Chilhowee Recreation Area

We stayed on site 15 of the B loop. It was a great location, but in the center of the site once stood a large tree with a timber surround. The tree has been cut down, but the surround is still there, and we kept tripping over it. Otherwise, it's close to the bathhouse, and the water spigot is right across the street. As someone who uses a camper, here's what you need to know. Coming up the mountain has some steep grades and a few switch backs that you can't see around. There are often oncoming vehicles who are often driving to fast and not considering those of us in large vehicles. We had a couple of course calls even without the camper in tow. The roads in the campground are narrow and again, some of the turns are sharp when pulling a trailer. There is only one dump station and it's on the other side of the campground. From the B loop, you have to traverse about a 120 degree switchback to get to it. My friend who was there pulling a 5th wheel decided not to try it and opted to pay to dump somewhere else. I pull a 25ft travel trailer and had no problem, although it felt sketchy going into it. Once there, it was probably the best dump station I've ever used. The water pressure almost blew a connection to my tank flush, but I'm sure the tank is clean now! As I eluded to before, there are no water hookups at the sites, only power (30A). You'll need to fill your fresh water tanks before you set up. Cell/ internet; in the B loop there is NO AT&T in spite of what this site says. You may get a weak signal on the other side, but it's spotty at best. There appeared to be a Verizon tower on the mountain, so that will probably work. It is a pet friendly campground, but personally, I don't find that friendly. I don't like walking up to someone dog barking at the person getting their 6 am morning walk and then the owner yelling at the dog to be quiet.

Overall: Very quiet wooded campground on Chilhowee Mountain Getting there: Off TN SR 64 East of Cleveland& Ocoee. Very nice lakeside drive along Lake Ocoee. There can be a lot of traffic. Turn on marked road just past Ranger Station turnoff and take Oswald Road 7 miles up a winding mountain road, narrow in spots with multiple scenic overlook views of the Blue Ridge mountains and Lake Ocoee.  There is also a marked "Historic Site" that is worth a stop.  See pics. Advise not to take back road from/to Benton. There is a sign on the entry to the drive in that says“full up” on electric campsites, but not so. Mostly empty mid week. Most sites are reserved for weekends. If you do not have a reservation and are going up without one this can be totally misleading. 

Check in and staff: There is no check in gate. Campground Hosts are present and did make the rounds checking on us in the late afternoon. Very pleasant. Reservations for sites are made on-line, so you follow the signs to your reserved site. 

Amenities: Electric is available at some sites, but not others. There is no water available at any of the sites. Some of the loops have a water source nearby with instructions to bring water to your campsite, do your dishes there, strain out any food particles for the trash and dump the grey water at the campsite. Since bears are present and attracted to scents this seemed an odd instruction to us. There are no dishwashing sinks available in the restrooms, and this is discouraged. 

There is a very nice small lake with a beach, many hiking trails including one to Benton Falls.  The hiking trail around the lake is very nice, level and shaded most of the way.

Bathrooms: The bathroom in loop B was not very clean. See pics. The hot water was hot, but very difficult to use. The shower had a little button to push after turning it to the left for hot water. This stayed on for exactly 4 seconds per push. So in order to get a decent shower you have to hold it in. 

Site: Campsites are large, wooded and relatively private. Nice flat gravel covered parking/landing areas with excellent fire pits. See pics. Firewood is available with the Host. We were there mid week and it was very quiet. There was only one other camper in Loop B at the time.

Beautiful, well maintained park. Stayed 2 nights and made plans to return for a week. Stayed in A loop. The A&B loops are well spaced and mostly shaded with fairly level gravel pads. Bathhouse was clean and well lit. Roads around the loops were narrow but there were big 5th wheel rigs so its doable. We were there in the middle of the week and it wasn't crowded at all. Plenty of FC FS sites even though the signage at the main turnoff to Oswald rd said no RV electric sites. We walked over to loops C&D and E&F and those loops were still quite spacious although not many electric sites that we noticed. The trails are what really makes this an all around great campground. Several hikes for all levels. We did the Benton Falls hike and it was lovely! 3 miles RT. Fall color was just peaking 🍂 Fire pits with cooking grates, lantern posts and picnic tables were clean and well kept. If you're in the area, put this one on your list! You won't be disappointed! The views are killer! 👍

My partner and I headed to nearby Chilhowie Campground in the Cherokee National Forest last year to try out our new teardrop camper.  We chose site 1 in the A Loop as it had shore power. The site was not level and actually had quite an incline which was slightly challenging to level on the sandy pad.   The site itself was nice and roomy.  There were some lovely trees for us to set up our Eno hammock.  The site is right next to the entrance so there was heavy traffic and noise traveling in and out of the campground. This is obviously not highly desirable as it always seems to be available during high demand weekends.   We are going back this summer after selecting another site.  

One of the most spectacular things about this campsite is the accessibility to hiking trails including the fairly easy trail to McKemy Lake and Benton Falls.  McKemy Lake has a nice sandy beach and allows non-motorized boats.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Benton Falls. Though it was fairly busy, people were respectful and mindful of space.

Really looking forward to go back to this treasure!

Be sure to read the instructions on the park website about how to get here! Google will lead you astray! It was raining when we arrived, and I was so grateful for the nice new road, especially after seeing the road Google wanted us to take.

My husband and I visited the first week in July. There was rain in the forecast everyday, but it only really rained one day (it was a down pour that lasted ~30 mins). It was fairly humid the rest of the time, with a random sprinkle here and there. Camper pads are crushed rock, which I think helps them to dry quickly, but did produce a LOT of mess going in and out of the camper.

We stayed in E loop, but drove the whole park. Loops A&B are closest to the lake and looked great for groups, or folks with kids. Loops E&F were a bit more secluded, and better fit for couples, dogs that don't like a lot of passersby, or people that generally want to keep more to themselves. C&D were somewhere in between.

We were here during COVID, so felt a bit nervous about using the park restrooms, but didn't have an option as our site was electric only, and we needed showers everyday after hiking/biking. The showers were clean, hot and great water pressure. Also, there was a restroom for every 6-7 sites, so not too much traffic.

Some hiking trails were cleared well, and others were overgrown. Benton falls was great, but crowded. For a more secluded waterfall experience head to the Rainbow falls. We didn't go to the swimming beach, because dogs are not allowed. We did hang out at the lake and fish (no bites), but the water was not appealing for swimming (lots of down trees/branches and very silty). 

There is no WiFi or AT&T cellular signal in this park. However, if you drive to any of the scenic overlooks just outside the park, you will get AT&T LTE signal. We also picked up 3 TV stations over the air, which was great for weather/news.

If you need a civilization break, head to Copperhill, as soon as you get to town there is a brewery called Buck Bald Brewing. Excellent craft brew, outdoor seating, and you can bring a picnic or order food delivered from several nearby restaurants. Check out the Olympic White Water runs on your way back!

This campground is great! It has clean bathrooms with showers, fire rings with grill grates, lots of hiking, hike to a beautiful waterfall, huge lake to swim or float on a raft, and the lightning bugs were breath taking!!

We stayed at site #39. Next to the trail that leads to the lake. Next to rest room, trash bin, and water spout. This specific site has the driveway and then stairs to the fire/table/tent pad. We set our large tent on the tent pad and a smaller tent on the driveway next to the stairs.

Pros: No reservation needed. Warmish showers. Hiking. Lake to swim in. Beautiful waterfall. Perfect to see millions of lightning bugs. Easy payment (put money in slip and put in bin, and yes they do check). Pets allowed.

Cons: we had the WORST neighbors I’ve ever experienced while camping! The staff warned them about quiet hours but never came back to in force it. Fire ring grill topper was broke off.

DON’T drive up the dirt path, we made that mistake. Take the regular rode. GPS sends you automatically to the dirt road.

Over all I’m defiantly going to camp there again. Well kept and overall has a lot to offer