Belle Ridge Retreat - Monterey, Tennessee
Set on the beautiful Cumberland Plateau, halfway between Nashville and Knoxville, you will find the small town of Monterey, Tennessee. Monterey is home to a new family owned campground named, Belle Ridge Retreat. I found this campground while searching on RVParkReviews website. At the time, the campground only had 2 reviews, but they were both great reviews. So, we decided to take a chance and book two sites, one for our motorhome and one for my parents, for Memorial Day weekend.........and oh what a good decision we made.
We arrived on Saturday morning, easily pulled in to the campground, and parked right outside the campground store to check-in. The campground store is an old refurbished building, original to the property. I loved the feel and character of the building. We were greeted by a nice young man as we entered the store. He introduced himself as Alec, welcomed us to the campground, asked for our id's and quickly got us checked-in, making sure we had our parking passes and campground map before sending us out to meet our escort.
We were escorted by way of Polaris to our site by another young man. He helped us get lined up with our hookups and asked if we needed anything else before leaving us at our site. Each site has full hook-ups of 30/50amp electric, city water, and sewer. The roads were paved and the sites were mostly level and gravel.
When making our reservations on the site, we were given the option to rent a Polaris during our stay. After looking at all the pictures of the trails on their site, we jumped at the chance to rent a 6 seater. The website offered a nice glimpse of what to expect on the hiking trails and UTV trails, but actually experiencing them in person was so much more than we expected.
After setting up camp, we headed out to see the swimming hole. Imagine the coolest natural swimming pool ever and THAT is the swimming hole at Belle Ridge. Oh what I would give to have this swimming hole in our backyard at home! They have made a sandy beach on one end and there is a rock ledge on the far end. Our teenagers spent hours jumping off the ledge and climbing out just to do it all over again. The beach area was great for the younger ones and the adults, too.
Our first hike was to Bridal Falls. It was a fun, moderate hike that our family ranging in age from 5 - 65 was able to do together. Shortly after entering the trail head you come across a beautiful pond.
The pond had been recently stocked with lots of fish, but the owners had not yet opened it to fishing. We were told it would be ready for catch and release fishing in August or September of 2018. I'd love to come back just to fish! There are some very large bass in this pond.
Directly in front of the pond, peeking through the trees, you'll catch a glimpse of the gorgeous East Tennessee mountains. A return visit in the fall with all the leaves changing color is a must!
As you continue on to Bridal Falls, you will wind your way around the rock bluffs, under the massive rock overhangs and over the big boulders, which the kids enjoyed doing.
Once we reached Bridal Falls only a few in our group ventured down the STEEP incline to the waterfall. They said the hike back up was much easier than the climb down. They loved sitting under the waterfall and relaxing.
The next morning we picked our UTV up at 8am from the campground store. There are lots of trails to ride on. You'll find a sample of the trail map here: Trail Map. Some of the trails are only accessible if you bring your own UTV. The staff at the campground store will be happy to mark the trails and answer any questions you may have.
To say the trails were fun is an understatement. The trails were steep, with hairpin turns, creek passes, and lots of mud (it had been raining the week we arrived). Having an experienced trail driver was a bonus and I was glad my brother was there to drive us around. We laughed until we cried and screamed like we were on a roller coaster.....well, at least the girls did.
You'll find Vanishing Falls while exploring on UTV trail #56. The picture does not do justice to how beautiful this waterfall actual is in person. There is a grill and picnic table there, so pack a lunch and sit awhile. The view is amazing!
Nearby, just off of trail #56, you find the Family Cave. The owner's have installed solar powered lights inside the cave. You'll find the switch just as you walk inside to the left on the cave wall. The switch is set on a timer. So, give it a turn and go on inside. This is a small cave, but very cool none the less.
We camped at Belle Ridge in our motorhome, but they do offer other options if you don't own a motorhome, travel trailer or fifth wheel. They also have 1 and 2 bedroom cabins for rent as well as primitive tent sites.
We didn't need the restrooms or showers since we had our own, but I did get a few pictures of the restrooms and bath house. They were very new, nice and clean.
We loved our Memorial Day weekend at Belle Ridge Retreat and plan to visit again in the near future. We hesitate to share this little gem because we know this new campground with its young, motivated owners will soon become very well known in and around East Tennessee. Please, save us a site!