Sleep at Creature Camp and Rancho de Barnes

If you want to get away from it all (and man, there’s a lot to get away from), consider something other than a firepit and a campsite that’s just a few feet away from a stranger’s tent. Near Ashland City, there are two different places for you to enjoy open skies, quirky shelter, offbeat art, photo ops and lots of elbow room. Creature Camp is the brainchild of artists Brett Douglas Hunter and Rebecca Blevins. Hunter is known for his oversized, brightly colored cement and papier-mâché sculptures, and Blevins is an accomplished ceramist. Gabi and Jacob VanHorn are a sign-painter and artist, respectively, and the couple behind Rancho de Barnes. Each art farm has its own amenities — Rancho de Barnes, for example, has on-site animals such as goats and chickens. (You can purchase the latter’s eggs.) And you’ll sleep in a school bus with a van welded to the top. At Creature Camp, snuggle inside a 1963 Shasta camper. Each camping locale has its own outdoor shower, space heater and fire pit. The creatures aren’t indestructible, Hunter cautions, so while kids like them, they aren’t intended as playground equipment. A bunch of the pieces did survive Bonnaroo 2019, though, so they can likely handle anything 2020 throws at them. Find details on both Creature Camp and Rancho de Barnes via hipcamp.com. MARGARET LITTMAN