Dale Hollow Dam Campground and Fish Hatchery

A few years ago, the kids loved to camp at Dale Hollow Dam.  We had been thinking of taking the kids on a camping trip to try out our new tent and brush up on our camping skills.  We haven't been tent camping in years.  We have a new Marmot Halo 6 that we just bought to take to Yellowstone this summer.  Some friends were going to Dale Hollow Dam for the weekend and invited us to come along.  I wasn't sure that I could get everything together in just a couple of days, but we decided to give it a try.  I thought we might have to leave one of the kids behind in order to get there with everything we thought we needed, but we finally managed to get it all packed.  Well, almost everything...we weren't able to take our paddleboards.  They'll have to go on another trip.

Inside the car.  Bikes were on the top and back.

We got to the campground and got the tent set up.  It went up quickly and easily.  The kids were ready to hit the bike trail.  If you've never been to Dale Hollow Dam campground, you are in for a treat.  There is a paved bike trail that winds along the river.  It's fairly level and only a mile or so long.  The kids love it.  I was going to ride along side Connor while pulling Julie in her trailer.  I quickly saw that he had a little trouble keeping his eyes on the rode as he almost rode of the steep embankment just a couple of campsites past ours while looking off at something.  I decided to walk beside him so that I could grab him before he crashed.  Michael took Julie and took off with the other two.  We made it without further incident.  It is a beautiful trail along the river.

The next morning, we walked over to the Dale Hollow National Fish Hatchery.  It's just a short walk from the top of the campground, or you can drive out of the campground to the parking lot.  It is interesting to walk through the hatchery and see the trout at various growth stages.  On this trip, our main concern was keeping Julie out of the water.  She was determined to get in, and we ended up carrying her out screaming.

If you enjoy fishing, there are several good fishing sites along the river and fish cleaning stations in the campground.  Also, depending on the generating schedule, you can canoe down the