We arrived at the camp at 5:30 Fri. evening and at first glance I was thinking we'd driven into "Deliverance" trail ride. The camp is small and looked a little run down. We got checked in and unloaded the horses. After getting settled in, we found one of the owners and found out that they had only bought the place about four months ago and the previous owners had let it go downhill. The new owners have already done a lot of work and have many improvements on the way.

The first improvement was the bath house and I must say it gets an A+. The toilet stalls and the shower stalls are roomy enough for the most XL person. No banging your elbows on the walls when you wash your hair. It was very clean and it had a/c!

The covered stalls had a new roof but the dividers and gates still needed work. I believe that is on the agenda.

The food was fantastic! We had pot roast on Fri. Pan fried rabbit or fried chicken on Sat. Baby back ribs on Sun. For those who stayed to ride on Mon. they had a fish fry out on the trail!

The trails are not marked so you do have to ride with the group but it was great. We rode out across open fields up to high points where you could see for miles. Then we wandered into the woods and crossed many creeks (most creeks were dry due to an 8 week draught). At one point, after climbing up up up through the woods we came to a lake at the top of the hill. It was a beautiful spot to stop and have lunch.

Cherokee is now run by 17 extended family members who live there at the camp so they are working very hard to spruce it up. They were SO nice. Somebody stopped by at least once a day to see if we needed anything. Just leave your trash bag out in front of your camp and they will come pick it up. Didn't bring enough clean shirts? No problem, talk to the ladies in the chow hall and they'll wash a few for you. For four days, we felt like family. AND as we were preparing to clean our stalls before we left, they came by and told us not to worry with it, they would take care of it!! WOW - most places send you a bill if you leave the stall dirty.

One other thing...if you go, I suggest taking the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is a gorgeous, peaceful drive. Just be sure to fuel up first.

RIDE ON!

This was my first time trying to post pictures and I see that I put one of them up there twice (oops). The waterfall pic is the only one NOT taken at Cherokee. It was taken at a little roadside stop along the Natchez Trace Parkway.

RIDE ON!

Thanks for sharing all the info and pictures.  It's so nice to hear a place is getting improvements and has such nice scenery, makes me want to go camping there.