Frozen Head State Park

On our most recent camping trip back in the fall, we went to a new place, which we try to do every year on at least one camping trip. We visited Frozen Head State Park, just down I-40 in the bustling metropolis of Wartburg, TN. Yep, Wartburg. No joke.

We didn’t find out about it from a friend like we do some places—this was purely based on proximity, having a quirky name, and the fact that we had not been there before. Our plan was to do this park, then 2 weeks later go to another spot for our 11th anniversary camping trip, but unfortunately due to a family emergency, that trip had to be cancelled. So, in a way, this wound up being our “anniversary” camping trip.

We left Nashville on a Sunday morning and stayed until Tuesday afternoon, so it was a quick trip, but when we were only 2.5 hrs away from home, the short trips are ok. Frozen Head only has 20 sites for tent camping, so it was very small, but given when we were there, we were ok with it. The campgrounds had a great bath house with showers and hot water (Praise God!) so we were set on amenities. After setting up camp on Sunday mid-day, we had lunch and then started gathering wood for the evening campfire, which is always fun to do. That late in the season though, we were not that successful on wood gathering until we scored some wood left behind by campers that had left earlier in the day.

Over the course of the 2 full days we were there, we hiked a lot, read and relaxed a lot and had some great food, which we always have. Kristi made some superb camping pancakes, and as you will see in the photos she was caught flipping a pancake in a series of shots. She has skills . . .

Nights were spent maintaining our awesome campfires, before going to bed, or playing games inside the tent. We also got tons of entertainment out of some neighboring “tech-wheenie” campers who were like fish out of water there. We just sat back and enjoyed them having a lengthy discussion about how the sleeping arrangements were going to be inside the tent, only to follow it up with taking 45 minutes to make 2 hamburgers on the grill, with nothing but a tiny flashlight to see by. You just had to be there. Nothing like live entertainment that is FREE!

We would both recommend Frozen Head State Park to anyone wanting a quick get away, that will ensure a relatively small crowd to habitate with since there are only 20 sites. Word of warning though—the office there where you register is still operating like it is 1971, so bring cash or your checkbook for payment. They do not accept any form of plastic. Should you forget this little nugget of advice, you can make the quick drive into the rocking town of Wartburg like we did, and get some cash to come back to pay the nice people with.

So, check it out, do the hikes and enjoy the peace and quiet—and tech-wheenies—if you wind up as lucky as we were. Until our next camping trip THIS SPRING, if you’d like to see our photos from Frozen Head State Park, go here.