RV Park Review: Jellystone Park Nashville

We always promise to be transparent on our blog and share the good, the bad and the ugly. Well, you’re going to get all three in this review. If you’ve read our other reviews, you’ll know we do our best to tell it just like it is, and that’s exactly what you’re about to read.

We had never been to a Jellystone Park before. But we’d heard good things from fellow RVers with kids, so we were hopeful as we booked our stay at Jellystone Park Nashville for Spring Break 2015. We even found a 50% off coupon by joining their text club, so we went the whole nine yards and booked a premium site.

We ended up having a great time with the boys in the Nashville area. Unfortunately, that had very little to do with the park itself.

General RV Park Information: Jellystone Park Nashville

• GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 36.231369 Longitude: -86.705582
• Physical Address: 2572 Music Valley Dr. Nashville, TN 37214
• Phone Number for Reservations: (615) 889-4225
• Rate as of April 4, 2015: Starting at $50 per night for 30AMP full hook up site, $55 per night for 50AMP full hook up site.
• Weekly Rate: Starting at $300 for 30AMP full hook up site, $330 for 50AMP full hook up site.
• Monthly Rate: Not listed on their website or brochures, other than to call for pricing and availability.
• Military Discount: Active and retired Military get 15% off.
• Other Discounts: AARP, Seniors (60+), and Club Yogi Rewards Members get 10% off. FMCA get 15% off. 
• Additional Information: Listed price for premium site on their website for November 1, 2014 – April 30, 2015 is $390. (Premium Site is defined as 50AMP service with full hookups and separate vehicle parking beside campsite.)

RV Site Details: Jellystone Park Nashville

• Site Pad Material: Red gravel and dirt mix. Not level.
• Water: Yes, included with daily rate
• Electricity: Yes, included with daily rate
• Sewer: Yes
• Laundry: Yes
• Bathhouse: Yes
• Cable TV: Yes
• Wi-fi: Yes. They gave us two tickets to use their Wi-fi for free. It was an unreliable signal, however.
• Dump Station: Yes
• Propane: Yes
• Pull Through: Yes
• Back In: No
• Big Rig Friendly: Yes
• Pet Friendly: Yes
• Additional Information: All sites are pull-through and offer a picnic table and fire ring upon request. Most of the sites we saw were not level, so if you come to Jellystone Park Nashville, bring some blocks. They also have a little playground, outdoor swimming pool, community center, a really cute ice cream shop and decent sized store.

Particulars of Our Stay: Jellystone Park Nashville

• Dates of our Stay: April 4-11, 2015
• Site Number: #306
• Cellular Coverage: Full bars LTE on AT&T, full bars LTE on Verizon.
• Most Memorable Moment: A year ago near Chattanooga, the little boys found a stick at Chester Frost Park. They dubbed it “The Challenge Stick” and we’ve kept it in the basement of our RV. We took it out and decided to make it into a walking stick. It’s still a work in progress, but the work began at Jellystone Park Nashville. It’s an awesome thing to make something with your children, and this was just immeasurably special to me.

• Other Awesome Moments: The “Swing Olympics” took place on the little playground at Jellystone Park Nashville. The little boys would swing and jump off the swing trying to increase their distance in the sand. We’d draw lines in the sand where their back foot landed. The sound of their laughter echoes in my mind, and their smiles are emblazoned on my heart.
• Least Fun Moment: We had a leak from our potable water hose fitting where it connected to the coach. So we had to replace the potable water hoses and fittings. It wasn’t a fun project, but at least I got to do it with the boys which made it special. Plus, Camping World is all of 0.3 miles away. We replaced the brass elbow, quick connect fittings and the hose. No more leaks, at least for now.

• 

  Fun People We Met: We were fortunate to park right next to Matt and Sara Janssen and their three lovely daughters. Though our stays only overlapped a day and a half, they were a friendly family that loves to hula hoop and make campfires, and we really enjoyed our time together. They’ve been full timing for quite a few years, evident by their states map which is practically full. Both Brittany and I wish they had been there for the week with us!

Personal Reflections on Our Stay at Jellystone Park Nashville

It was a short drive to Nashville from Memphis. When we were pulling up to Jellystone Park Nashville, we were pretty excited.

We were hopeful for two things. First, to have a great week with the boys and second to enjoy this special week at a great park.

Well, we got one of out of the two. We had a great week with the boys.

Jellystone Park Nashville has won multiple awards throughout the years, including an Excellence Award, Pinnacle Club Award and Outstanding Customer Service Award. Not sure how old these awards are that are touted on their website. But from our experience, I’m guessing they aren’t recent.

Pulling into the driveway, we got our first clue. There’s uneven pavement as you make the turn onto the main driveway and it’s pretty bad. While we were at the park, I actually heard other campers talking about it. It’s significant enough to be treated like a speed bump, but there are no signs and it happens while in the middle of a turn. Fifth wheelers and travel trailer users specifically be advised.

Check-in Process

When we checked in, the lady at the front desk was kind and took care of our check-in process.

However, right after we arrived, she received a phone call from someone else. She answered and asked them politely if they’d wait for a few moments while she finished up with a customer. Sounds good, right? But then she put the receiver of the phone down on the table without hitting any hold button. Our check-in process took at least 8 minutes, maybe closer to 10. All the while, the poor phone customer could hear everything going on and sat on “hold” for 8-10 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely approve of a park taking care of the customer that is in front of them. But maybe actually put the customer on hold, or take a number, or let it go to voicemail? It may sound picky, but I just wouldn’t have wanted to be that person on the phone. Would you?

We had a 50% off coupon which we got from joining their text club. Somehow we still ended up paying $257 for the week. Which is confusing because the listed price for a premium site is $390/week. We did have one “extra” child than what the site allows. Maybe that was the difference? It was never explained to us.

As we were leaving, the lady at the front desk told us that since we were in a premium spot, we’d have our own separate parking on-site, but she wasn’t sure which spot it was. She said we could figure it out when we got there. You’d think the front desk would know their park. Maybe she was new? To her credit, she seemed nice enough, we were just unimpressed with the check-in process at an “award winning” park.

Our Premium Site

Leaving the check-in area, we pulled into our “premium site.”

Because of the separate parking for the vehicle, premium sites appear much wider. But they really aren’t much wider than the non-premium sites.

We did have a picnic table, fire ring and a little charcoal BBQ grill stand. The picnic table was dirty but okay, the fire ring had trash in it and the charcoal grill was rusted.

So I was getting ready to set up, but before I started, I had to move some fairly large 3-inch diameter tree branches out of our “premium parking” area for our Jeep before Brittany could park. The branches were literally sitting right in the middle of our parking area.

As far as the site pad itself, it had rained recently and the site was muddy and not level. The site pad was mostly covered by red gravel, but there were large areas of dirt toward the back of the site pad that were not covered at all and were just mud pits with tire tracks from previous RVs.

The power pedestal and sewer connection were toward the rear of the site while the water connection was toward the middle of the site. When I went to connect our power cable, I lifted up the metal cover and it fell off onto the ground. It was completely unattached.

The sewer hole was a standard concrete slab with a hole. But when I went to unscrew the cap, the whole plastic fitting came right up out of the hole. It wasn’t affixed at all.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We’ve stayed at some parks where the maintenance was non-existent. We don’t mind things being rustic or unimproved. Sometimes we actually like it. But when you are at a “premium site” in an “award winning” park, you expect things to be a little bit more taken care of. In short, we were pretty disappointed with the site.

Amenities We Saw

Jellystone Park Nashville had a nice sized outdoor pool. It wasn’t open yet; we heard it opens on Memorial Day. I’m not really sure what they were doing with their pool chairs, but maybe they were cleaning them? Their pool chairs were sitting in the pool. Again, not what you would expect from an award winning RV park.

I didn’t get a photo of the bathhouses, but they do have two of them on the premises. They were very clean and the water pressure was strong. They also have a laundry facility. We have our own laundry, so we didn’t use this facility.

The playground has soft sand as a base. It features a slightly weathered playscape, four regular swings, two toddler swings, a set of rings, a tether ball and a merry-go-round. We enjoyed playing on the swings as mentioned above, but sadly the little boys said the merry-go-round didn’t really work.

Things to Do in the Nashville Area

There are plenty of things to do in Nashville and the surrounding area. Here are a few we recommend.

• Take a drive on the northern end of the Natchez Trace Parkway and visit the gravesite of Meriwether Lewis. While in the area, stop at Leiper’s Fork and eat at Puckett’s Grocery.
• Visit the Nashville Zoo. It was our first time petting kangaroos, and the jungle gym is the size of a small city.
• Take a drive to Franklin, TN and walk around the historic district which is lined with shops and eateries.
• Take a walk through Centennial Park and see a scale replica of the Parthenon. The flower garden at the park was in brilliant bloom during our visit.
• Enjoy the famous food and biscuits at Loveless Cafe.
• Walk downtown and take in the sights and sounds of Music Row.
• Stop by the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and walk through it. You’ve got to do this at least once in your life. It’s right down the street from Jellystone Park.

Final Thoughts on Jellystone Park Nashville

First thing I have to mention is location. Jellystone Park Nashville is in a fantastic location for visiting Nashville. The park is located close to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Camping World of Nashville and Opry Mills Mall.

Unfortunately, the park fell far short of our expectations for such an acclaimed park. Unless some vast improvements were made, we wouldn’t stay there again.

There are two other parks practically adjacent to this one: Two Rivers Campground and KOA Nashville. We haven’t stayed at either of these, but would check them out next time instead.

Also note that there were huge, and I mean huge, potholes on the exit driveway leaving Jellystone Park Nashville. They were big enough to seriously damage an axle.

I’m sad that this was our first experience at a Jellystone Park. They have a massive network in the United States and even some parks in Canada. Not sure it will be our last experience with the brand, but we’ll surely do some research and read recent reviews before booking anything.

Do you have anything to add? Have you been to a Jellystone Park? Maybe you have a question. We love comments, so please don’t hesitate! 

-E