Wilderness Road - Cumberland Gap National Historic Park

Whether you're a tent camper, an RVer, or just passing through, Shawanee, TN has a lot to offer. Shawanee is filled with the activities, sights, and experiences to make everyone in your crew a happy camper. You're sure to find the perfect campground for your Shawanee camping trip.

Shawanee

The Best Camping Near Shawanee, Tennessee

The park is incredible. There is so much to do and you will never get tired of any of it. There's a good close-to-home feeling about this place. It's amazing to be so far from home and still feel like you are exactly where you belong.

Nice Place to Get Away

For a campground with a couple hundred sites, the sites were fairly well secluded. The bathrooms were clean and the camp host was very friendly and we were able to get a walk-in spot on labor day weekend which surprised us. Our biggest complaint was the amount of poison ivy in the campsites. We would definitely go back.

Private Campsites

Virginia has so many great places to visit and this is one of our favorites, beautiful views, lots of wildlife , great fishing and great hiking trails. 
The camping is wonderful and it's such a clean place

Beauitiful

This is near the borders of KY, VA, and TN in Cumberland Gap park. Convenient to the park, the AT, and the nearby town for supplies, restaurants, and grocery. Its name is misleading: the campground is quite large and not far from civilization or the highway, but it’s still a great place to enjoy nature. The campground is among the trees so is very shady and semi-privacy. This is the only campground in this part of the park. Nothing to do on site besides picnic and relax, there’s endless hiking and backpacking nearby. 


Cumberland Gap 

Very clean, always stocked restrooms. Convenient hiking trails for all levels. Family friendly.

Favorite local campground!

Fun place to take up a big group to hangout together

Group

One of the best camping trips ive been on. Camping and walking trails. Good for photography also.

Camping

The beauty of this place is surreal. They do a great job here of spacing the campsites out so that you really feel like you’re in the woods and not on top of everyone else camping there. Rangers sell firewood and maintain a small camp store. Be sure to check out the visitors center and check out the amazing trails! This is a great place to explore, I will definitely be back.

An incredible wilderness campground

Cumberland Gap campground 

This is a gem one of the most beautiful quiet and peaceful place to camp and spend time in the campground is so clean and well maintained and the campground host are just great 

Beautiful awesome great campground 

This was a great campground. Very secluded and peaceful. Alot to see and do nearby without the crowds you see elsewhere. Helpful staff was very attentive and always nearby. Bathrooms were very clean, and showers were clean and in individual rooms for great privacy. 
I just wish they had water hook-ups. Also know that if you plan on using a debit/credit card, you have to pay at the visitor center off site. This campground is first come, first serve. No reservations. However, if you go in the off season or on short notice, that can be a benefit. Only 2 rows of this campground are for RVs (paved parking and electric). The rest are for tents. 

Peaceful, dispersed campground

Arrived around 5 pm on a Monday to ample options for sites. We wanted a flat, electric-only spot for our truck camper and near (but not too near) a bathhouse. Easy to find this: sites are well-laid out and there are multiple bathhouses, all very well-maintained (crisp paint jobs) and very clean. Sites on the lower perimeter will get road noise but interior sites were very quiet. Hosts were friendly and welcoming. Campground connects to a couple trails, 5 min drive to main park office and “attractions.”

Well-maintained, tidy, friendly and flat.

Having a blast. We are spending 14 days camping here. Explored the area before the snow hit. Great hiking trails. Nice, large campsites, not too close to your neighbors...but fairly typical. Nice big bathroom ( 2 stalls - 1 handicap). Big handicap accessible open room shower. Had to put towel at bottom of door to stop drafts. Hot water...not that hot...could be warmer. Large bench in shower room and hooks for clothes. Small bench seat in shower as well.

Camping is first-come...first-served...no wood for sale at park...but you can buy from anywhere in Lee County. Paddy's Gas Station about 1 mile from here sells wood for $5 for a good size bundle and other necessities.

Hikes for all levels...easy and strenuous.

Very impressed how quickly and often they came through to scrape the roads once the snow started. We got 6-8 inches on Christmas Eve....and next day park roads were passable...without 4wd. 58 looked great.

All in all this is a great place to camp. Everyone around is so nice and polite.  Food City is grocery store in nearby Middlesboro, KY that has awesome cafe for buying hot food meals. Great food! Takes 10-15 minutes to get there. Plenty of fast food options there too.

Very convenient location...well kept park. Try it! You'll like it!

First Snow Camping!!

I was a little underwhelmed compared to what I was expecting from camping at a national park. The positives are the cheap rates and there are bathroom and shower facilities. If you want old fashion tent camping the park does have some backcountry campsites. 

The cons are the lack of actual campsites. They are more like parking spaces. Probably to appeal to the people who use campers. The noise of the highway was constant and annoying. 

Overall I enjoyed my time staying here. Wish I could have done more backcountry camping but the weather didn't permit it. 

Decent.

Campsites are nice but electric hookups only at certain sites. Its a national campground so its beautiful with nice bathouses but not much activities other than hiking. There are a limited amount of sites that would accommodate a large RV, mostly tent sites. It is first come first serve with no reservations.  There is no rv parks close if the campground is full.

Good campsite

Bathrooms were clean, people were friendly and quiet. Reasonably sized sites that were first come, first serve, but we had no problem finding a site on a Friday afternoon. Lots of ranger patrols.

Clean and quiet

Located a few miles away from the Cumberland Gap visitor's center, the camping area abuts the highway (where you can still hear traffic) and after a short drive into the park, you'll come across a plethora of camping sites.

  

There are RV sites with power and water and for tent campers, you can choose between large spaces with open fields and hilly, shaded spots for a more secluded feel. There are also food lockers on-site to discourage wildlife, and flip-up fire rings that, for once, weren't clogged with ashes and old wood. 

  

Speaking of fires, you can buy firewood on-site from the camp store (no cards taken). 

  

There are care stations with toilets and showers in three locations, spaced evenly throughout the 6 rings that make up the park. 

  

Cell service is decent, with 2-3 bars of LTE.

A variety of sites

Loops B&amp;C have electric hooks, no water hooks at any site. Bath houses were super clean. Not a destination spot unless you have a child attending LMU 😁.  Jake brakes on the semi’s a bit loud at times, but everything shuts down after 9pm so wasn’t an issue at night. We’ll be back, at least for another 3.5 years. 

Very Clean

Short stay, nice site, no hassles. Was able to find a nice site near a comfort station but not near other people. Self registration, lit a fire, set up quickly. Right near a lot of trails. Will definitely return. 

Nov 2021

Good tent camping sites. Lots of trees; level sites; fire pit; picnic table.  Very clean &amp; well supplied restrooms.  Great individual private room showers with plenty of good hot water. 

Good national park

We camped in site B-11.

Sites, even in the RV loops, are well spread out with mature trees separating them. Sites can be hilly, even the RV paved pads, so be cautious on site selection. That said, the roads and pads were recently re-paved and have nice curb stops at the ends to assist in backing in. 

The bath houses are generally clean and updated, with separate shower facilities that are independent from the bathrooms. It’s not especially cold right now but it did seem that they’re at least heated. 

We tent camp in an RV site since we have an EV, allowing us to charge. The power post on our site was typical with 120V 20A (5-20) and 30A (TT-30) connections as well as a 240V 50A (14-50). Power supplied was at 248V while pulling 32A. 

Our site accommodated our larger 9-person tent (16’x9’) well, with only a slight slope on the back end of the site. This left plenty of space for the supplied table, fire ring, and parking in the paved pad. We are across the street from the bath house. 

Note: Site B-10 across the street has a significant slope for the RV pad and the grassy area that could accommodate a tent is also significantly sloped. 

None of the sites I’ve seen have water at the site- there is a spigot at the bath house. 

The dumpster area is at the end of the B-loop road, and also has bottle and can recycling available. 

We could occasionally hear traffic (mostly engine brakes when it happened), but I think that is more an issue in the further back loops. A-loop is furthest from the highway. As a tent camper, the HVAC units of neighboring RV’s were louder than the traffic (not an issue - we know what we’re signing up for in these sites. Just giving a comparison.)

Nice Sites, Modern Bathhouse

Wilderness Road Cumberland Gap :
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good
70 yr olds in 17’ trailer: 
Overall Rating:  4
Price: $24 w electricity $18 w/o.  1/2 for seniors 
Usage during visit: low
Site Privacy:  2 to 4 depending on location.   In some areas, sites are close in 3 directions.  Looks to be better privacy in non electric sites.   Study campground map for outside sites.  
Site Spacing: Some are pretty close.   Just look at the campground map and choose one accordingly.  Our site was very nice.  
Site surface:   Gravel for non-electric sites.    Ours was tough to level and as per rec.gov website for our site. .   Electric sites have black top.  
Reservations:     Yes
Campground Noise 5.  Quiet
Road Noise:  4, depending on location. Highway noise 
Electricity.   2 loops have electricity.
Water:  at dump station and restrooms 
Sewer:   No
Dump: Yes
Bathroom: 5 Clean
Showers:    5.   Private rooms 
Pull Throughs  most are backing 
Cell Service (Verizon): 5.   Great
Setting:  Deciduous forest
Weather:  60s to upper 30s
Bugs:    None 
Solar:   Great. May change as the trees leaf out more.
Host: They are active. 
Location:  Near Town of Gap - quaint, make sure to visit.  1919 is the place for lunch or dinner we hear from locals. 10 minutes to good grocery stores in Middlesboro.  
Loops:  Portions of some sites sort of back up to each other.  The sites I took pictures of are some of the better sites for privacy 


Photos of Wilderness Road - Cumberland Gap National Historic Park

Real photos from real campers