First light on South Holston Lake comes up over a long reach of TVA shoreline, and from the Little Oak peninsula the sites look straight out at the water. Kayaks go in before breakfast, someone takes the boat down to the ramp, and the kids head off on the wildlife trails through the woods behind the campground. It's a lake that rewards staying put, with the motorhome parked for the week, the air running through a sticky July afternoon, and everything you came for within a short walk.
Sullivan County's Observation Knob Park makes the easy base for the first nights, and the Forest Service's Little Oak, out in the Cherokee National Forest, takes the back half. When Bristol Motor Speedway has a race on, the calendar turns toward the track.
South Holston Lake, from Observation Knob to Little Oak
The first nights belong to Observation Knob Park, the county's campground on the lake. Its daily sites come with 30 amp electric and water hookups, which keeps the rig cool and the fridge cold while everyone's out on the water. Days from here go to paddling the shoreline or putting a boat in at one of the ramps the Forest Service lists on the lake.
Midweek, pack up and move out to Little Oak. The sites face the lake, the two interpretive wildlife trails wind through the woods nearby, and the evenings stretch out with the water going dark behind the trees. Before the drive home, use the campground's dump station so the rig goes back with empty tanks.
Little Oak books on Recreation.gov and opens from early April through early November, which makes the lake week a spring-to-fall trip. Reserve both campgrounds first and the motorhome after, because a lakeside site is the harder thing to land.
Roan Mountain State Park draws its share of rig searches from Johnson City, and the rhododendrons on the Appalachian Trail balds above it are worth the trip when they bloom. That mountain, the Cardens Bluff shore on Watauga Lake, and Warriors' Path State Park are written up as smaller-rig trips from Johnson City, a better fit for a couple than a family of five. Tennessee's other RV weeks, from the Smokies to the Middle Tennessee lakes, are on the Tennessee RV page.
Race weeks at Bristol, parked beside the bowl
On race weeks the Bristol Motor Speedway campgrounds turn into long rows of motorhomes on asphalt and gravel, close enough to the half-mile concrete bowl that the engines carry straight through the walls of the rig. Once camping opens the gates stay open around the clock, and the week runs from the camp chair to the grandstand and back.
The speedway's own sites are laid out for big rigs, with 30 and 50 amp power, water and sewer hookups, and sites up to 30 by 60 feet. Generators stay off in the hookup sections, so plan on running everything from the pedestal.
The camping calendar follows the races, and the speedway's 2027 schedule puts the Food City 500 in April, NHRA Thunder Valley in June and the Night Race in August. Every one of those lands inside the lake season, so race weeks compete with South Holston for the same motorhomes and trailers listed around Johnson City, and for the pads within reach of Bristol. Book the speedway site first and the rig second.