$10 - $12 / night

Camper submitted image from Little Oak Campground - 1

Camper submitted image from Little Oak Campground - 2

Nature

Camper submitted image from Little Oak Campground - 3

Water

Camper submitted image from Little Oak Campground - 4

Activities

Camper submitted image from Little Oak Campground - 5

Camping

Established Camping

Little Oak Campground

23 Reviews

About

National Forest

Cherokee National Forest

Overview

All loops at Little Oak Campground are currently open. Little Oak Campground hugs the shores and inlets of beautiful South Holston Lake in Sullivan County, Tennessee. With a view of the Holston Mountain ridgeline and lake islands, Little Oak campsites are a relaxing setting for your vacation. There are 69 universally accessible campsites improved in 2012 including warm showers and a paved access road. Campground hosts are available on site to answer your questions.__

Recreation

Fishing is a popular activity for campers at Little Oak, with a concrete boat launch within the campground. Numerous campsites have easy access to the lake shore for tying off your boat. There are nearby trails for hiking and horseback riding. Children and adults enjoy riding their bikes on the roads between camping loops. There is also a lakeside grassy area popular for swimming and picnicking. There is an array of wildflowers to enjoy throughout the season, resident deer and turkey and other natural wonders for the naturalist in your group.

Facilities

There are 69 universally accessible campsites for tents or RVs within four loops at Little Oak Campground. Each loop has a pair of vault toilets. In addition, there is an accessible shower house with 8 showers for the campground. There is a boat launch within the campground with an additional single vault toilet. The boat launch is for use by registered campers and their guests only.____

Natural Features

South Holston Lake is a 7,580-acre hydroelectric reservoir managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority and surrounded by the Cherokee National Forest. Holston Mountain and nearby Iron Mountain provide habitat for an array of wildlife including a healthy population of black bear.

Nearby Attractions

Little Oak Campground is within 30 minutes of Bristol, Tennessee, and nearby Bristol Motor Speedway. Backbone Rock Recreation Area is approximately 30 minutes away up beautiful Shadey Valley, and just five minutes past Backbone Rock is Damascus, Virginia. Jacobs Creek Campground and Swim Area is 25 minutes away for another view of South Holston Lake.

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Location

Little Oak Campground is located in Tennessee

Directions

From Bristol, take US 421 south for 12 miles, and turn right onto paved Camp Tom Howard Road. After 0.5 miles, this road becomes Forest Road #87. Continue on Road #87 for six miles. Turn right on Road #87G for 1.5 miles to Little Oak.

Coordinates

36.5195389 N
82.0608167 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.
Boat-In
Sites accessible by watercraft.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Poor
Verizon
Good
AT&T
Good
T-Mobile
Fair

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group
Cabins

Features

For Campers

Trash
Picnic Table
Phone Service
Drinking Water
Toilets
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump

SEE WHAT'S AVAILABLE

$10 - $12

/ night

First Come - First Served

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Contact

General Info

Reservations

(877) 444-6777

Candice H.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 11, 2023

Lovely Spot

Nice campground. Water views, but not every site has lake access. Poplar #63 didn’t have water access, but members of my group across the street allowed me to access the lake from their sites (60 & 62). The ire was flat. Directions to the site via navigation app were good. Road was in good condition. There was a bit of boat noise and some road noise. Generators shut down at 10, so that was nice. Watch out for the squirrels; they are sneaky and watching you. Don’t walk away with food on the table!

SitePoplar #63

Month of VisitJuly

(5) View All

Hank M.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 28, 2022

Great view

Campground was nice and clean. Most sites have a view of South Holston Lake and trail access to the water. Shower house were clean. All sites are primitive.

Site72

Month of VisitSeptember

Van M.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 13, 2022

swim at sunset

when the boats go quiet. Spacious sites; peaceful campground; clean showers.

Site25

Month of VisitAugust

Nathan F.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 13, 2022

Absolute perfection!

There are few places that I've been to that top this location. Super easy camp ground to get to with excellent paved roads in very close to each of the Tri-Cities. The camp ground is well organized with many amenities including super easy access to the water on all sides and surprisingly clean bathrooms. After the boat noise dies down the lake is extremely peaceful and placid. I could not recommend this area more for a weekend away. Note the Verizon cell service is spotty at best, but sometimes this is welcomed.

SiteLone Pine Loop 21

Month of VisitJuly

(10) View All

Old MacDonald F.

Scout

Reviewed Sep. 19, 2021

Amazing

What a amazing and quiet place. The hosts are super nice. OMG it's dark when the lights are off. Definitely top 5 campgrounds I will regularly visit

Sitedon't remember exactly

Month of VisitOctober

Gordon F.

Scout

Reviewed Sep. 17, 2021

Little Oak

Nice and outta the way from town . Bathrooms were clean

Month of VisitAugust

Lawrence P.

Legend

Reviewed Sep. 13, 2021

Quiet place to stay for a few days!

Quiet, secluded little gem in the woods! Sites and facilities are well kept and clean. Camp hosts are wonderful. Friendly and helpful! Lots to do while you're out here. Long way from Bristol, so don't forget anything.

Month of VisitJune

Chris S.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 4, 2021

Wonderful with kids!

Bathhouses, restrooms, kinda crowded depending on when you go but very beautiful!

Month of VisitSeptember

Greg

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 4, 2021

Great Stay

The road out to the campsite takes a while, but the facilities were well-maintained and the sites were fairly secluded and well spaced out.

Month of VisitAugust

Daniel L.

Guide

Reviewed Nov. 12, 2020

Lakeside sunsets for days

You really can’t pass this one up. If you are road tripping from Great Smokey to Shenandoah this is the perfect one or two night way point. We opted for two nights and were stunned with the views from the hemlock loop. We booked before the site filled up and got the best site of the loop — site 006. I don’t know if we’ll ever be back because it was a bit out of the way for us.

It is primarily a boat/fishing recreation area in Cherokee National Forest, but it works as a perfect get away. Similar to other NF campgrounds the sites are huge and offering full or partial shade. We lucked out and got there during peak autumn colors. Being that we booked a month out we didn’t realize the campground would close the other loops our weekend causing our loop to be full the whole weekend. The atmosphere was respectful.

We did a day trip to Asheville, NC since we are not boat ppl and got to experience a great day in the city.

These are largely primitive sites, but offer some great amenities regardless. Very big picnic tables, shared water, bathrooms, and a boat ramp.

Alcohol isn’t permitted but it seemed like everyone ignores that rule. Bring your own firewood as what they were offering needed to be chopped. We didn’t bring our axe so we had to run out for some wood at a gas station.

Also the road into the campsite has several switchbacks and blind turns. Locals breeze through it, but if you are hauling an very large trailer/RV be prepared. It would be tough to make some of these turns in a vehicle the size of a greyhound.

Sunset is worth it. If we can come back, we will.

Site006 Hemlock Loop

Month of VisitDecember

(5) View All

Denise

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 7, 2020

Awesome campground

We really enjoyed this campground. My husband and I were able to launch our kayaks from our campsite.. we did have to walk down a fairly steep bank to do this. We also swam from the bank. Campsite was great! Plenty of room and spaced out well. My only complaint was that the second night we were there a family with two kids camped next to us and they were LOUD! I have kids and loud kids don’t bother me at all, during the day. But these kids were out running around the campground screaming past midnight. The campground hosts were right across from these people. So quiet time was obviously not observed. It was very annoying, being woke up at 1:30 AM hearing a kid screaming about the fish he caught, he was right next to our campsite!! Other than that this campground was awesome!

(10) View All

Jaren E.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 17, 2019

All you need for a weekend getaway

Beautiful campground right on the lake can’t beat it! Well updates and kept campground nice restrooms facility!

Bill T.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 9, 2019

Beautiful

Great place to camp and fish.

Caleb W.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 16, 2019

An amazing getaway

Very peaceful on the lake. Close to the racetrack and great fishing spots.

Amy G.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 16, 2019

so close, but so far away

This campground is located about an hour or so from our home but it feels like a million miles away — in a good way! Follow the 7 mile trek off the main road to one of the loveliest campgrounds in East Tennessee. We stayed here the first weekend in May 2019 and had the place to ourselves. Stayed again in early June and most of the reserved spots were taken. It’s on the lake, so some of the sites have kayak access and beautiful views. However the second time we stayed, campers next to us had 8 (we counted) kids and made a racket the entire time. We understand kids but after 11 pm, we’d had enough and husband went out and yelled for them to hush. Bathrooms were spotless and showers were wonderful! Nice to walk around the campground, but no major trails that we could find.

Spencer F.

Scout

Reviewed Aug. 31, 2018

Located on South Holston Lake. Clean, well-kept camping spots.

There is boating access nearby. Some campsites are RV accessible. Bathhouses are available. The Lake is beautiful.

Month of VisitApril

Kace L.

Traveler

Reviewed Aug. 27, 2018

Beautiful view, great fishing, close restroom

The campground has plenty of room and space for your truck/boat/ trailer. The campfire setup worked out well and the view of the lake was unbeatable. The staff running the campground was incredible.

Month of VisitMay

(4) View All

James B.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 6, 2018

The Cinder Pile

Great, we have been here at least 50 times. Right across the hwy is Jacobs Creek , it's all part of South Holstein lake. great area to camp an nearby baitshops an boat docks, grills an camping are awesome this time of year.

(6) View All

Linda C.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 1, 2018

Beautiful lake great sites

The only rough thing is no check in help. The place is gorgeous for sure. We go at least 6 times per year!

SiteLake side

Lynn G.

Ranger

Reviewed Sep. 30, 2017

Lakeside camping in Cherokee National Forest

Holston Lake is absolutely beautiful. The campground is deep in the national forest, out on a series of peninsulas, making all the campsites quite close to the water. Not all have a water view though, since the greenery is so dense. There are some short hiking trails, but plan to spend most of your time on the water. Close to 81 and lots of other campgrounds nearby if this one fills up.

Yay: Nice medium sized campground with basic but excellent amenities.

Nay: Long dirt road not necessarily accessible to all cars if it’s been raining.

Surprise: Really enjoyed walking along the shoreline and the sunset over the lake. There are stables nearby where you can hire horses (we didn’t have time to do so).

Jayme G.

Scout

Reviewed Jul. 9, 2016

Great getaway

Little oak offered a great place to stay for a week. With south Holston lake at your finger tips it offers a great area to fish, boat, kayak, paddle board and swim. Facilities were cleaned everyday so no stinky bathrooms and showers. Only thing I wish they had was cabins for when you don't really want to rough it in a tent.

Tiffany G.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 26, 2016

Wow!

Very kid-friendly super spacious campsites every site is right on the lake with amazing sunsets every night. Only wish they had electricity.

Tiffany G.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 26, 2016

Relaxation at its finest

Little Oak Campground is a small but very private Campground. The spaces are spread out full of gorgeous trees wildflowers and always a view of the amazing Lake. Bathrooms at every Loop. The people are amazing you always make new friends every time you go. Only downside is there's no electricity or water at the campsites I would give it 5 stars if it would upgrade to that.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to camp at Little Oak Campground?

Camping at Little Oak Campground can cost between $10.00 and $12.00 depending on the site.

Are fires allowed at Little Oak Campground?

Yes, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, fires are allowed at Little Oak Campground, although make sure to check current fire restrictions in the area.

Does Little Oak Campground have wifi?

No, according to campers on TheDyrt.com, Little Oak Campground does not have wifi.

Is there cell phone reception at Little Oak Campground?

According to campers on TheDyrt.com, Verizon signal is good, AT&T is good, and T-Mobile is fair.

How hard is it to get a campsite at Little Oak Campground?

Some campers book as far as 6 months in advance, so on high-demand weekends it can be very difficult to get a campsite at Little Oak Campground. If you want to get a last-minute campsite at Little Oak Campground, try setting up a text message Alert at TheDyrt.com/alerts

Why is it so hard to get a campsite at Little Oak Campground?

There are 64 campsites at Little Oak Campground and over 80 million Americans who camp! Try snagging a cancellation by setting up a text message Alert at TheDyrt.com/alerts