“Basic free campground in Capitol Forest”
This wooded campground is nestled along Waddell Creek in Capitol Forest. The trails in the immediate vicinity are used primarily for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), making for some noise. There is an extensive network of ATV trails in the area. Mountain bikers tend to prefer Fall Creek camp. Middle Wadell Campground is operated by the DNR on state trust land. What that translates to is a FREE camping site with little frills. The camp spots are paved however and there are pit toilets among the 3 loops. Most sites are pull through. I have seen 30 ft 5th wheels in campspots there before, but those sites are few. Most sites can accomodate camp trailers up to about 27 feet no problem. One issue, though, is that most sites are narrow. Units with slideouts use some creative parking to accomodate the extra room. All sites have camp fire rings and picnic tables. Area is wooded, offers good privacy among other campsites. As of 6/11 there was no host at the campground. Sometimes there is a camphost. Although this campground is within an ORV area, there are many people who come to camp that don't use ORVs, mountain bikes, etc. Sites are first come, first served. During event weekends, it is best to come get a site at least the Thursday before. The day use area which is 1/4 mile down the road has a large paved parking lot. During event weekends when the campground is full, the DNR permits camping in the day use lot, but no campfires on the pavement. There is one campfire ring and picnic table in the SW corner of the lot.
Reviews of Middle Waddell Campground
7 people have reviewed this location
Ratings Summary
Cell Coverage
Verizon 4G/5G
Confirmed by 3 users | Last reported on July 10, 2023T-Mobile 5G
Confirmed by 1 users | Last reported on September 05, 2021Motorcycles and Quads, Nice pads for campers. Non flush toilets. Hiking, bike riding. Camp Host. Shooting not far away if you target practice. Have to find wood to burn no cutting in park.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 20
Site Number: 4
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
If you own an ATV, this is a great place, if noise bothers you, perhaps you should go elsewhere.
Weekends in the summer this campground is full, or near full. Lot's of noise as ATVs and motorcycles race up and down the roads, the trails, or just anywhere they can find. The trails are great for this, but stay on the trails, there are many deep holes in the wooded area by the trails.
Target practice nearby, if gunfire bothers you, don't come here. On week days it remains fairly quite, but the target practice goes on every day. When it gets dark, the campground is very quite, quite time is honored here. 10-8.
Wildlife is scarce here, but we did have a doe cross our campsite one day.
The campsites are large, room for multiple tents, and most sites are pull through paved, C9 was pretty level. Room for multiple vehicles. With our 30 ft RV, there was enough room for perhaps 4 cars. Fire pits in most sites, camp host sells wood, and you can gather wood, just no cutting. Table at each site. The sites are far apart and we'll defined with corral style fencing.
Bathrooms are basic, somewhat clean. Very busy.
No hookups, no trash pick up. Carry it in, carry it out. Many people burn the paper trash.
Trails for hiking, biking, or any non motorized use don't exist that I know of. So be aware of ATVs and riders be aware of hikers.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 10
Site Number: A4, C9
Large campsites, no dust and each one had fire pit & picnic table. All the sites have corral type fencing around each site. Now we know why. If they didn’t the dirt bikes would ride right thru the campsites. We are pretty tent campers, but it seems a good number of the campers there that week were not. Dogs were not tied up and wandered freely. This is a great spot if you ride ATVs or dirt bikes. Be alert of riders in the campground as the posted 5mph limit is not recognized by them. Mon- Wed are so nice & quiet, and all the noise starts Thursdays through the weekend. All in all, we really enjoyed it. The camp host sell firewood and they are very nice. They have several vault toilets, but were self contained & didn’t need them. No trash pick up, so pack it in, pack it out!
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: C1
Camped a night on Monday July 5th 2021.
Quite uncrowded, but then it was the day after the July4th holiday
Plenty of campsites, both for back-in and pull thru
Decent pit toilets
FREE with Discover Pass
Limited to 7 days in a year
Cell coverage (Verizon) only with WeBoost
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: A7
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 4G
Came in mid afternoon had spot open just before we arrived. Two trucks with camper tents on back, and tent with space. There’s a fire ring, pick-nick table, encircled by a fence and an enclosed Dana an within walking distance. Bring sanitizer !
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 7
Site Number: B2
Cell Coverage Rating
T-Mobile
I really like how spaced out the sites are at this campground. You have a lot of privacy. It's also close by to some pretty good mountain biking trails.
Lots of tall trees, but I found that the clearing at site B1 was just big enough for Starlink to work through. Pretty happy about that because cell service is not great here. Verizon kinda worked, but was very slow with barely a bar. Enabling my WeBoost got it useable with 1-2 bars, but it was still pretty slow.
It's free with a Discover Pass, but you're limited to 7 days a year.
Nightly Rate: $0.00
Days Stayed: 1
Site Number: -
Cell Coverage Rating
Verizon 5G
Free primitive campground with no hookups and no trash bins but the campsites are large, and lots of room for multiple tents plus a bathroom on site. Although most sites are gravel, some pull-through are paved and can accommodate at least 30 feet RVs.
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Middle Waddell Campground
Hours
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Parking
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Pets Allowed
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Restrooms
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Wifi
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Wheelchair Accessible
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Credit Cards Accepted
- Affiliation
- Other public land (TVA, DOD, county parks with campgrounds)
- Last Nightly Rate
- 0.0
- Longest Vehicle Length Reported
- 30.0
- Lowest Nightly Rate
- 0.0
- Max Stay
- 7
- Season End
- Nov.
- Season Start
- May
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Paved Sites
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Fifty Amp
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Full Hookup
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Rec Facilities
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Pull Through
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Tent Sites
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Dump Station
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Big Rigs
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Open Seasonally
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Age Restricted
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Boondock
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Cabin Sites
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Dispersed Sites
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Firewood
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Fulltime Residents
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Group Tent Sites
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Laundry
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Mobile Homes
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Permit Required
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Potable Water
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Propane
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Public Water
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Pull Through RV Sites
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Reservations
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Sewer Hookup
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Showers
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Standard Tent Sites
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Water Hookup
Campground, Restrooms
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