This past weekend, Mia and I camped at Bee Rock campground, which is on the Rockcastle River in the Daniel Boone National Forest.  We very nearly had the place to ourselves, which how I prefer my camping.  We set up on the walk-in side of the river, where all of the sites are tent-only.  The campers and RVs are forced to setup across the river.

We relaxed and enjoyed the weather, which was nearly perfect.  The cool evenings and nights made sitting around the campfire a pleasure, and Saturday was warm and sunny, but not hot.  Our menu worked well, including the new ham dinner recipe.  A keeper, to be sure.

The campground itself was nice, but not my favorite.  The tent side had only vault toilets (more than enough for me, but a place to wash you hands can be nice after a day or two).  The sites are very private, with plenty of space and foliage between them.  The area sees fairly heavy use, which is evident in the amount of erosion around the sites.  It’s probably been a while since any work has been done, and the stairs and trails leading to the sites show it.  But I’ll take privacy over stairs and toilets any day.

We set off looking for the Rockcastle Narrows trail (#401), which should have left from Cane Creek near the campground, and along with the Sheltowee Trace, formed a nice 6.5-mile loop.  I am fairly confident we found Cane Creek, but never saw an obvious crossing that would have led us further along the trail.  Without a detailed map of the area, I couldn’t be sure of anything, so we chose to turn back.  Still, the brief hike along the river was nice.

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend.  There isn’t a huge variety of trails leading from the campground, but it would be enough for a weekend if you can find them.  I’ll be sure to bring a better map next time.  The tent sites are very private and the area is quite beautiful, even with the water level well below normal.