Fireside Outpost
10.16.26-10.18.26
Looking for a hidden gem in Southeast Tennessee? We found the perfect campground great for kayaking and rafting enthusiasts, fishers, hikers, and anyone interested in trains.
Fireside Outpost is a private campground started by Kim Murrell, in Delano, Tennessee. It is right across the street from Hiwassee Scenic River State Park and next to the Cherokee National Forest. The gated campground offers many different types of accommodations including; cabins, full hook-up campsites, and tent sites. Multiple community fire pits are located around the campground. There is a large pavilion over by the creek and Tennessee Valley Railroad.
We loved getting to see and wave to the passengers that traveled right by the campground several times a day. When we booked this campsite we checked to see if there were any rides available on Saturday, but they were sold out of the two-hour train ride that goes along the Hiwassee River There was also afour-hour train ride option on Saturday. We saw the train come by around 9:45 a.m. and 6:15 p.m.
Many of the cabins do not have bathrooms and obviously tent sites need restroom accommodations. Fireside Outpost provides an immaculate bathhouse. There is a set of male and female restrooms each with multiple toilet stalls and one shower stall. There are also two separate shower rooms. The bathrooms were clean and provided amenities like shampoo, conditioner, and wash cloths.
On the front side of the bathhouse, Fireside Outpost offered a coffee bar and sink. They provide coffee, tea, sweeteners, coffee mugs, and two Keurigs. You are expected to wash your coffee cup when you are finished with it, but there’s a huge sink and everything you need right there to do so. The setup also includes a toaster and large marshmallow roasters to go with the community firepit by the bathhouse.
In our opinion, we picked the best campsite in the campground (site 3). Campsite 3 is a full hook-up campsite and the largest one at Fireside Outpost. Not only is the living space large, but the site is also long. It is surrounded by bamboo, giving it quite a bit of privacy from other campsites. There is a path through the bamboo over to the bathhouse, but we did not usually use it throughout our stay because it seemed to go right into the Ocoee Cabin space.
Each campsite has a picnic table and a large fire pit surrounded by decorative rock. Fireside Outpost sells bundles of firewood for $7 each. Kim inquired before our stay how much we would want and had the three ready for us. She uses the honor system–if you want more, you can pay in cash or like we did–send her a venmo.
The bundles come in these really nice reusable carriers, they make it easy to carry across the campground if needed. I did see Kim on Saturday delivering firewood to a site that must have needed some more. She really promotes the importance of not bringing in wood from other areas that may expose tree-damaging insects to the area. The firewood we bought provided a fantastic burn.
The campground is on a gravel road, but it’s hard, small pieces of gravel. Our little kids could still easily ride their bikes around the loop. The gravel in the campsites is not as compact. We did have to deal with leveling our camper on one side and then the levelers settled into the gravel when we pulled up onto them.
Two days before check-in we received a detailed text from Kim about check-in with the gate code, information about the firewood, the wifi code, and a map of a campground. Kim communicated with us frequently and it’s obvious she takes a lot of pride in her campground by the way it is maintained.
Our friends reserved the best cabin in the campground, Chillowee Cabin. It is the only cabin with its own bathroom. Chillowee Cabin is also on the larger side with a full kitchen, living space, queen bed, and bathroom. The leather chair and couch were especially comfortable and our friend said they slept great. The firepit for this cabin is located behind the shed of firewood which creates a great space for a private fire. Chillowee is close to campsite 3 where we were, which made it easy to visit throughout the weekend.
Campsite 1 is a huge, private tent site that we would have loved if that’s how we camped. The only negative to that site or site 4 is the closer proximity to the road outside of the campground. Campsite 13 is a fan favorite because of the cover porch. Campsites 18 and 20 back up to the train tracks, so you have a personal viewpoint of it coming by.
Hiwassee Scenic State Park
Hiwassee Scenic State Park is within walking distance to Fireside Outpost, but we drove over there with the intention of driving through Gee Creek Campground as well. We walked through the visitors center to purchase our state park sticker and picked up a Tennessee State Park passport to collect stamps in. There is a hiking trail to the river from the visitors center, but we drove through the campground, parked at the boat ramp, and walked the story book trail.
At the boat ramp we saw families fishing and another family getting ready to put a large raft and paddle boards into the river. The water was flowing fast and looked cold. The campground offers 47 campsites, but none of them have utility hookups. We did see two or three small trailers in there boondocking. Between the campground and the group camping location there were huge oak trees that the kids enjoyed climbing and a great area to have a picnic. We were disappointed that the road that runs along the river was closed for construction for the next couple of months.
Gee Creek Falls Trail
The state park has a short hike throughout the park, but we were looking for something longer and more to see. Kim recommended Gee Creek Falls Trail about a ten-minute drive from the campground. The drive to the campground is sketch and we even stopped where the road turned to gravel and dirt because we were unsure if we should go further. There’s an interesting barn/house and a large bump in the road before it turns to dirt and gravel. There was then a huge hole in the road filled with water. At the end of the road there’s about ten parking spots at the trailhead.
The trail itself is about 2.6 miles in and out, but the waterfall itself is closer. At the end of our hike we had gone about 1.9 miles. The trail is covered in rocks and makes for an uneven hike. Throughout much of the hike you are along the water and there are several smaller waterfalls to enjoy. About 20 ft. from the waterfall the trail cuts into the side of a rock making it nearly impossible for a dog who is nine years old and 100 pounds to delete easily cross. We were on our hands and knees getting around the side of the rock. Heather stayed back with Summit and our three-year-old. The waterfall was worth seeing and at the bottom there’s a great swimming hole if you are camping in warmer months.
Steel Wheel Diner
Friday evening we drove over to the Steel Wheel for dinner. The local diner had a great atmosphere, friendly employees, and good food. Our party enjoyed the jalapeño poppers, pretzel bites, burgers, bbq pork, and milkshakes. On the back side of the diner is plenty of outdoor seating, a fire pit, and metal playground equipment. Denise, our server, was fantastic and we would recommend this restaurant if visiting.
We chose this campground because of the proximity between Knoxville, Tennessee where our friends are from and Kennesaw, GA where we live. In all of my research and knowledge of campgrounds, I wasn’t even the one to find Fireside Outpost—our friend from Knoxville found it. We have used the term “hidden gem” before, but this place is truly the definition of that. Kim has left the marketing of the campground to word of mouth and like others, we have great things to share. Heather mentioned it moved to the top of her list for favorite campgrounds and campsites.
