A Hop, Skip, and a Jump

 

Arley, AL.       High: 72        Low: 68.         Site: C-28

And we went from Middlebury, IN to the Indy KOA, to the Louisville South KOA to Texas T Campground in Tennessee to Hidden Cove Thousand Trails RV Resort in Arley, AL.

We are here for six nights..it's free with our Thousand Trails membership. What a nice park! It is on Smith Lake, which seems be a very big lake. They have river sites as well as wooded and shady sites. They have an A, B and C section, many pull throughs which we like, the "C" section is the newest. It's all gravel. Before you say, "UGH! Not for us!" on the gravel parking lot option, there ARE some pros along with the usual "it's just like a parking lot" con. We came from a grassy, partly gravel/field site at a Thousand Trails Park in Ohio, that as soon as the rains came, it turned into one big muddy, messy field that you had to worry about possibly getting stuck if it continued to rain, which is did, for four straight days. (We didn't get stuck.) Gravel sites parking lot style are usually pretty level. These are in some sites, and others are not. (It's a very hilly area in Alabama).

So here's more about Hidden Cove....The sites are HUGE in the "C" section...Really wide and really long...plenty of room for a BIG rig and the tow vehicle. On one side of us is the packed dirt strip, on the other side is rose bushes, (the landscaping is new). No trees on sites in the new section, the older sections have pretty shaded areas and trees. The pool looks new, but is closed due to Covid. They are setting up a disc golf course! Nine holes, we have our discs on board, but the course is not finished yet.

The laundry facilities are new in the "C" section, two washers, two dryers. VERY inexpensive for a campground--1.25 to wash, 1.00 to dry. The bathrooms are new and pretty. There is a beautiful observation deck overlooking the lake and there are stone cliffs to the sides of that deck that make the scenery interesting.

There's a HUGE boat ramp, and a floating dock for docking pontoon boats or fishing boats if you have one.

The cons? Arley is a town of about 500 people. You have to drive quite a ways for well known stores and shopping, and it was a little tricky coming through county back roads to get to the park. Arley has a small town grocery, a Dollar General and not much else. If you love small towns and very little traffic, this is the place for you! The nearest bigger town is Jasper, AL to find a Walmart, Harbor Freight, HOBBY LOBBY (private joke, haha) and other chain stores and restaurants. Jasper is about 25miles away. Eldo says, Sparky has gone four days and hasn't asked to go to the Hobby Lobby yet. That's a record.) Haha.

Another con, which is a common problem at Thousand Trails parks, is the best sites are taken by seasonal people. When you come into a Thousand Trails park, you usually pick out your own site by driving around and finding your own. Not always easy to do when towing a 41 foot rig behind your truck. We wished we could have had one of these sites on the lake side, but they were all taken by seasonal rentals.

BUT---the management here at this park is super friendly and caring, and continually striving to add amenities and features to the park. It's a hidden gem that's for sure, in the Thousand Trails system. We love it and plan to come back again.  See you soon, a little further south in Alabama, back to the park (Gunther Hill COE park) where our original awnings met their doom! But we're not worried....are we, Eldo?

Thanks for reading.....