CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · TN

Cedar Creek (TN)

Reservable, and full this SaturdayEvery one of the 58 sites on offer is taken this Saturday, and the record lists no site held back for a walk-up. read 14:46 UTC

We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →

Watch for a cancellation Book on recreation.gov ↗

Right now: Taking bookingsSites offered on 12 of the next 29 nights read 14:46 UTC
A night: $30–$35Across the site types the agency prices
Sites: 6059 on recreation.gov

Photos · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

97 ftLongest rig

450 ftElevation

645 ftWater · an unnamed lake

0 miN of Mount Juliet, TN

39%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices

In the agency’s own words

Cedar Creek Campground on Old Hickory Lake in north-central Tennessee, offers 60 campsites and limitless options for activities like boating, hiking, fishing and relaxing on the swim beach. A picnic shelter located in the day use area may also be reserved on weekdays throughout the summer. The lake is named after the 7th U.S. President, Andrew Jackson, a Tennessee-native who earned the nickname "Old Hickory," because of his tough, aggressive personality. Keep reading

Recreation

Sailing, swimming and fishing are popular activities for visitors interested in water sports, while birders and wildlife viewers will delight in the abundance of migratory songbirds, waterfowl and white-tailed deer. Wild turkeys and rabbits also frequent the area.

Facilities

Modern amenities such as laundry facilities and hot showers are available for a more comfortable camping experience. Sites also come with water and electric hookups for added convenience. Families will enjoy the playground, and visitors looking to entertain will find the group picnic shelter, which accommodates up to 50 guests, to be an excellent gathering spot. Parking, however, is not guaranteed.

Natural Features

Old Hickory Lake is a 22,500 acre reservoir, primarily fed by the waters of the Cumberland River. The lake is surrounded by shady wooded areas and grassy flatlands, and offers an impressive 440 miles of scenic shoreline.

Nearby Attractions

Cedar Creek is just beyond the Nashville metropolitan area. Head to the "Music City" to tour the Country Music Hall of Fame or explore former President, Andrew Jackson's early 19th century home, "The Hermitage," a National Historic Landmark. Also located just minutes from the park is the Shutes Branch Mountain Bike Trail. Charges & Cancellations * Once your reservation has been created, there will be a $10.00 fee to cancel and a $10.00 fee to change your site or dates. * Cancellations made the day before, or up to the day after your arrival date will also be charged the first nights use fee. * No-Shows are charged a $20.00 fee plus the first nights use fee. * If your reservation is for 1 night, and you have been charged the first nights use fee, there is no $10.00 service fee.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

Group shelter is for day-use only and may be reserved during most weekdays; however, this does not reserve parking nor pay for the use fee of the park.

Rule

There is a $5.00/vehicle or $2.00/walk-in for day-use facilities; parking is limited

Rule

Parking spaces may not be reserved

Everything else this campground posts · 1

Rule

Don't Move Firewood: Protect your forests from tree-killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for further information.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 60
Hookups: 58 electric, 60 water
Longest rig: 97 ft
Paved pads: 3 of 60
Accessible sites: None listed
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: Every site

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Showers: Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind; “Facilities Modern amenities such as laundry facilities and hot showers are available for a more comfortable camping experience.”
Dump station: Yes; recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
Playground: Yes
Stay limit: 14 nights; recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Water, toilets and showers: read from the agency description, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Reservoir, Lake, River, Creek, Beach; Boating; Fishing; Swimming
Night sky · 86th darkest of 95 in TN: Bortle 5

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Full this Saturdayread 14:46 UTC

How full the weekend is nationally.

OpenBookedClosed

Every one of the 58 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 27 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 14:46 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t

Booking windowThrough October 28Bookable now through October 28, 2026, the end of this reservable season, and again for April 1, 2027 through April 17, 2027. Tomorrow at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 18, 2027.recreation.gov

Max stay14 nights2-night minimum on weekendsthe facility record

A night$30–$35plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

A weekend$68–$78DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservation; this campground publishes its own terms toorecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itU.S. Army Corps of EngineersBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record

Watch for a cancellation

Watch this campground

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Book on recreation.gov ↗

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 16

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Army Corps of Engineers

A night, per site$30–$35

Standard Electric$30

Standard Electric$35

Group area, a night$50

The agency has already scheduled a change from Nov 1, 2026: $35 to $40 a night.

Rates for the season the campground is in now, Apr 1, 2026 to Oct 28, 2026.

No refunds for recreation use fees may be made at the project.

The booking feerecreation.gov

Reservation fee, booked online$8

One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.

Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.

What a stay costs

One nightDerived$38–$43

A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$68–$78

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $30–$35 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

If your plans changerecreation.gov

Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10

Cancellation fee$10

Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night

No-show$20 + your first night

“* Once your reservation has been created, there will be a $10.00 fee to cancel and a $10.00 fee to change your site or dates. * Cancellations made the day before, or up to the day after your arrival date will also be charged the first nights use fee. * No-Shows are charged a $20.00 fee plus the first nights use fee.…” · this campground’s own no-show terms

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 6

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Sep 10, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

This campground’s own terms: recreation.gov facility cancellation policy for this campground, quoted verbatim. Recreation.gov states that policies listed for specific locations supersede its site-wide policies. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

recreation.gov availability, read 14:46 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

61 records · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 59 mapped sites

52 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

Most roomP S 185 ft58 175 ft54 126 ft52 113 ft53 113 ft

Least room21 36 ft36 36 ft22 40 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 61 records

61 of 61 records located

RV / electric58Type not stated2Day use1

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56A 56B 57 58 59 P S

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

SleepsTakes aUp to

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 58 of the 61 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.

Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.


CEDAR CREEK	01	standard electric	48 ft	50 amp		58 ft	560 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	02	standard electric	42 ft	50 amp		53 ft	587 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	03	standard electric	51 ft	50 amp		42 ft	630 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	04	standard electric	51 ft	50 amp		42 ft	603 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	05	type not stated	57 ft	50 amp			560 ft
CEDAR CREEK	06	standard electric	58 ft	50 amp		56 ft	531 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	07	standard electric	49 ft	50 amp		47 ft	549 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	08	standard electric	53 ft	50 amp		47 ft	582 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	09	standard electric	47 ft	50 amp		47 ft	642 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	10	standard electric	43 ft	50 amp		47 ft	632 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	11	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		50 ft	513 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	12	standard electric	76 ft	50 amp		44 ft	474 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	13	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		44 ft	429 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	14	standard electric	54 ft	50 amp		55 ft	372 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	15	standard electric	54 ft	50 amp		43 ft	354 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	16	standard electric	44 ft	50 amp		43 ft	374 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	17	standard electric	42 ft	50 amp		47 ft	440 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	18	standard electric	67 ft	50 amp		47 ft	474 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	19	standard electric	56 ft	50 amp		48 ft	519 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	20	standard electric	62 ft	50 amp		57 ft	549 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	21	standard electric	57 ft	50 amp		37 ft	471 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	22	standard electric	57 ft	50 amp		40 ft	426 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	23	standard electric	57 ft	50 amp		53 ft	393 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	24	standard electric	54 ft	50 amp		47 ft	390 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	25	standard electric	54 ft	50 amp		47 ft	394 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	26	standard electric	47 ft	50 amp		50 ft	386 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	27	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		45 ft	412 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	28	standard electric	67 ft	50 amp		45 ft	453 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	29	standard electric	62 ft	50 amp		56 ft	523 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	30	standard electric	52 ft	50 amp		46 ft	437 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	31	standard electric	58 ft	50 amp		46 ft	393 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	32	standard electric	54 ft	50 amp		52 ft	358 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	33	standard electric	55 ft	50 amp		52 ft	335 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	34	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		53 ft	348 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	35	standard electric	54 ft	50 amp		49 ft	395 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	36	standard electric	54 ft	50 amp		37 ft	445 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	37	standard electric	57 ft	50 amp		51 ft	490 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	38	standard electric	56 ft	50 amp		51 ft	518 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	39	standard electric	71 ft	50 amp		60 ft	452 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	40	standard electric	71 ft	50 amp		53 ft	419 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	41	standard electric	71 ft	50 amp		53 ft	377 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	42	standard electric	85 ft	50 amp		75 ft	303 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	43	standard electric	61 ft	50 amp		56 ft	252 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	44	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		55 ft	237 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	45	standard electric	55 ft	50 amp		55 ft	262 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	46	standard electric	66 ft	50 amp		59 ft	307 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	47	standard electric	69 ft	50 amp		51 ft	353 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	48	standard electric	66 ft	50 amp		51 ft	404 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	49	standard electric	71 ft	50 amp		79 ft	212 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	50	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		79 ft	134 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	51	standard electric	87 ft	50 amp		60 ft	286 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	52	standard electric	60 ft	50 amp		113 ft	116 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	53	standard electric	95 ft	50 amp		113 ft	224 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	54	standard electric	64 ft	50 amp		126 ft	141 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	55	standard electric	97 ft	50 amp		102 ft	251 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	56A	standard electric	69 ft	50 amp		102 ft	158 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	56B	standard electric	65 ft	50 amp		104 ft	146 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	57	standard electric	45 ft	50 amp		111 ft	223 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	58	standard electric	45 ft	50 amp		175 ft	197 ft	$30–$35
CEDAR CREEK	59	type not stated	45 ft	50 amp			296 ft
CEDAR CREEK	P S	day use		15 amp	yes	185 ft	297 ft	$50

The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It files it as day use. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Sep 11, 2026

OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.

25 of 61 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate36.27676, -86.51077

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone615-754-4947

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near here

Lone Branch0.8 mi

Cages Bend2.0 mi

Avondale3.7 mi

Laguardo3.8 mi

Shutes Branch3.9 mi

Nat Caldwell Park5.0 mi

Getting there

From Nashville, TN. Travel East on I-40 to exit 221A. Continue onto TN-45/Old Hickory Blvd. Turn right onto US-70/Lebanon Pike. Turn left onto Nonaville Road and travel until reaching a 4-way stop. Turn right at the 4-way stop onto Saundersville Road. The recreation area will be at the end of the road.

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

This Afternoon61°Sunny

Tonight39°Clear

Sunday69°Sunny

Sunday Night40°Clear then Patchy Frost

NWS forecast for Mount Juliet, TN

Source: National Weather Service, OHX forecast office · Oct 17, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 49°F, day 72°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 28°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

100°32°20°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: OLD HICKORY WFO, TN (USC00406806), 4 miles away and 140 ft higher

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it · a letter you can send

Who answers for this land

Cedar Creek (TN) is in Tennessee’s 6th congressional district. Its representative, John Rose (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

Who can change it · 3

Write to somebody who can change it

Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.

The member who votes the moneyJohn W. RoseU.S. Representative · Tennessee’s 6th district
Open their contact form ↗Their record →
Your senator, on the same appropriationBill HagertyU.S. Senator · Tennessee
Open their contact form ↗
Your senator, on the same appropriationMarsha BlackburnU.S. Senator · Tennessee
Open their contact form ↗

Read the draft, or change the wording

For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.

To John W. Rose

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Cedar Creek (TN), Tennessee

Dear John W. Rose,

I’m a constituent in Tennessee’s 6th district. I tried to camp at Cedar Creek (TN), Tennessee, and couldn’t.

recreation.gov lists 59 of the 60 campsites the agency files at Cedar Creek (TN), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 58 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked.

1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Cedar Creek (TN) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Cedar Creek (TN). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Cedar Creek (TN) (Tennessee) via campanac.com

To Bill Hagerty

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Cedar Creek (TN), Tennessee

Dear Bill Hagerty,

I’m a constituent in Tennessee. I tried to camp at Cedar Creek (TN), Tennessee, and couldn’t.

recreation.gov lists 59 of the 60 campsites the agency files at Cedar Creek (TN), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 58 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked.

1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Cedar Creek (TN) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Cedar Creek (TN). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Cedar Creek (TN) (Tennessee) via campanac.com

To Marsha Blackburn

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Cedar Creek (TN), Tennessee

Dear Marsha Blackburn,

I’m a constituent in Tennessee. I tried to camp at Cedar Creek (TN), Tennessee, and couldn’t.

recreation.gov lists 59 of the 60 campsites the agency files at Cedar Creek (TN), and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 58 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked.

1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Cedar Creek (TN) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Cedar Creek (TN). I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Cedar Creek (TN) (Tennessee) via campanac.com

How we know this · 4

Contacts: Contact forms from @unitedstates/congress-legislators · Sep 9, 2026

The figures in these drafts: Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress (CRS Report RS20643) · Updated December 4, 2025 · “The ship’s final procurement cost was $13,316.5 million (i.e., about $13.3 billion) in then-year dollars.”

The figures in these drafts: Salary Table 2026-GS, Incorporating the 1% General Schedule Increase, Effective January 2026 (U.S. Office of Personnel Management) · Effective January 2026 · “Grade 5, Step 1: $34,799 (annual rate, before locality pay).”

The figures in these drafts: Update to Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost Factor, Federal Pay Raise Assumptions, and Inflation Factors used in OMB Circular No. A-76 (OMB Memorandum M-08-13) · March 11, 2008 · “the civilian position full fringe benefit cost factor needs to be adjusted downward, from 36.45 percent to 36.25 percent”

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 12 of the next 29 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 59 of the 60 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 61 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 4.9 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 95 rated federal campgrounds in Tennessee · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

Cell signal: the Army Corps’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026