Center Hill Lake Primitive Camping Areas
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $8From, per site
- Sites
- 21All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Center Hill Lake Primitive Camping is a unique camping experience at designated areas across Center Hill's 415 miles of shoreline. Primitive camping offers a unique rustic lake front camping experience. Remote locations along the shoreline offer campers a peaceful nature experience. Most designated tent sites are accessible only by boat; while a few can be reached by road. Campers are advised that these areas are remote, primitive sites. Cellular service may be non-existant or limited. Water or electric including restroom facilities of any kind are not availabile. Campers desiring on-site attendant, security, and law enforcement services are encouraged to use developed campgrounds where such services are provided. These services are not provided for primitive camping. Keep reading
Recreation
Primitive camping Center Hill Lake is an outdoor enthusiast's paradise filled with camping, fishing, boating, and hiking experiences. Center Hill Lake is known for its fishing opportunities and host a lot of fishing tournaments.
Facilities
No water, electric, or restroom facilities. Sites have signage and a fire pit.
Natural Features
Lake view rustic camping experience surrounded by mature hardwood trees. Fishing and boating only a few steps from your designated camping site.
Nearby Attractions
Edgar Evins State Park, minutes from Center Hill Dam, sits on the shores of the lake. An observation tower at the Visitor Center offers a spectacular view of Center Hill Lake and the surrounding hillsides. Burgess Falls State Park is a 35-minute drive from the dam. Here, the Falling Water River drops approximately 250 feet, creating numerous breathtaking waterfalls. Hiking trails and overlooks help visitors enjoy the scenery. The large Native Butterfly Garden is a popular attraction within the park. Rock Island State Park is approximately one hour from the dam. Rock Island is located near the confluences of three rivers that make up Center Hill Lake; the Caney Fork, the Collins, and Rocky Rivers.
What the agency tells you
No water utilities are available such a toilets or sinks. No electric or sewer utilities are avaiable as well.
Post a printed copy of your confirmation letter to your tent or at the site. To protect your identity, mark out the address information. Ensure that the reservation name, site and dates are visible. Camping is limited to a 14-day stay within a 30-consecutive day period.
Firewood Policy – Campers may only burn certified heat treated firewood, commercial fire logs, kiln-dried, unpainted, unstained lumber that is free of any metal or foreign substance, or dead and downed branches in the area adjacent to the campsite.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Multi-party areas include Cane Hollow. Reserving more than one site at a multi-party area for the purpose of reserving the entire area is not allowed and customers doing so are subject to having all their reservations cancelled. Those who desire a more secluded primitive camping experience should consider reserving at a single party site.
Warning, water levels at Center Hill Lake are subject to change suddenly without notice or warning. View TVA's site for tentative schedules https://www.tva.com/environment/lake-levels/Center-Hill
Campers are encouraged to use developed campgrounds where security and law enforcement services are provided. These services are not provided for primitive camping. Persons camping at primitive campsites do so at their own risk.
Complete rules and regulations enforced are found in Title 36, Chapter III, Part 327 Code of Federal Regulations.
Parking and/or launching locations on the lake may charge a use fee for that area. Primitive site directions started at the nearest USACE operated facility.
Pack out all your trash and camping items. Clean up the area before departure. Failing to do so can result in a citation.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 21 · 21 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Beach
- Backpacking
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Hunting
- Jet Skiing
- Kayaking
- Motor Boat
- Paddling
- Picnicking
- Stargazing
- Water access
- Cell signal · Cell signal · Army Corps says
- Spotty
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $8 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.
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 · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
21 sites · the site map
All 21 sites
| Big Hurricane - Site 1 | Big Hurricane - Site 1 | tent only nonelectric | 117 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Britch Creek - Site 2 | Britch Creek - Site 2 | tent only nonelectric | 57 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Cane Hollow - Site 3C | Cane Hollow - Site 3C | tent only nonelectric | 466 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Cane Hollow -Site 3A | Cane Hollow -Site 3A | tent only nonelectric | under 10 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Cane Hollow -Site 3B | Cane Hollow -Site 3B | tent only nonelectric | 255 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Cherry Creek - Site 4 | Cherry Creek - Site 4 | tent only nonelectric | 203 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Crowder Cove - Site 5 | Crowder Cove - Site 5 | tent only nonelectric | under 10 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Davies Island East - Site 6 | Davies Island East - Site 6 | tent only nonelectric | 685 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Davies Island North - Site 8 | Davies Island North - Site 8 | tent only nonelectric | 299 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Davies Island West -Site 7 | Davies Island West -Site 7 | tent only nonelectric | 101 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Eagle Creek -Site 9 | Eagle Creek -Site 9 | tent only nonelectric | 111 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| East Shore - Site 10 | East Shore - Site 10 | tent only nonelectric | under 10 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Falling Water - Site 11 | Falling Water - Site 11 | tent only nonelectric | 63 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Fancher Falls -Site 12 | Fancher Falls -Site 12 | tent only nonelectric | 34 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Irwin Hollow -Site 13 | Irwin Hollow -Site 13 | tent only nonelectric | 86 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Pedigo Point - Site 14 | Pedigo Point - Site 14 | tent only nonelectric | 74 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Pine Creek -Site 15 | Pine Creek -Site 15 | tent only nonelectric | under 10 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Sink Creek - Site 16 | Sink Creek - Site 16 | tent only nonelectric | 78 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| South Shore -Site 17 | South Shore -Site 17 | tent only nonelectric | under 10 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| Squirrel Tail - Site 19 | Squirrel Tail - Site 19 | tent only nonelectric | 203 ftCenter Hill Lake |
| White County Access -Site 20 | White County Access -Site 20 | tent only nonelectric | 42 ftCenter Hill Lake |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Long Branch (Center Hill Lake)0.2 mi
Floating Mill Park5.4 mi
Hurricane Bridge6.8 mi
Ragland Bottom11 mi
Tailwater Rec Area14 mi
Defeated Creek Park14 miDirections to primitive camp sites start at the nearest USACE facility.
The GPS coordinate "Center Hill Lake Primitive Camping Areas" is for Center Hill Dam. 36°05'52.3"N 85°49'32.4"W or 36.097869, -85.825653
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Gordonsville, TN
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 72°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 26°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Center Hill Lake Primitive Camping Areas 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 →
How we know
every fact on this page, and where it came from
“…that these areas are remote, primitive sites. Cellular service may be non-existant or limited. Water or electric including restroom facilities of any kind…”