Henry Horton State Park

Great campground. It was our first camping trip as a family with a 2.5 year old. Had a great time. They actually had activities for kids throughout the day. On another review somebody mentioned the playground at the camping area was old but it is replaced and brand new and our son didn’t want to leave it. Great trails and the Duck River is right there as well. Will definitely go back.

Country style buffett or menu. Very fresh. Nice quiet atmosphere. Server was very nice and attentive. Didn’t expect it to be nice as it is.

My husband and I did a quick one night-​er here to get our feet wet for camping season, what a cute little park. I made a reservation online for Saturday night only, which was nice, some places require two night stays when you make reservations. We stayed in the last spot #9 in the primitive area ($ 8/​night), this put us a little far from the bathrooms, but the 10 minute stroll over to them wasn’t a problem at all. The primitive tent spots are nice and wooded, very pretty. They seem a little close together, but not too much. The group next to us was a no show so it felt pretty private. I am not sure we would stay in the tent spot on the end again, we had a raccoon that kept sneaking up to the site, sending the dogs into a frenzy each time. We eventually found some rocks to throw it’s way and it finally left us alone. We put ALL food and even the cooler in the car to be safe. As others have mentioned there was some traffic that drove past; campers, a tractor, and grounds keeper four wheeler’s as well. It took a way from the feeling of seclusion a little, but it wasn’t that bad. The tent site was nice and large, plenty of room for our dogs to play and to set up… well.camp. The trails were nicely marked once you got on them, but the trail heads were very informal. Didn’t really have a map and bathroom set up that is common at other parks. They were nice and easy, and the one that went along the river was pretty, we worked our way down to the river bank a couple times so the pups could cool off and swim. It was a nice river, a little muddy, but very calm. We are hoping to come back with our canoe one day and take a nice canoe trip on it. One slightly confusing part is the area where the Inn and office are are separate from where all the tent and RV camping are. There is a store on the tent and RV camping side that sells firewood, snacks, and camping necessities. The firewood, is not bundled though, it’s $ 1/​log. Seems a little steep, we bought 15 and it burned very slow, so it was plenty for the night, and the proceeds go to reconstructing the «local mill». This is not the most spectacular park with grand scenery, but, it’s pretty and cute, and for being a hop and skip down Nolensville Rd for us, I am sure we will be back for little quickie camping trips, we enjoyed our stay.

I recently went camping with some friends for two nights using one of their primitive campsites.
PROS
–The campsite was easy to find and easy to get to. You can easily drive right up to your spot. This however is a double-​edged sword which I will get into later.
–Gas stations and grocery stores are really close in case you need to go on a firewood or food run.
–The campsite itself was very clean.
–The campsite had a nice picnic table, fire pit with built-​in grill, and a nice spot to setup a tent.
–The bathrooms and showers near the main office were super clean and pretty much bug-​free.
–There is good Wi-​Fi near the main office.
–Dumpsters are easy accessible to throw away your trash.
–You can book your campsite online.
–Prices are cheap.
–It seemed like a very safe place and also kid friendly.
–Lots of tree cover around the primitive campsites which kept out a lot of the rain.
CONS
–Being that your campsite is so easy to drive up to and find, you will get TONS of car traffic. The campsite is right next to a road that dead ends, but TONS of cars would drive pass our campsite on a constant basis. Some cars were just visitors looking around and others were park rangers and the campsite staff. When the park rangers and campsite staff would drive by it seemed like they would purposely drive slow and snoop around to see what you were up too. At night they would spotlight our campsite with their bright headlights being nosy. Not cool. We even had cars driving by as late as 1:30 AM. This kills the whole camping experience. We chose to book one of the primitive campsites for more privacy, but there was hardly any. Other than the random cars driving by, the campsite was quite.
–The bathrooms were super clean, however they had motion detectors everywhere for turning the lights off and on. Many times I had to exit the shower to set off the motion detectors because the lights went out on me. This seems like a stupid complaint, but it got really annoying after awhile.
WILL I GO BACK?
–Maybe, but I will research other places first to find something with better privacy not so close to a high traffic road.

This review is for camping at a primitive campsite at the Henry Horton State Park.
The good:
* You’re able to reserve a campsite ahead of time. I did a two night reservation over the phone.
* Each campsite has a dedicated area to set up your rent that’s surrounded by wooden logs. These area are well placed and your tent won’t get submerged even during heavy rain. It rained pretty much the whole time we were there and our tent was fine.
* They have a fire pit with a grill at each site.
* It’s easy to access Hwy. 11 from the park, so it’s quick to do a supply/​food run if you need it. We had to run out and get some firewood during our stay. We bought some at a gas station and then a grocery store nearby. There were signs saying that you could buy firewood at the park itself, but we weren’t sure where.
* The bathrooms are great! Very clean, very nice, and very green. I was very surprised at how energy/​water efficient they were. Bring your own toilet paper though! The stuff they have is hair thin :(
* Hiking trails near the campsite
* Many fun, outdoorsy activities near the park.
* The campsites have a lot of foliage over them so you can still have a fire even during a mild rain. It rained both nights we stayed, but we were able to start and keep a fire going despite that.
* The park is very pretty.
* Sites have a pole for hanging up your trash bag.
* Each site has ample parking space.
* The sites are a good distance from each other. We felt pretty well secluded from the other campers.
* Dumpster available to dispose of your trash.
* There is a river nearby. Great opportunity for canoeing, swimming, and other water related activities.
The bad:
* Dogs are welcome but have to be on a leash at all times. Kind of defeats the purpose of bringing the pooch along in the first place :(
* Primitive campsites are on a dead end street, yet there was A LOT of traffic all day long. Park rangers and campground supervisors drove by very slowly several times, clearly staring at our sites and being snoopy. It was very annoying at night because they would blind us with their headlights forever, while slowly creeping past our camp. All throughout the day, random vehicles (who clearly weren’t connected to park services) would drive down the road, turn around and drive off. This kept happening as late as 1:30AM! It was very strange and made it hard to sleep. Not really sure why there was so much traffic, but that is by far the biggest complaint I have.
* There are posted signs stating that no alcoholic beverages are allowed at the site, although no one actually checked our camp. The signs also said that no loud music is allowed, but didn’t mention fireworks.
The verdict:
Overall this is a clear winner, save all the sketchy vehicle traffic. I will definitely be going back and would highly recommend this to both noob and seasoned campers.

This is my first time at Henry Horton — and first time camping in 10+ years — so feel free to take this as an «amateur» review.
Henry Horton was all I expected it to be. Very safe, easily navigable, great trails that spanned enough terrain to make it interesting, a beautiful river to enjoy, and clean grounds. I honestly couldn’t have been a happier camper! (Yes, pun intended.)

I use to travel to Chapel Hill to visit family as a kid. I went back recently and wasn’t disappointed. Cool park just like I remember. Nice staff also.

We were traveling in a rented RV and stayed at this lovely state park in late June of this year. I’d had very limited experience staying overnight in state parks and was still adjusting to the whole RV thing (with three rambunctious children).
The park itself was beautiful. Wooded with very slight hills, good roads, good signage. We found an open campsite and backed in the RV, hooked it up, and then waited for the park ranger (not positive that he’s called that, but it sounds credible). He came along within an hour or so and very pleasant checking us in. The bathrooms were immaculate and the shower area was very nice (large and with plenty of hot water).
There were some handicap-​accessible sites right by the bathroom, too.