Alabama’s Lake Guntersville (pronounced by the “locals” as “gunnersville” with a silent T) State Park was the location of the 2019 RV Entrepreneurs (RVE) Summit. The RVE Summit itself was great to learn from other full-timers, who are out on the road because they made decisions to leave an office, to sell their homes and go out on actually not so scary road full-time in their RV. What was even more beneficial was connecting with these people. There was a formal program track of sessions, but also attendee-led sessions including our two favorites including the 4×4 offroading and the disc golf mentorship. The disc golf was a great opportunity for us to learn the sport, so when we are back in River Falls at Hoffman Park we will be able to enjoy the course there.

 

Lake Guntersville State Park

The park is located about 10 miles North of Guntersville, Alabama, on the East side of the Tennesse River. The 1939 Tennesse Valley Authority built 4000-foot dam creates the 67,900 acre Lake Guntersville on which the state park sits. The state park has many amenities including the campground, cabins, hiking trails, zip-line course, golf course and a lodge with a restaurant, lodging, pool, bar, and conference facilities. The lodge is 498′ above the campground, which is at the lake level, and at the lodge, you can get some great vista shots of the beautiful sunset. The restaurant has many specials throughout the week that are a great value, great food at a great price. There are numerous trails throughout the park, with the 25 cent purchase of a map at the lodge available.

The campground is big rig friendly, there are plenty of spots that you can get into without issues. The pull through long term spaces in section B are a bit tight with each being on top of your neighbor’s space. Our bedroom slide out was over the fire pit of our neighbor, fortunately, they didn’t have a hankering for smores! We had full hookups, but only with 30-amp service. Some of the sites do have full hookups with 50 amp service. They indicated at reservation time that the section B is where they try to keep those that are long term reservations. The areas down closer to the lake are more spacious between each of the sites, but seem to be reserved for short term reservations only.

Depending on your driving skill you may or may not want to choose this campground. The locals call this 500-foot “mound” a mountain, and the roads leading up to it are like those of some mountain roads. There are some very tight corners and some steep grades in and out of the park area on some very well paved and maintained roads. Many of the roads though do have steep shoulders, so take it slow making your way in. Make sure to follow the signs from the park entrance to the campground, do not go to the lodge first and go only to the campground. There is a “country store” at the campground that you will check into at the lake level. The lodge road has a 15% grade for a short distance, it even gives the Jeep something to work up.

RV Entrepreneur Summit 2019

Our reason for being at Lake Guntersville State Park was to attend RV Entrepreneur Summit or RVE2019. This just happened to be in the right place at the right time for our spring Northbound ascent from Florida to Wisconsin. The RVE2019 Summit was focused on entrepreneurs that may want to fulltime in their RV and make a living at what they are doing. Over 350 people this year came together with the like minds of wanting to be free in their RV to roam but still bringing in money to fund the lifestyle. We all took over much of the campground for the week and some for two or more weeks. This gave us a chance to make contacts with other full-timers that we would not have otherwise. We made lifetime memories and friends who offroad in their 4×4 vehicles. We made contact with new friends who are just 15 miles from our old home in Wisconsin, that have similar hobbies and backgrounds. We enjoyed the sessions, learning more about blogging, social media, running a business and making contacts.

You can sign up to be alerted about RVE2020 on their https://therventrepreneur.com/ website. You can also purchase access to the RVE2019 videos or watch RVE2018 and RVE2017 videos for free on their website.

Campground	Lake Guntersville State Park: Campground 24 State Campground Rd, Guntersville, AL 35976 The campground is located at water level, the lodge is located 500 feet above the campground. If you have to go to the lodge with the RV then make sure to do so from the South. The North route from the campground to the Lodge has a very steep grade. www.alapark.com/lake-guntersville-state-park
Nights Stayed	15: March 16-29, 2019
Parking Site	Site B11 W/E/S - but only 30 amp service, the site was on the corner, very cramped
Restaurants	The Lodge has a restaurant that has very good food, especially for the value. There is a seafood buffet on Friday evening, a regular buffet on Saturday and a brunch buffet on Sunday. There is a breakfast buffet each day. All are very reasonably priced, especially if you consider it is about 30 minutes to get into Guntersville.
Local News
Attractions	There are numerous trails for hiking, a beach next to the campground
WELS Churches
Remember for Next Time
AT&T Coverage	Down 42.94 Up 31.39 Ping 104.70 Jitter 51.71 Antenna No Boosted Yes Coverage at the lodge much worse, coverage at the campground is good.
Verizon Coverage	Down 6.02 Up 0.84 Ping 111.10 Jitter 14.53 Antenna No Boosted No Coverage at the lodge much worse, coverage at the campground is OK.
WiFi Coverage	Very limited, not useful
Anytime Fitness
Mail Services	The "Country Store" at the campground entry is very gracious at receiving packages. FedEx does not deliver to campsites but does deliver to the office. The office (Country Store) has very limited hours during the day, so you have to get there during the work day to get packages.