This creek was a short walk from where we were camping in the Cherokee National Forest. It was beautiful! And COLD!! Cherokee has sites all through it where you can camp. You don’t have to be in a campground in most of the national forests in the US. It’s call dispersed camping. Some sites are right off the road and some are a good hike through the forest. If you’ve never done dispersed or boondock camping, a national forest is a great place to start! Give it a try. You might just be surprised at how much you love it!
Another shot of “the falls” as our boys called them. 
They love to be near the water. It’s just good for the soul. They definitely get that from me. I need water nearby or I’m restless. Ocean, lake or stream. The size doesn’t matter.
It was so relaxing sitting on a log by the water. You can imagine the sound of the water flowing, the birds calling and all of the insect life. There was even a fish swimming in the water that we watched for awhile. Then we went on a garbage cleanup hike. We always do a cleanup hike when we go camping. Leave No Trace.
08/27/2013 at 9:18 pm
Looks like a wonderful place to visit. We used to camp in the Mt Hood National Forest, just about an hour away from our home. It’s just beautiful there too, I loved to be near the water and listen to it flow by.
08/28/2013 at 6:51 am
Water is just so relaxing! I bet that was a great spot for camping. We were going to go camping this weekend for the holiday, but we decided to go visiting instead. There will still be water involved.
It’s sailing time!
08/28/2013 at 9:05 am
Looks like my kind of place! We’ve camped like that in Colorado. Only problem we had was that fires weren’t allowed. Happy WW!
08/28/2013 at 9:10 am
Oh, I bet that got cold at night! Leaves a bit to be desired in the cooking department, too.
Happy WW!
08/28/2013 at 11:03 am
Oh my gosh this looks amazing! i would love to just sit there and listen to the water just BE….beautiful pictures.
08/28/2013 at 1:00 pm
Yes! I could sit by the water all day long. Thanks so much.
08/28/2013 at 12:27 pm
We used to camp like that as kids. My uncle always found the most amazing spots.
Great pics – I just want to jump right in the water … or maybe just dip my toes
08/28/2013 at 12:59 pm
Toes for sure! That water was coooold. LOL!
08/29/2013 at 9:18 pm
We live about 2 hours away from Cherokee National Forest (I live in Western NC). I never thought about going camping there but I think we need too! Beautiful pictures!!
08/30/2013 at 8:22 am
Definitely do! There’s great hiking and enough destinations there to keep the kids entertained all weekend. We looked around a fire tower, climbed some rocks by the water, identified plants, cleaned up some areas, etc. We’ve camped there twice and had a ball both times!
09/04/2013 at 4:38 am
Those photos are so beautiful. I agree about being near water — there’s something that calls me.
I was just reading about dispersed camping — so cool! I’d love to try it sometime.
09/04/2013 at 9:50 am
We LOVE dispersed camping. You are much more reliant on your skills and not the developer of the campground. We spend a lot of time outdoors and we want our boys to really know what they’re doing. You should give it a try! A national forest is a great place to start because it’s protected.