Camp Discovery Jaycee Foundation
Private
Camp Discovery is a therapeutic summer camp for children and adults with disabilities, founded in 1983 and run by the Tennessee Jaycee Foundation on 186 acres beside Cordell Hull Lake in Jackson County, roughly midway between Nashville and Knoxville. Campers - who range from age seven upward and include people with muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, cancer and other developmental disabilities - take part in swimming, fishing, campfires, arts and crafts, music, dancing and indoor and outdoor games. Nursing staff are on site around the clock, and the team includes teachers, lifeguards, nurses and college students in special education.
The practical details
We list only what the camp itself publishes, and programs change — dates, prices, ages and availability can all move after we check. Confirm the details on the camp’s own website and contact Camp Discovery Jaycee Foundation directly before you register or pay. Last checked August 2026.
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★★★★★The Conner CodePerfect place for a camp wedding! We loved every bit of the experience! Our daughter had a vision and Camp Discovery was the perfect setting
★★★★★Timmy ThomasI remember going here for the hole summer back when I was about 7 or 8 years old back when They had cabins on one side of the camp for girls and cabins on the other side of the camp for boys and the cabins could sleep about 9 or 10 boys to a cabin and 9 or 10 girls to a cabin and the cabins only had a wooden screen door no A/C just big fans to keep you cool and the summer night air and they had metal spring beds that you put your own sleeping bag. On to sleep and had wood night stands by everyone's bed to put stuff and at night 🌙 we would sit by the campfire by the lake. And tell ghost story's and for meals. We eat in the mess hall that's what it was called it was the only place that had A/C and we took showers 🚿 in the bath house one side for boys and one side for girls great memories. It's where I had my first girlfriend and my First Kiss. And they had a swimming pool and it was open until 11:00pm we would swim until then and then go back to our cabin and talk and play games it was way before cell phones back in 1990s
★★★★★Maria E KingWe rent this place every year. It's like coming home! Great facilities and beautiful views.
★★★★★Joy MSuch a beautiful place and I love seeing the smiling faces of the kids that are there during camp.
★★★★★Keeley MorganCamp Discovery is a beautiful place! I was there for a Jaycees Retreat but will be back in the summer for camp to volunteer!