Best Campgrounds near Franklin, NC

We ran into this campsite while looking for dispersed sites around Lake Santeelah. Several of the free dispersed sites were already taken so we decided to camp here since there was only one other group of campers. My main disappointment is the price to camp here is $15, but the upper half of the campground is closed and so is the bathroom/bath house. I think $15 is cheap if there’s a restroom facility, but it was the most expensive primitive site we we paid for all week and with the least amount of amenities. That’s the only reason I give this 4 stars. I paid with the envelope system and slept great.

The campsites are fairly close to one another, but everyone was quiet and respectful. The tent pad and fire ring were great!

This place is nice. It is in the middle of nowhere. Since there were reported construction delays on I 40, I took the alternative route offered by google maps. Do not go that way. The roads were very bad and when I was 1 mile from making one of my last two turns, the road was closed. I went around the signs and came to an area of the road washed out by the hurricaine. They was a crew working on the road. I asked if I could get through to make my turn a mile ahead and a very nice fellow said I could, but at my own risk. I had barely enogh room to drive my van past the washed out area that was about 500 feet above a river with a sheer drop. The gate to this camp is locked but they email you the combination with your booking confirmation. The lock is a little hard to open. You have to pull and push on it once you have the right numbers dialed in. There is a horse camp here to the right at an intersection, the regular campground is to the left. Very nice picnic tables in the sites . I believe there is a trash dump here someplace, but have not looked for it yet. You need to be self contained to camp out here. The nice thing is , the camp is at 3144 feet in elevation according to my altimiter app so it is nice and cool. If not for the picnic table and trash dump, this would be about the same as a dispersed camping area. Price was good, $7.50/night with lifetime pass. A very remote campground but it is very, very quiet, at least it was last night which was a Thursday.

Campground has been open at least since June 2025. Nice, secluded campground. Some sites are a bit close, but as long as campers observe quiet hours (10 PM - 6 AM) and are aware that generators are allowed (60 dB max) to be run from 8 AM to 8 PM, all should be good. Wildlife is present and being over a mile high, temperatures can be cool, even in summer, for a great relief from temperatures in lower elevations. There are two sets of restrooms and a dishwashing station. There's no electricity, so no lights or hot water, so be ready to rough it a bit.

Owners are wonderful. The grounds are well maintained and kept there is a strict policy of no parking or driving on the grass and when you see it, you’ll understand. I thoroughly enjoyed walking, barefoot through it to the fields and appreciated highly the effort they put into keeping it so beautiful. You can enjoy a day lounging on the little river. They offer free lounge, chairs, canoes, and kayaks to use for campers. If you’d like to tube you can bring your own or swim across the river to River Rage and rent a tube which is what I did. You can have a fire at night either bring your own pit or they will supply you one free of charge and deliver it to your site. They sell bundles of firewood for five dollars, which is half the price of other places. There are no picnic tables; however, many bring their own foldable table. The sites are very spacious. My site was C3 on the creek which was dry but still wonderful. They offer Riverside sites as well. I highly recommend this campground.

This campground has a few tent campsites near the office/shower building but a great number of remote sites up on the side of a mountain. 4WD required due to steep inclines and rough road conditions. Each site had a picnic table and fire ring and some shade during different times of the day. Fireworks were an issue the first night because it was 4th of July but other nights it was quiet.

Management was mostly absent and check in was easy. Tent site selection is first come first served. Manager did pick up the phone to hear my complaint about fireworks (midnight) but shooters were coming from outside of the campground.

Lot of cabins and RVs But I didn't see any pull throughs.

We booked the camp because it had trolley access and was relatively convenient to the parkway and restraunts. We were very happy with the amenities for the price and time of year. Pool area was nice though not used by us. Bathrooms are very nice and clean. Clean roomy lockable showers. Laundry room was clean with all working washers and dryers 2.75 load and takes a card. Some sites including ours are very shady. We'll kept and level.

Trolley stop is great. Use it to go to transit hub and pick up the trolley to gatlinburg. We travel without a car in tow. So we move a 30' motorhome when we park so convenience is priority. Sugarlands is not to hard of a drive in the mornings to go for all day trail hikes in the park. Gatlinburg is just a few miles away. Great rv park. We enjoyed our stay and urban hikes I the morning for breakfast. We will return.