Fans of the game Oregon Trail and others who want a unique glamping experience can get a taste of pioneer life with a stay at Welcome Valley Village, which recently added three Conestoga covered wagons to its accommodations. Located on 17 wooded acres near Cherokee National Forest and the small town of Benton, Tennessee, Welcome Valley Village boasts more than 900 feet of waterfront property on the Ocoee River.
"I wanted to achieve a camping experience that provided as many creature comforts as possible, so that one's overriding characteristic to the experience was not one of discomfort but one of comfort," says Chattanooga resident Frank May, who recently purchased the property. "If you go out into the woods and you go tent camping, part of the story that you're talking about for the next 20 years is how the bear took your food or you couldn't sleep the entire night or you were shivering and spooning with someone insignificant. I wanted to create a magical environment."
He envisions the wagons as ideal for an immersive experience for multiple families or a get-together with old friends from college who also have kids.
The village's three wagons surround a fire pit, and each wagon has a separate bathroom with its own shower, toilet and sink within a communal bathhouse. Inside each wagon is a king-size bed, two twin beds and a sink.
When they aren't sleeping like a pioneer or roasting marshmallows over a crackling fire, guests have access to a riverside pavilion and dock for tubing, swimming and fishing on the Ocoee River. Tubers can start at Parksville Lake and float the calm waters downstream directly to the resort dock, which takes about an hour and 20 minutes, May says.
"It's fast-moving but really lovely and quite peaceful," says Autumn Adams, director of business development, of the portion of the Ocoee that runs through the resort.
Other options for outdoor activities on site at the rustic resort include a basketball court and a small meadow perfect for Frisbee and football, or take your pick of the hammocks, swings and chairs for a relaxing afternoon in the creekside sitting area.
"It's just an incredibly picturesque place that's highly cultivated," May says of Welcome Valley Village. "You see hints of human manipulation, but you also see nature is the architect of the place."
If glamping in a wagon seems a bit too rustic, the village also has five log cabins for rent.
Upriver, guests can raft or paddle the Ocoee's more turbulent stretch, featuring 5 miles of world-class rapids. For adventurers who are not quite ready for that level of challenge, the Hiawassee is a milder option for newbie river rats that is a close drive away.
Visitors also come to hike, fly fish, mountain bike, horseback ride, zipline or just to drive around and take in the views.
"My goal, and kind of the heart of what I do in business, is to deliver unique experiences, to make magical memories that build relationships between people that are durable and add to the character of life," says May, who also owns The Great Backyard Place (formerly The Pool Place) near Northgate Mall, the tiny cabin resort Wauhatchie Woodlands at the foot of Lookout Mountain, along with a piece of property in Pisgah National Forest he plans to turn into another resort. The three resorts are collectively known as Timberroot Rustic Retreats. "In a world that seems to be more difficult to inhabit with less security, less peace of mind and focus on the daily, providing places of shelter and peace for people to connect is a very meaningful antidote to much of what's going on."