The best EQUESTRIAN camping near
Sylva , NORTH CAROLINA

We did a spontaneous trip to the mountains and we found this nice camp site along the North Fork French Broad River and we camped right along the river. It felt like we were camping deep in the woods and the Fall leaves were still clinging to the trees and made it absolutely beautiful. We fished right next to our camp site and then relaxed with a camp fire listening to the sound of the River.

HWY 215 runs along the camp site but since it was the weekend there was very little traffic. Hosts were very friendly, bath house was clean, and had chickens running around the camp site. Only reason I gave the camp site a four star is because there is clutter around a old cabin and old camper, has a broken down sink and if cleaned up would look much better.

Camp site is close to the Blue Ridge Parkway and other areas of interest.

Spacious and on the river. Close to the biking trails and Cades cove. Spots are clean, fire pits are great, well maintained pavers patio and nicely landscaped

My wife and I went for our 5th anniversary. The campground is great and within a mile or 2 of a lot of trail heads in the Smokies. It was beautiful in October, but if you go in peak season I would recommend staying in the national park due to the insane amounts of traffic getting into Gatlinburg.

The staff is extremely accommodating and very helpful. The bathrooms/showers were clean and the campground was well laid out. Awesome time to be in the smokies even if it is close to home for us.

Quiet campsite run by NPS. Beautiful in the fall. Great fire pit and gravel elevated platform for tents and activities

Pretty clean bathrooms. Easy to find sites. PLENTY of rangers. Heads up: if you have a cooler or water jug it needs to be in your car while you’re sleeping or away from the CG. Nothing food or prep related can be left unattended. I have a large Pelican bear resistant cooler that lives on my hitch rack. It’s locked to my car frame, ratcheted down to both sides of the rack and locked shut. Upon telling the ranger it did not fit in my car, he inspected it, said “mm it seems rugged enough” and let us be. Would stay again for sure.

The campground itself is nice. Great location off of newfound gap road, with tent sites along a rushing creek. Large sites, although not very private. Flush toilets and running water, but no showers. The office staff was friendly. A few trails start from the campground with plenty more a quick drive away.

My arrival left a bad taste in my mouth. Long story short, my reserved site had equipment set up when I arrived after hours (8pm) and a call to the ranger gave me three options: move that person’s tent, take someone else’s reserved spot (campground was full) or leave and go to another campground. I was told there was no ranger or camp host to assist. I grabbed a reserved spot and luckily no one showed up. The next morning, I asked the office if I could just keep my new spot, rather than set up everything again and was told that I could not. However, the office told me that the person on my spot should not be there, but they did nothing to move him. I had to wait until he left on his own so I could move my stuff, wasting a lot of the morning.

This was my fifth trip to the Smokies this year, and it is obvious that the most visited national park is also the most understaffed. Very little ranger presence and consequently plenty of disregard for the rules, especially after 5pm.

The campground is right off loop road. Spots are a little close, and not very private, but you cant beat the location in the park. We saw 3 bears, a red wolf, and numerous dear and elk during our stay.

Great location and well kept amenities. The spacing is crowded, you feel ur neighbor is in ur campsite. Don’t waste ur money on an upgrade site it’s not worth it.

We are glad we stayed at Cades Cove Campground. Thanks to Jay at the bike rental, we were able to ride the famous Cades Cove loop (11 miles) on the last day of the season that the road was closed to vehicles. We also folded the 6 mile hike in and out of Abrams Falls in the middle of the bike ride. It was a fun day, beautiful views, wildlife (turkey & deer). The campground was crowded. Every site was full. The sites are markedly close together, with minimal privacy between. Our site was C61, generator free (that part was nice). But we were on the end of a row, with two sites on one side, and a larger site on the other- all occupied, with just feet between each set up. Other than the tightness of the sites, we really liked everything else about the park.  We traveled from the park towards the Blue Ridge Parkway by going directly through the Great Smoky NP. This was an incredible experience! Highly recommend it!