Picture of our campsite at Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee.

State Parks We Camped at During our 2009 Summer Vacation - TN, IL, AL

Travel
September 11, 2024•4 min read

Note: This content was originally updated in 2009, so some details may have changed. I've searched high and low for the original pictures, but could only find the ones below. Please keep in mind, these images are low resolution due to the camera I was using at the time. These are memories and locations that I want to share, and were taken from my old blog to this new one.

We recently camped at three different state parks on the way to and from Chicago, Illinois. All three were very nice. I had spent days researching the parks in Tennessee and Alabama (the one in Illinois was last minute) and came up with the two we stayed at. I'm so glad that I chose them!

Our first stop was Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee. This place is HUGE! It's got something like 32,000 acres! Many water falls, cascades, and swimming holes - you can swim in all of them - even your dogs. The only place you can't swim in is the lake.

Our campsite:

View of our tree shaded campsite at Fall Creek Falls State Park. It shows part of our 5th Wheel RV and our picnic table with a couple of lawn chairs.

An image of another beautiful campsite:

An image of an empty campsite. It has trees all around it. It's very private.

A view of the tent sites:

A view of the tent sites at Fall Creek Falls State Park. There are several trees in the picture with beautiful mature trees.

Sadly, I took the next two pictures with a very low resolution camera. Who knew! I wasn't a photographer at the time:

My sons standing on the rocks by one of the many waterfalls.

My sons standing on the rocks of a waterfall.

My sons and husband are standing in the water near the edge of a waterfall with trees surrounding the water.

My husband and sons standing at the edge of where a waterfall drops.

Since we had arrived on a Saturday morning, there was actually only one site left that would fit our 5th wheel. They've got all types of campsites. Grassy, rock, paved - some even have round concrete tables. The bathrooms were very nice, swimming, biking, playgrounds, many planned activities EVERY DAY including softball for all ages. There are paddle boats and john boats to rent. Stables on the property, an Inn, a swimming pool, laundry, store, restaurant, an educational center, hiking, fishing, many playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball, horseshoes - the list goes on. Most sites are first come first serve, but I think they may reserve a few. Here's the link: http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/FallCreekFalls/ . I would have loved to have seen it in the Fall!

The next place we stopped was in Shabbana, Illinois - Shabbana State Park. It was meant to be for a night, but we stayed for two. It was nice, clean and quiet. First come, first served. They have lakeside sites, that were $5 more (Keep in mind that this is 2009 pricing). Our campsite was on the lake.

They've got a fishing lake, boat rentals, trails, a restaurant, places to bike ride, a store, playground, and bait shop. Their trails are actual snowmobile trails. Nice and wide and mowed. This was the last place on our trip that we can fondly remember about our dogs being happy. We were able to let them off their leashes and let them run through the paths. They were in heaven! A few days after that, one of our German Shepperds passed away from bloat. The link to this state park is: http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/LANDMGT/PARKS/R1/SHABBONA.HTMDMGT/PARKS/R1/SHABBONA.HTM

A view of our campsite, overlooking the lake.

A view of our 5th Wheel RV on our grassy, shaded campsite, overlooking the lake at Shabana State Park.

The last picture of our sweet boy Tyson, which was taken on our trip. Again, not a great picture, but Tyson is the one with more black on his head (R). The left one is my other sweet boy who has since passed away, Jerry Lee:

My husband is holding back our two German Shepherds who are trying to "escape" our camper.

After what happened to Tyson, our German Sheppard, we decided to cut out a few things from our trip and headed to the last campground. This is where we were going to rent a pontoon boat and take it out with the dogs and everyone was going to swim. We never rented the boat, but we did swim with our 4 yr old shepherd. The water was beautiful. You can swim, fish, boat, jet ski and water ski on this lake.

Our last campground was Wind Creek State Park. This is a view of our site from the water. You can swim right from your site. This park is also first come, first served. The waterfront campsites are $5 more than their regular spots (Keep in mind that this was 2009 pricing.). They have sewer sites in the campground, but not on the water. They've got several playgrounds, boat rentals, bike riding, trails, etc. The bathrooms are clean. Here's the link: http://www.alapark.com/WindCreek/ .  The details to this one are blending in my mind with the others. So sorry!

View of our 5th Wheel RV on the lake at Wind Creek State Park in Alabama.

A view of our campsite in the setting sun. The back of our 5th wheel RV is bathed in the beautiful red/orange color of sunset. I took this picture from down at the waters edge, so I'm looking up.

Our boys built themselves a "raft" out of a fallen log. Sorry for the low resolution:

My sons are floating on a log that had fallen in the water. They're pretending it's a raft.

One last look at a few campsites:

One last view of the grassy, tree covered area of the state park with campsites shown.

This was a fun, yet sad trip. We got home from our trip with only one of our sweet dogs. Tyson was left at a vet clinic where they would send him to a cremation company, and then have him shipped to us. When I received his ashes, they had forgotten to take a clipping of his hair. :(

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Carol's a Professional Portrait Photographer located in Ault, Colorado and serves Northern Colorado and beyond. She specializes in high school seniors, and has an exclusive Model Rep Program for Freshmen, Sophomore, and Juniors. Carol also photographs Branding, Families, Engagement, Maternity, and pets.

Carol Dunnigan

Carol's a Professional Portrait Photographer located in Ault, Colorado and serves Northern Colorado and beyond. She specializes in high school seniors, and has an exclusive Model Rep Program for Freshmen, Sophomore, and Juniors. Carol also photographs Branding, Families, Engagement, Maternity, and pets.

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