Best RV Parks & Resorts near Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Tent camped here in April while mountain biking at Tsali. Campground at Tsali had not opened and this was a great plan B. Camped along the creek, all the spots had a fire pit and table. Bath house was clean and in good shape. There is also a separate section with RV hook ups and small cabins / huts for rent. Helpful and friendly host, also have a good selection of basic sundries in the office. And free WiFi near the office. Would stay here again for sure.

Pool, playground, grounds are nice and nicely shaded. The kids love the pool and even the 1 foot kiddie pool. Office is also a store with lots of necessities. Only negative comment is the long term side of the park and then that the RV spaces are narrow in between the trees and other spots. Spots have full hookups, or you can select the water/electric only.

The Pros: 

• Location: This campground is located in a perfect spot, in my opinion. 10 minutes from the Metcalf Bottom entrance to Smoky Mtn NP. 15 minutes to the Townsend entrance. 30 minutes to Cades Cove. 15 minutes to Pigeon Forge. And 30 minutes to Gatlinburg. Close, but away from the madness. For a few shops and restaurants you have Wears Valley right next door (I recommend Mountain Chick for a light breakfast - awesome biscuits and coffee).
• Amenities: full hook-ups and a VERY nice pool/deli (see picture). The pool has karaoke on Friday nights. There is also a stocked fishing pond with dock though we didn't use it. 
• The view: Okay, not all campsites have great views. But the lower sites do, and that's where we were. Awesome backdrop of the mountains while you sit by your campfire. 
• The price: All the other campgrounds this close to the park charge $50+. Honeysuckle charges $35 a night.
• The sites: Sites are typically long, wide, gravel, mostly level, and with plenty of space in between. Our site even had a brand new deck with solar LED lights! Every site has a metal fire pit and a plastic-topped picnic table. 

The Cons: 

•  This is a mix of long-term RV park and campground. The lower sites are mostly campers while the upper sites are a mix of campers and long-term lots. This isn't necessarily bad. Most of the long-term units are nice looking, but it does impact the camping feel a bit. And along the lead-in from the road to the sites there are a lot of campers in storage. Some of these don't look so nice. 

• Dumpster: This is bear country so you can't leave your trash outside in cans. The only dumpster is all the way down the road to the office, and it is frequently full.

• Reservations: The process of making reservations was easy enough. I was assigned a site in the confirmation email I received. But when we arrived I was given a different site. When I asked about it, they didn't have record of the first site I was given. When I drove by that site, there was an RV in it that looked like it was being stored there. We went to site 50, the one they gave us, and it was okay. The one just down the hill, Site 49, was a little shorter but it had a deck. We called the office and asked to switch. They agreed. It worked out, but it was a little frustrating. 

• Amenities: Because it is more RV park than a campground, there wasn't a bathroom or laundry facility. 

Overall, we were quite happy with the experience. We would stay here again and recommend it to others.

This is not exactly the camping in the woods without hookups atmosphere. This is more of a every want/need met glamping RV Resort. And it’s awesome!

The RV sites are large and level, full hookup. There are gorgeous cabins that look more like tiny homes, and the atmosphere at this park is a great way to retreat. 100 ft max for RVs.

Very kid friendly, pet friendly (Kamp K9), lots in the area to go do and see. Pools, hot tub, kitchen, firewood for sale, fishing access, snack bar, cable tv, and WiFi.

The staff here is awesome, very helpful and knowledgeable. The park is very clean and well kept.

Cellular service for TMobile was not very strong but AT&T provided plenty for streaming and working.

Husband and I wanted to get away and found this campground- it is such a gem! You can't see it well from the road, but there is a huge sign out by the road. Trust it! You're in the right place. You drive across a small bridge across the Little River when you get to the campground, but it can handle big rigs. We saw many massive Class A campers while we were here for 6 nights. We pull a 30 ft travel trailer and used a pull through site- very large spot as far as rv sites go. They have back in spots for campers and tents literally on the bank of the river and you're allowed to swim, play, tube, etc in the river at your own risk. Camp store has firewood and a few essentials, but they don't sell propane. We got ours filled at the Tractor Supply in Alcoa, TN nearby. They had crafts and hayrides while we were here. Wifi is free but not great. Verizon cell service was good enough at 3 bars the whole time. No on-site laundry services, so we had to go into town to use laundromat (nearby town of Townsend is adorable but no laundromat). The grounds offer tent, cabin, and rv sites with various levels of electric, water, cable and sewer access. Our site had 30amp, water, sewer and cable. Nice and level site, large fire pit, sturdy plastic and metal picnic table and large beautiful mature trees. The bathhouse is seriously impressive and is, by far, the nicest campground bathhouse I've ever used! One of my favorite features was random and I never knew I was missing it in my life until now.. the bathrooms have strong AC pumping right into each bathroom, making everything nice and cool when you come in from the hot campsite.. wonderful! Good view of the mountains in the distance and minutes away from Great Smoky Mountain National Park entrance. This is a wonderful find!

Husband and I wanted to get away and found this campground- it is such a gem! You can't see it well from the road, but there is a huge sign out by the road. Trust it! You're in the right place. You drive across a small bridge across the Little River when you get to the campground, but it can handle big rigs. We saw many massive Class A campers while we were here for 6 nights. We pull a 30 ft travel trailer and used a pull through site- very large spot as far as rv sites go. They have back in spots for campers and tents literally on the bank of the river and you're allowed to swim, play, tube, etc in the river at your own risk. Camp store has firewood and a few essentials, but they don't sell propane. We got ours filled at the Tractor Supply in Alcoa, TN nearby. They had crafts and hayrides while we were here. Wifi is free but not great. Verizon cell service was good enough at 3 bars the whole time. No on-site laundry services, so we had to go into town to use laundromat (nearby town of Townsend is adorable but no laundromat). The grounds offer tent, cabin, and rv sites with various levels of electric, water, cable and sewer access. Our site had 30amp, water, sewer and cable. Nice and level site, large fire pit, sturdy plastic and metal picnic table and large beautiful mature trees. The bathhouse is seriously impressive and is, by far, the nicest campground bathhouse I've ever used! One of my favorite features was random and I never knew I was missing it in my life until now.. the bathrooms have strong AC pumping right into each bathroom, making everything nice and cool when you come in from the hot campsite.. wonderful! Good view of the mountains in the distance and minutes away from Great Smoky Mountain National Park entrance. This is a wonderful find!

Raccoon Valley RV park is literally just an RV park. The park was very clean and well maintained, and would be a nice place to park for a night as part of a longer trip. The RV park is just right off 1-75, just north of Knoxville, so it would be easy to hop on and off the interstate. The property is just a large gravel parking lot, with a few trees scattered throughout. Not really my kind of camping, but nearly all the spots were full.

The park has a large laundry facility, and a dog park for people traveling/camping with pets. I did see some benches located in the perimeter of the property in shady spots for relaxing.

I assume some of the guests are long term residents, but the sites were all so neat and clean, without built on structures and such that I’ve seen at most places. This RV park will be perfect for some!

This a an RV park, not a resort. It has everything you need: full hook ups, dog park, laundry. Clean, well kept and friendly. Sites are small and close, but work even for the larger rigs.

A safe and reasonably priced place to spend a night while traveling, or a couple while exploring the area.

This campground is about views. It doesn’t have water or electric hookups. It doesn’t have sewer hookups. It doesn’t have a swimming pool, playground equipment, an entertainment pavilion, or any of the other things many campgrounds and RV resorts have. The biggest attraction for Mile High Campgound is the view, but I guess I should say views(plural). The campground is adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but there is a long approach road to lessen any traffic noise—not that there would be any anyway. It seems to be situated on a ridge, so it offers different views in several directions. The host was nice and suggested that I pick a site before paying. I camped during the week and when it was cold, so I had a good choice of sites. She highlighted the available ones with the best views, and it was difficult to decide which one I liked best. I chose one with a view of a sunset rather than one with a sunrise, knowing I might not get up early enough to catch the sun rise. You can expect it to be at least ten degrees(or more) colder than down in the valleys. There is a reason it is called“Mile High.” This is a primitive campground, and there are no hookups that I know of. There is, however, a bath house with flush toilets and showers. The bath house is a bit rustic, but it serves the purpose. Some people might not like that it has a concrete floor and just one stand up sink, but again, it serves its purpose. There are also“toilet facilities” at opposite ends of the campground since it is a long, narrow campground. Since I forgot to take any firewood, I bought a bundle of kindling for$5.00. I knew I wouldn’t have a long fire anyway. As I mentioned earlier, there are no modern amenities like a swimming pool, playground, or recreation hall. Did I mention that this campground is all about the views? There is a platform for viewing the sunsets close to the camp office. The campground is within a short driving distance of several waterfalls, places to view elk, Harrah’s casino, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so sticking around the campground all day is not something you probably want to do. The towns of Maggie Valley and Cherokee are close, so if you like shopping, those towns have several quaint shops and other attractions. Overall, this campground is a pleasant campground to stay in because of the peace and quiet and the beauty.

Volunteer RV park is right off I-75, on the outskirts of Knoxville. There’s not much around this area, but I think this would be a good place to stay a night or two on a longer trip. The campground is right off the road, but it is very large, and surprisingly wooded, so you could avoid road noise with an interior site, and it could be relaxing for a night. There are several long term residents, but there were a good number of open sites.

The park has a playground with a wooden pirate ship for kids, and a really nice pool. It was crystal clear. The office has essentials, ice, and firewood. There is a laundry facility on the property too.

I can’t say this would be an ideal camping spot for me personally, but for someone looking to stop somewhere off I-75 for a night or two, this place would be a great choice.

We stayed 2 nights here. There were several long term tenants. We had water, electric, sewer, and cable. Since we had sewer hook up I did not use their bathrooms. They had 2 bath houses. There was a pool and store on site. It’s easy enough to get to, it’s less a mile off 75. The sites were level, the park was clean, and the owners were nice.

Awesome RV resort. Had a river stream right out the front door. Clean, quiet, heated pool, and close to downtown and Sugarland gate. Definitely recommend.

Jake from the Dyrt here! The Gatlin Ridge RV Park is the perfect basecamp for those looking to explore the area and return home to their RV with full hookups. Check them out and make sure to leave a review on the Dyrt!