Camping near Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We traveled in a Class C, so I chose this CG because the bus stop is just outside the CG. Unfortunately, the bus route was suspended due to a lack of drivers just 2 weeks before we arrived. (Not the CG's fault, but it did complicate our trip a bit.) The CG is nice, sites are regularly spaced somewhat close to each other but level. There are many seasonal campers here. Restrooms are clean, laundry is convenient. There are many things to do in the CG, pools, arcade and lots of kids. There is a gas station/convenience store on the property. Staff in the office can answer questions about the area.

We would stay here again if the bus is running.

We stayed at Site 1 and it was lovely. The rushing water (mini waterfall?) is the highlight of the site and our stay. There is much privacy between sites and the hosts visited and made us feel welcome. The obvious tent site is quite sloped and if we stay again, we will set up closer to the road to find a more level spot. The tree canopy by the water allowed us to enjoy a bonfire even in a light rain. The composting toilet is a bit of a walk so we mostly took care of business at our site in our luggable loo. There did not seem to be a trash receptacle on site so we took our garbage home for disposal. Apparently this site is also listed on Hip Camp and there seems to be a reservation integration challenge. They were double booked for the site on the second night but the second party was accommodated by a space in the pasture.

Horse cove was a gorgeous campsite. There are two “areas”, the campground near the check in station and dispersed camping along the road. We stayed in May 2025.

We chose to camp in the campground. It had a picnic table, fire ring, and lantern poles. It was a rainy weekend so we didn’t have many neighbors which made it perfect. The campground use to have two sections to camp but one has been closed down for quite a bit of time (there have fallen trees). There were only about 6-8 campsites all close to each other on the campground along the river.

The other option is to find campsites along the river. There were maybe 3-4 rv friendly sites from the campground to the boat dock (mostly tent options). There’s probably more past the boat dock but we didn’t check.

There’s probably river was loud but beautiful. No electric. There was a water pump but I didn’t see if it worked. There was an abundance of firewood in the campground and along the road. We decided to go hike Joyce Kilmore Forest which was a small trek from the campground. Felt like we were camping in a rainforest!

Toilet: enclosed toilet with thin toilet paper just like a porta potty. Smelled bad.

Loved this place by the river! Walking trails surround the CG and high quality mountain bike trails nearby. The owner is a cool guy and staff are friendly. Lots of different sites to choose from (of course riverside are in demand). The sites themselves vary in privacy and space but overall acceptable. Fire pits, picnic bench, some sites with bear boxes, warm showers, clean toilets, tent pads, very shady, firewood and ice available, WiFi only available near a trailhead parking lot, catch and release fishing. Most visitors are here for mountain biking from what I could tell. I do however have one critique: the morning I checked out a tree cutter company came out at 8 AM to cut some trees down right next to me. I understand the need to maintain forestry but it would’ve been nice to have a heads up a day before. Other than that I still highly recommend this place for camping and enjoying the National Forest surrounding you.