of these things were found, when we visited we pretty quickly got lost; the maps here are not detailed, and not particularly informative-if you're up for a hike, find some good trail maps online. Swimming and canoeing are also possible on at least one of the lakes, though the water looks sickly and we were unable to paddle very far around. In sum, a fairly boring park, perhaps worth visiting once. read more

I live about 30 minutes from Montgomery Bell State Park. I go there for the occasional hike with my husband and dog. This place shouldn't really be considered a park...it's more of a resort. They barely provide any sort of information on actual camping. (Remember camping? Tents, fires, roughing it, etc??) They do, however, give you a plethora of information on their restaurants, hotels, conference centers, where you can park your RVs and whatnot. It's a beautiful spot with lots of camping amenities...if you have an RV. If you have a tent, be prepared to basically be put in the front parking lot in the middle of a bunch of groups. read more

Camping: we like quiet camping, where we can park our 13' trailer and kick back. this place meets our wants. They dont put a lot of money into the campground, but it is spacious and clean. Showers have plenty of hot water. Lots of tall trees, but thin enough so that the sun comes in. Hiking: There are nice moderately-rigorous trails connecting to the campground. Make sure you get the $2.00 Trails Map from the camp store. The one you get at check-in is not accurate for hiking. Cost: camping here is very inexpensive,( mid-week, September) for a site with electric and water. read more

Great Park. I've been here twice to hike and the trails were good. Camping was easy even after hours. Tennessee gives 50% off to active and veteran military. ++ read more

I loved hiking here. It was quiet and a very nice view. I can't speak on the camping part because we didn't camp. If you're still unsure. Here's a video I did of my hiking trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1RCOhGPp1A read more

We enjoy this state park tremendously. In addition to the hiking trails, the beach and picnic area are beautiful. Also there are paddle boats and canoes that can be rented. read more

Love it. . . great camping by the creek.. 3 big lakes. . and a sandy beach. Can rent Kayaks and canoes or bring your own. Kinda hard to get down to the lake because the road is a bit washed out, but fun in a 4x4. . . no life guards and no food. It would be nice if the would open the grill back up.... pretty good golf course too. read more

Update from 1st reviewer, cabins have been torn down & replaced by "green-Energy" Villas in the woods, on hills miles away from the Inn (Hotel) they literally have everything you would need for this getaway hideaway, EXCEPT you will need coffee filters & hangers & bring your own firewood for the outdoor fireplace (they only deliver in Winter & since it is a "Campground" you have to pay $10 & drive to hell & back to get there, plus i wasn't going to throw old wood in a new rental car) I even offered to pay for it & delivery ,& we found the cookie sheet too small to go under our dish in the oven, the Villa is massive with cathedral ceilings when you enter there's a queen size (pull out) sofa with love seat also coffee table, flat screen TV (in each room also) & dining room table for 6-8, has a sink island with a couple of bar stools, & FULLY Stocked kitchen, electric stove & oven, with microwave, they had plates cups, GLASSES, dish & silverware service for 8, cutting board, measuring cups, a Fully Stocked Linen closet that included iron & ironing board, broom, one bedroom has a king sized bed, the other room 2 doubles, both with bathrooms to themselves, due to villas being booked EVERY weekend from memorial day to Labor day we ended up moving @ 10AM to a Suite in the Inn (the main hotel) suite has HiFi, phones, laptops OUT, EVERY ROOM Overlooks Acorn Lake @ the hotel/Inn/conference center, which is actually built on a peninsula. the 3 room suite was Huge as well, the 3 rooms same setup as our Villas, with outdoor baloney, all rooms with it's own baloney & bathroom, but no dishes or cups(just the standard plastic ones, & just a microwave,(Indoor-Fire Marshall LAW) wishing they'll put a stove in the Suite, but the Inn is near the indoor & outdoor pools as well as the Jacuzzi & the bridge that will get you to the boat rental PRINT OUT & BRING YOUR OWN MAP (they think you can get around a 5200 acre park without one?), none was ever offered to us or printed on any of their printouts for activities,,do REQUEST One! you live & work here, we're TOURISTS, don't ASSUME we know where anything is, the staff is friendly & helpful enough, for the outdoor Villa, bring your own mosquito lamps (2 with lots of refills, wish i would have had 3, & Off with Deet (drugstore.ccom) we really enjoyed the fireplace on one side & the gas grill on the other, & turn off the TV, relax because deep in the woods your phone has NO bars i wish the check out time for the Villas were later, we seemed rushed because we're not morning people & there is a list of things they want you to do before you leave, what is housekeeping for? had to put dishes in the dishwasher, sweep, & out by 10AM too early !!! too much!! for $155 plus tax, the main manage i talked to was very defensive & in denial about any of the small problems i mentioned they mowed the hill but i ended up sweeping off the entire steps (~2 flights) & the outdoor patio the 5 ***** Star rating is correct, we will go back often, we enjoyed the trees & sounds of the woods, it was magical watch for ticks, & i got a horrible sumac /poison ivy rash & eat @ Carl's Perfect Pig in White Bluff if you can tear yourself away from the park (i RARELY mention another business in another one's review, but if you're THIS Close!!) Hell yeah we're going back, woods, fresh air & the best ribs I've ever eaten in my life @ Carl's Perfect Pig, they don't delver Villa = $155 plus at least 10% TN tax (~$178) Suite= $199 before tax the experience PRICELESS Toll Free: 1-800-250-8613 http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/MontgomeryBell/ note we did not go to any campgrounds or camp outside here, but did want to tell you about the Villas & the Inn (hotel) enjoy we want to build the Villa, great design or just live here! Kevin @ the Front Desk Nights was Incredibly Helpful making our schedule possible read more

This place is off the hook. It's not a park - its an all-in-one rec center. It's got everything you'd ever want. I drove out here with a friend for the hiking trail and we had no idea what we were getting into. There are camp sites, a camp store, hiking trails, boating, fishing, etc. But, there is also what they call an inn, and I call a hotel. It's decently priced, 78 a night through the summer and 68 in the winter. Suites run 160-195. Cabins, which are placed all throughout the park are 75 a night during the summer. My friends and I have often talked about getting a cabin for the weekend, we really should. The inn also features a restaurant, perfect for those who don't love to rough it. read more

What an awesome time, everyone was very helpful. Only $12.50 a night for a tent site. Showers were hot!! Bathrooms were clean easy to find. No complaints here read more