WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — The coronavirus pandemic has families eager to get away but they want to do it safely. Instead of hopping on a plane, many have turned to camping and cabins.
For Wilson County's Cedars of Lebanon State Park, that means more visitors and their cabins being booked at nearly full capacity every week.
"I suppose its people wanting to get out during the pandemic," park manager Jeff Buchanan said. "We offer an open area for them to exercise in and plenty of room for them to spread out here."
Buchanan says this doesn't surprise him at all.
"We have a lot of trails and a lot of miles on those trails and good open places for people to spread out and spend time with family here so they are taking advantage of it," Buchanan said.
And it's not just experienced campers taking advantage of the outdoors.
"Now we're getting a lot of first-timers from the pandemic which is a silver lining for parks," Buchanan said.
A popular trend Buchanan is also seeing is "staycations." This means they're not only getting out-of-state folks but most campers are from nearby.
All Tennessee State Parks, and most park facilities, have reopened. Keep in mind they occasionally will have to limit visitation if there are too many people and the parking lot is full.
