After numerous requests from visitors for an overnight option at local parks, the town of Signal Mountain’s Parks Board is working to create a set of rules and regulations that will allow camping at two designated spots near Rainbow Lake if approved by the Town Council.
While the board has not yet determined the exact location and size of the proposed campsites, Joshua Rogers, chairman of the Parks Board, said one would be located at the foot of a trail near the lake and the other would be across the nearby creek. He is still examining the boundary line to see if the latter falls within town limits or Prentice Cooper State Forest, which will determine whether the town can regulate camping in that area or not.
“If it is [outside town limits], then the town does not have the authority to regulate that one, and people can continue to camp there without any issue,” Rogers said.
Right now, camping in the town’s parks is illegal, partially because there is no way to monitor visitors’ fire usage, Rogers said. One of the regulations the board is constructing will allow guests to create fires, but only in the designated fire ring within each campsite to ensure safety.
Other rules will limit campers to using only downed and dead wood for their fires, regulate the number of people who can be in a campsite at once and govern the amount of time each group is allowed to stay.