Campground amenities
We’d rather you arrive with accurate expectations than be surprised. This page is the honest inventory. If it’s not on this page, assume we don’t have it yet.
At every site
- Wooden decking — level, cleared, ready for a tent, chairs and a table, or whatever combination you like. Most sites have a 16 x 16 platform. One site, Yosemite 5, has open level ground instead and a great deal more of it.
- Fire ring — fires in the ring only, and check the Macon County burn ban first
- Charcoal grill — bring your own briquettes or buy them from us
- Fire extinguisher and water bucket at the site
- Parking at your site for one vehicle or van
- Garbage bags — stocked at your site, and more if you need them. There are no bins on the property, so they’re what you pack out with.
- Well water at every site — our own well, piped to a hose at each campsite
Spacing varies by site. Most sit 100+ feet from their nearest neighbor, and several are considerably farther. The exception is up on the switchback, where Arches 13 and Big Bend 14 sit about 65 feet apart, with the ground falling away between them. Every site page states its own measured distance.
On the property
- Portable restrooms, serviced regularly
- Firewood and charcoal for sale from Carman
- WiFi at Gleason, the community rendezvous spot between sites 4 and 5 — one shared place to get online, not something that reaches every site. At your own site, it’s your phone’s 5G.
- Paved main road up the mountain
- Room for vans and rooftop-tent rigs at the drive-in sites — up to 25 feet, self-contained, nothing towed
- Carman manages the campground and lives on site year-round
If you’re overlanding, this is set up for you within those limits: 6 minutes from US-64, 8 from downtown Franklin, well water at every site, and level ground to stop on for the night. What we cannot take is anything towed or anything longer than 25 feet.
What we don’t have
Read this part. Cardinal Mountain is a new campground in its first season. We’re building deliberately rather than borrowing heavily, which means some things aren’t here yet.
- No electric hookups at any site. Come self-contained.
- No dump station.
- No trash bins. Pack it out — the town garbage and recycling drop-off is five minutes from the gate. If you’d rather not make the trip, we sell garbage bag pickup.
- Nothing towed. No travel trailers, fifth wheels or pop-ups — the road and the sites aren’t built for them. Cars, trucks, SUVs, self-contained Class B vans and tents are all welcome.
- No camp store. Downtown Franklin is 8 minutes away. Firewood and charcoal briquettes are the two things we do sell, from Carman on site — here’s how to pay.
What to bring
- Nothing for water — there’s well water at your site
- A headlamp — the mountain gets genuinely dark
- Layers. It runs cooler up here than in town, and colder after sunset than you expect.
- Nothing for trash bags — there are garbage bags at your site, and more if you need them. There are no bins here, so what you bag up goes home with you, or to the town garbage and recycling drop-off five minutes from the gate
- Fuel and cookware — there’s a fire ring and a charcoal grill at your site, but the briquettes, firewood and pans are on you. We sell briquettes and firewood here