Cades Cove Group Campground, near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, is a fantastic spot for those looking to immerse themselves in the beauty of the [Great Smoky Mountains National Park](https://thedyrt.com/camping/north-carolina/near/great-smoky-mountains-national-park). This campground offers a serene setting with spacious sites that are perfect for group camping, allowing you to enjoy quality time with family and friends.

Visitors rave about the clean facilities, including flush toilets, and appreciate the friendly rangers who keep the area well-maintained. Many campers have enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, with one noting, “It was so quiet and dark in the late evening,” making it ideal for cozy campfire nights under the stars.

The campground is conveniently located near the Cades Cove loop, which is a popular area for hiking, biking, and driving. You might even spot some wildlife, as guests have reported seeing bears, deer, and turkeys during their stay. With no cell service, it’s a great chance to disconnect and truly relax in nature. Whether you're roasting marshmallows or exploring the stunning surroundings, Cades Cove Group Campground is a solid choice for your next outdoor adventure.

## Overview

 Over 2 million visitors annually come to enjoy the scenic beauty of Cades Cove and its many historic structures, popular biking and hiking trails and scenic waterfalls and streams. Tucked in the mountains under a lush, shaded canopy, this group campground offers the best that the Great Smoky Mountains National park has to offer.
## Recreation

 The Great Smoky Mountains are a hikers paradise and visitors to Cades Cove Campground love the 5-mile roundtrip hike to Abram Falls. From Cades Cove Loop Road, turnoff at the sign and follow the directions to the trailhead. Although Abrams Falls is only 20 feet high, the large volume of water rushing over falls more than makes up for its lack of height. The long, deep pool at its base is very picturesque. The trail to the falls traverses pine-oak forest on the ridges and hemlock and rhododendron forest along the creek. The waterfall and creek are named for Cherokee Chief Abram or Abraham whose village once stood several miles downstream. A nearby horse stable provides one-hour horseback rides as well as hay rides and carriage rides from March through October, offering recreational activities for the entire family. Campers can also enjoy high-quality backcountry fishing in the cool waters of the countless streams and rivers that snake through the mountains, with trout available in abundance.
## Natural Features

 Cades Cove is a broad, verdant valley surrounded by mountains and is one of the most popular destinations in the Great Smokies. It offers some of the best opportunities for wildlife viewing in the park. Large numbers of white-tailed deer are frequently seen, and sightings of black bear, coyote, ground hog, turkey, raccoon, skunk, and other animals are also possible. For hundreds of years Cherokee Indians hunted in Cades Cove but archeologists have found no evidence of major settlements. The first Europeans settled in the cove sometime between 1818 and 1821. By 1830 the population of the area had already swelled to 271. 
## Nearby Attractions

 The park holds one of the best collections of log buildings in the eastern United States. Over 90 historic structures, including houses, barns, outbuildings, churches, schools and grist mills, have been preserved or rehabilitated in the park, a few of which are easily accessible from the Cades Cove Loop Road. Townsend, located about nine miles away, offers full service grocery stores and fuel.
## Charges & Cancellations

 If you plan to arrive at a date later than your arrival date you MUST contact the campground office 865-448-4103 in order to avoid a cancellation to your reservation. If you wish to cancel your reservation the day of your arrival you MUST contact the campground office 865-448-4103 in order to receive a refund. Rules and reservation policies can be found at https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies Customers who cancel a group overnight facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee.

Cades Cove Group Campground — Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Dyrt is here to help plan your best camping near Townsend. Discover secluded campsites where you can reconnect with nature. Or maybe you like to bring your family and friends along. Either way, there are Townsend campgrounds just for you. You're sure to find the perfect campground for your Townsend camping trip.

Townsend

The Best Camping Near Townsend, Tennessee

I spent three days hiking from Fontana Dam to Newfound Gap.  I spent two nights in shelters on the AT (Mollies Ridge and Silers Bald).  Well worth the effort.  My only complaint was that some of the younger guys packed beer in on the 1st night and the shelter felt a bit like a frat party.  The second night was not so bad as it was further from the road.  I would still recommend this to anyone who enjoys hiking.  It may be on the east coast but the peaks are high and the trail is challenging.

Fontana Dam to Newfound Gap

Cades cove

Beautiful area of GSM with wildlife, views, waterfalls and hiking trails. Huge tourist spot and overrun with people year round, especially during fall season. One road with only one way in and out leads to many hours stuck behind tourists wanting to take pictures of every little thing they see. Although it is very funny to see the tourists get out of their vehicles and corner baby bears to try and take pictures of them. Great hiking trails and a couple of waterfalls, however they are always busy. 

Beautiful area but over run with people

We stayed in a couple of different campsites and got to see the synchronized fireflies!  They were incredible!!!

Synchronized Fireflies!

Beautiful campground as are all in the GSMSP but this one stays busy! Perfect for photographers and those that want to get on the 11 mile loop first thing in the AM or later in the day before the traffic jams start. You will find that the giftshop/concession area well stocked - food is good (ice cream more like ice milk). Closest campground to the Abrams Falls Trailhead.

This one is crowded....always

If you have some people in your family who can’t do or aren’t interested in longer hikes into the backcountry, Cades Cove is the perfect place to take them thanks to the wildlife driving loop. Pros: excellent wildlife, beautiful views everywhere, lovely historic buildings, visitor center, wooded and shady campsites, very well tended campground, great camp store, friendly & helpful rangers, tons of hiking in the area (full day hikes to short strolls). Cons: bugs, some campsites pretty close together, busy (make reservations if possible). FYI: at the camp store you can rent a bike to ride the 12 mile loop and get ice cream...trust me it’s worth it! 


Great area for easy-to-explore wilderness

The group site was great! There was only 20 people allowed at the site but could've held 40\. It poured rain all weekend so we made a tarp city and squeezed all of our tents together. Much better deal than getting a bunch of sites near each other!

18 rained on college kids

This campground is for groups only, of at least 10\. It is part of the Cades Cove campground, one of the biggest and busiest. It’s a little more RV-friendly than Elkmont it seems, but we like them both a lot.

Yay: this is a fairly typical big national park campground in many ways. There is a camp store with firewood (you are required to buy it from an authorized location!). Nice roomy campsites, but not as much plant cover as at Elkmont in my experience. You can hike some trail from right on site. Rangers have almost nightly programming for all ages. Love the tent only areas.

Nay: given the traffic it is well maintained but can still be a little behind in restroom cleanliness. We’ve stayed here many times and how clean the campsite and bathrooms/facilities are can vary a lot. The staff are all excellent though and are happy to hop to it and solve any issues you may have with the facilities. Also bring tons of bug spray! No showers.

Surprise: This is a better campground if you have people in your group that are not as mobile or into hiking, as you can drive the Cades Cove scenic drive.

Great for group of mixed-experience campers

beautiful 

My favorite place to visit in Tenn. park has a lot to offer you at any age. Hiking, historic sites ,waterfall, picnic by the stream, and the best is the ride around the loop. Who knows you may see a bear or two

words cannot describe

Wonderful

Love camping at Cades Cove! Lots of fun memories.

Love camping here

These sites are very close together, not a lot of privacy but I guess That is to be expected in the most visited national park in the country. The scenery was beautiful with the mountains and wildlife. But make sure to lock your food up in your car or bear proof boxes because there are plenty of bears around. The bathrooms were not very clean. Some of them had heavy urine smells to them and floors always had toilet paper all over them. Not sure when anyone cleaned them... there was potable water near the bathrooms and utility sinks. There were no showers in the campground. If you wanted to shower you would have to drive to one of the nearby towns that offered showers at one of the rv campgrounds. The campground had a ranger station and it had a bike rental store as well as a camp store that also sold cafe food and soft serve ice cream. Which was really nice on the hot humid days in June. There were plenty of nearby trails to explore and of course Cades Cove loop which offered nice wildlife and history about the Cove.

Crowded sites bathrooms need cleaning

This is a busy little campground sites are close together but it is very clean and secure. There is a small ice cream shop on site that the kids loved. There is a lovely stream near the picnic area. The restrooms were clean but there were no showers.

We saw more wildlife in this amazing campground than at yellowstone!

Lots of hiking and wildlife. First night had bear enter sites. Abrams Creek and Falls were beautiful in sight and sound! Camp office was useful. Rich Mtn. Loop trail was great, not difficult. Indian Grave Gap Trail reflects elevation change with unique hemlocks and pines (lower moisture at higher elevation than below). Crooked Arm Trail back to camp site.

Great campground for group at Great Smokies 

After staying at Cade's Cove regular camp I had to check out the group camp area which is basically connected in the loop and can be accessed along the same road. I wanted to see if there was a difference in the camping experience at the two locations. For the most part it was similar in experience as you have access to the same hiking areas basically from the sites, however because these are designed for groups the sites are a little larger and more spread out. I didn't experience a lot of cramping feelings at the regular sites however I did notice not all the sites were created equally, here everything seemed more equalized.

Cades Cove is a great place to enjoy family friendly hiking and trail rides but also has more flat lands than any other section of the park I have found. For this reason you can find something for all difficulty levels, perhaps this is why they placed a group camp here so that groups of all levels of experience can truly enjoy their time here.

This is a great educational area of the park for the novice to learn more about wildlife, hiking and history so I definitely encourage larger groups to check it out.

Great for mixed group activities

Nice group campsites. Clean and nice facilities!

Smokey mountains

Best group site we’ve camped at. Laid out great, bathhouse is clean and well kept. No phone service so you get to completely relax. Absolutely breathtaking scenery. 

Beautiful 

Quiet family friendly campground. Wish there were sites closer to the creek. You can hear the water if you're lucky to be close to the end of a row.

Family Friendly 

Cades Cove is awesome.  The loop can be hiked, biked, or driven by car.  The loop is the real attraction and it's a really great experience with the history and things to see.

  

The gift shop is the best I've been in for a campground.  There is a restruant that sells food inside, and the part I loved was that It sold ice cream.  It closed at 5pm, so I only got it once.

  

The pavilion has good WIFI.

  

The bathroom in our area must have had something wrong as it looked clean but smelled horrible.  Other bathrooms didn't have this issue.

  

Our site C55 was so close to the neighbors I would not recommend that site.  Some sites did not have this issue, but that campground really packs people in pretty close.  

  

I really loved the trip there, and would recommend it, especially if you don't stay in c55, and they somehow figure out how to clear up that horrible smell in the bathroom near c55.  haha. 

  

Lots and lots of fireflies each night.  My son loved it.

Busy BUT beautiful

Great little area

Beautiful drive in. Clean campground, flush toilets and friendly people around, lots of smiles as people pass by. 

Gorgeous in October 

My dog and I enjoyed 4 nights here. The sites are well spaced and the tent pad is even. The bathrooms could use an update but I was just happy they’re flush toilets! There are no showers. There is no cell service with T-Mobile. The rangers are friendly and the campground is clean. Cades Cove loop is within a short distance and I saw bears every day as well as turkey and deer. 

Lovely Stay! 

We have spent only one night here and we enjoyed every bit of it. It was so quiet and dark in the late evening really what we needed to have a family campfire getaway. 

Deep in a forest 

Really enjoyed our one night stay at Cades Cove. Make sure to check the campsite descriptions if you need a level site. Some are a bit close together. Heated bathrooms!

Lovely park campground

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amazing

My dad and I visited in may and had a great time. Lots of bathrooms that were all clean. The grounds were very green and shaded, each site had a flat mulch spot for the tent, a firepit, and a picnic table. Very close to lots of different trails. Only problem is that there are a lot of sites and you’re pretty close to your neighbor (like your tent is 10 feet away and usually no brush between). 

Photos of Cades Cove Group Campground — Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Real photos from real campers