Elkmont Campground — Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Large campground but had level, shaded, and private camp sites. Flush toilets clean but no showers. Traffic was a beast but there were good hiking trails from campground. I was on a loop that allowed generators but very few were in use. Nice creek runs through campground. Campground fairly close to visitor center and nearby hiking trails but wickedly crowded. Very strict rules regarding food storage and park has managed to control bears and raccoons. Dump station on site.

We had an amazing time, the campground is beautiful and the park rangers were awesome. Hoping to come back soon.

It looks so good so far. Thank you so much for sharing. Have a very good day!

My family of five camped three nights at Elkmont the last week of March 2024. High was in the 50's and 60's and low in the 30's. It was windy and cold at nights. I did a ton of research attempting to book a"private" site at this campground--but now I'll share what I have learned-- there are none! We had site A-7, which is"walk-in", but the walk is incredibly short and not far from your car. All of the campsites are extremely close together, and there is no brush to divide them. That said, the campsite is gorgeous and I do recommend it. Despite having no visual privacy, the sound of the rushing water masks all the sounds of talking, etc. and I slept great with the rushing water. Considering the walk-in sites are no more private than any other, I think my highest recommendation would be the B sites. Otherwise try to book any site along the river. 

The bathrooms were adequate--sinks and toilets and cleaned daily (no showers). We did one of our hikes from our site--the Little River Trail to Cucumber Gap at it was beautiful. While the technical distance of that loop is 5 and a half miles, it was 7 miles total from our site. I recommend doing Little River Trail first, as it is a gradual uphill on a gravel road. While the wide road is not ideal, it is along the beautiful river. Cucumber Gap trail is single track with some nice views. The final portion of that loop, Jakes Creek Trail to the Elkmont Historic District is STEEP--so I was glad we were going down, not up.

Stayed here in the Fall of 2023. It was perfectly quiet at night which was great. The bathrooms are clean and there’s a dish washing room as well. Due to the amount of black bears in the area they’re very vigilant about keeping trash in trash cans (apparently bears break into the bathrooms… so there’s ZERO trash cans in the bathrooms and you have to walk your paper towels or other items to the big dumpsters)

Coming from the Rocky Mountains where black and brown bears are also very active, I was surprised to see that there were no bear boxes of any kind.

This minor complaint won’t affect most people. but to those who need a bear boxe to store items while away from their campsite or perhaps while they’re there, just keep that in mind. 😊

Elkmont is a big campground located on little river.  I spent the weekend here, and had a great time with cool weather.  Warm during the day and just above freezing at night.

I drove up to clingmans dome at sunrise and caught a brief amazing glimpse before clouds covered up the whole view.  It was really interesting the way the conditions changed so quickly.  I made a short youtube video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5LIvzDiSY4

I fly fished around the campground, but didn't have much luck until I walked a good distance upstream on the little river trail.  It was a great afternoon, and all fish I caught were rainbows and about hand size.  Nothing remarkable, but time well spent and very enjoyable.  

I would love to bring my son here, and look forward to trying to get a spot next year to bring him here.

As a note, I drove through gatlinburg early morning and the traffic was awful.  I turned left after gatlinburg and rather than having to head back through town there was a bypass, which was a huge time saver.

Very clean. Very nice. We will be back

Campground is super easy to find, with plenty of signage. Go to the visitor’s center first and get your parking permit if you plan on doing any exploring by vehicle. $5/day or $15/weekend. Zero cell service past Laurel Falls (Verizon). Firewood and other essentials on site for purchase. They take cash or credit! Everything is within a good 20 minute drive. B7 is right on the river. Sounds of the water drown out any neighbors, which makes up for the sites being pretty close to each other.

The sites are good with picnic tables, fire rings, and gravel tent pads. Also, the trees provide plenty of shade and bear-proof trash containers. Also, no bright street or area lights are shining into the tent all night long.

Although there are not any shower facilities, which didn't bother me, the toilets are not that great!

Two big problems for me. 1. A lot of generator noise and 2. No one respected the 5 mph speed limit which was a big concern with the young children running around, and the number of wild animals around.

If you are a tent camper, I recommend looking for tent only camp sites in this area.

Nice campground in a good location in the park. Decently close to cade’s cove, and really close to laurel falls. Even though there are no showers, you can access the river in tons of spots even if you don’t have a waterfront site. Another thing that might bother some people would be bugs in the bathrooms, but most of them are dead and all of them are harmless, just a little gross. Overall pretty solid campsite if you’re willing to lose some comfort.

All promised amenities were in working order and acceptable condition

Busy campsite, need to get your reservation early. Although it is busy, the trees make the campsites by the river feel separated. The sound of the river is very relaxing and blocks out any neighbor noise. This section is generator free so nothing too loud. Lots of hikes near by, abandon mountain houses, and even a ghost town in walking distance. Camp store selling wood and anything else you might need. Easy to get to lots of well known Smokey Mountain hikes.

It’s a nice place for $25 in a tent! They have restrooms (no showers) and even a sink specifically for you to wash your dirty dishes in. Everyone around us was so friendly too so that was a plus. If you want a drink or candy BRING CASH. They have vending machines but they’re not the ones with a card reader. You’re surrounded by nature which means absolutely no cell signal but I loved that! Def would go again

Elkmont is a massive campground, one of the better ones I've seen in a National Park. We spent 2 nights in B11, it's on the corner of a section, at the bottom of a hill, only has 1 immediate neighbor, which is above you. Good canopy coverage and a little stream runs next to it. Driveway is slanted down to the site.

Elevated tent pad was large enough for our huge tent (BA Tensleep Station 6). Water and toilets are nearby.

I love camping inside National Parks! This is a large campground with several loops. There are some great sites along the river, but those are obviously the most popular and hardest to get. That also comes with having lots of neighbors. Other areas of the campground off river are more quiet and doesn’t fill up as much.

Lots of bathrooms so that you don’t have too far of a walk. There are no showers in this campground. Flush toilets only.

There is a small vending area on site that has snack and also a few camping essentials if you forget something. Wood and ice can also be purchased here.

We had a wonderful stay and can’t wait to return!

Excellent boondock style camping. Bathrooms available. No power, but generators allowed from 8 am to 8 pm. No water, but spickets are available to fill jugs. No sewer, but dump station is near Sugarland Visitors Center. Great river views and access. Wonderful trails. Cooler temperatures (66 at night). Wildlife galore.

We began our stay at GSMNP at Balsam Mountain for seclusion but then wanted to book something close to water and attractions. It was super easy to book this spot, I literally did it from our campground the night before. This campground was close to the hiking trails, swimming holes and other attractions but secluded enough that you didn't feel the heavy tourist pressure as well. 

Our neighbors were super friendly and not too close. It was a surprisingly quiet campground for the amount of people that were there. Our site had its own private little access to the creek that ran right through it. It was clean and well kept up! We are absolutely looking forward to booking this campground again very soon since it was our favorite in the park so far! There is generator use at these sites but we did not have any neighbors that used them. 

The bathrooms were kept very clean and they provided a dish washing station and bear proof trash bins through the campground. The only issue was that the dish washing station nearest to us was not working but there were enough within a short walking distance that it didn't bother us too much. 

The only other issue that we had with this site was the fact that there was no cell service at all. You have to drive outside of the park into Gatlinburg to find service. It would not be an issue if this had not been our first outing away from our kids, but all was fine in the end and we enjoyed being able to unplug from work and other stressors (just not the kids lol)!

Me, wife, 19 year old daughter and her best friend stayed at Elkmont May 1st through the 5th, primitive tent camping. Quiet, bathrooms are clean, small state run upply store on sight. Historically significant due to resort that used to be there, with ruins to see, and was a logging community returned to nature when S.M.N.P. was formed. Close proximity to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Hiking trails, waterfalls, and Cades Cove. Well run and staffed camp. Lots of spaces available for RV or tents. Cheap. Saw one very young bear less than a mile from camp. Only gripe, it has lighted bathrooms with power, the park could have hot showers, there are no showers.

Easy to find. Lots of sites fairly spacious. Bathrooms on site. Some sites right on the river, most were close. We enjoyed our stay.

Gurgling creek next to the campsite and really dark at night for stars!

The Campground is beautiful! The sites are big and the sleeping pad is perfect. Bathrooms Clean, peaceful.

To be honest, I’m not sure Id pick the same site again; Which sucks! We had a lot of people walk onto our site coming up from the stream. I wasn’t happy about that, especially since there are rivers and streams surrounding the whole Campground and Park.

Spent 5 days in the Smokies based at Elkmont in a small camper trailer. Excellent hiking despite snow and rain. Bathrooms clean, and conveniently located. Nice to have dish washing station to dispose of grey water. There are drinking fountains and water spigots to fill water containers. Dump station and water fill station located across from Sugarland visitor center. First site was ideal, plenty of space between sites, nice view of mountains. Had to move because we extended our stay. Second site was on top of the road - lots of traffic and only a view of the road and parked cars from the picnic table and fire pit. Definitely will try for a site on the river next time.

Great weekend get away. From hiking alum cave trail to mt. LeConte to fly fishing the areas creeks. Elkmont is one of the best campgrounds around. I recommend stay next to the creek.

Neighbors were perfect distance from us. Beautiful creek/river running by.

We stayed here for Fall Leaves in the Smoky Mountains in our van. It’s a basic campground. It usually has bathrooms with running water but since they are doing maintenance on the sewer system they had porta potties. No showers. No cell signal whatsoever. The sites aren’t private, which didn’t bother us.

There isn’t a dump/fill station here. However, there is one at the the Sugarland Visitor Center. I’ve attached a map of where it is. I asked the information desk at the visitor center where it was.

Went middle of November. Still busy! Absolutely beautiful and refreshing. Campsites are a little close together, but we personally were okay with that. Lots of access to many different trails. NO service— I mean none! which can be a refreshing change. Can’t beat camping in the smokies!!! ❤️

Love this place, always clean and friendly staff

Always love coming here, stayed at B4 this time

I had the most fantastic campsite right next to the river in Elkmont. I was able to hang my hammock right next to the river to enjoy my naps and morning coffee 🥰 also close to the bathrooms and entrance/exit to the campground. Close to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and many of the main attractions in the park.

No cell service in the campground or nearby.

We stayed in late august and i was a bit worried that it might be too crowded but it wasnt at all. We had a few neighbors but everyone was friendly and kept to themselves. I was also worried because other reviews said that the camp spots were close together, and some of them were. It all just depends what camp spot you choose. Also there are no showers, just restrooms. Overall the campground was absolutely beautiful and listening to the river at night was very relaxing.