Chilhowee Recreation Area

Overall: Very quiet wooded campground on Chilhowee Mountain Getting there: Off TN SR 64 East of Cleveland& Ocoee. Very nice lakeside drive along Lake Ocoee. There can be a lot of traffic. Turn on marked road just past Ranger Station turnoff and take Oswald Road 7 miles up a winding mountain road, narrow in spots with multiple scenic overlook views of the Blue Ridge mountains and Lake Ocoee.  There is also a marked "Historic Site" that is worth a stop.  See pics. Advise not to take back road from/to Benton. There is a sign on the entry to the drive in that says“full up” on electric campsites, but not so. Mostly empty mid week. Most sites are reserved for weekends. If you do not have a reservation and are going up without one this can be totally misleading. 

Check in and staff: There is no check in gate. Campground Hosts are present and did make the rounds checking on us in the late afternoon. Very pleasant. Reservations for sites are made on-line, so you follow the signs to your reserved site. 

Amenities: Electric is available at some sites, but not others. There is no water available at any of the sites. Some of the loops have a water source nearby with instructions to bring water to your campsite, do your dishes there, strain out any food particles for the trash and dump the grey water at the campsite. Since bears are present and attracted to scents this seemed an odd instruction to us. There are no dishwashing sinks available in the restrooms, and this is discouraged. 

There is a very nice small lake with a beach, many hiking trails including one to Benton Falls.  The hiking trail around the lake is very nice, level and shaded most of the way.

Bathrooms: The bathroom in loop B was not very clean. See pics. The hot water was hot, but very difficult to use. The shower had a little button to push after turning it to the left for hot water. This stayed on for exactly 4 seconds per push. So in order to get a decent shower you have to hold it in. 

Site: Campsites are large, wooded and relatively private. Nice flat gravel covered parking/landing areas with excellent fire pits. See pics. Firewood is available with the Host. We were there mid week and it was very quiet. There was only one other camper in Loop B at the time.

Campground was well taken care of and clean. It was easy to navigate even after pulling in after dark. We will definitely be staying there again.

Beautiful, well maintained park. Stayed 2 nights and made plans to return for a week. Stayed in A loop. The A&B loops are well spaced and mostly shaded with fairly level gravel pads. Bathhouse was clean and well lit. Roads around the loops were narrow but there were big 5th wheel rigs so its doable. We were there in the middle of the week and it wasn't crowded at all. Plenty of FC FS sites even though the signage at the main turnoff to Oswald rd said no RV electric sites. We walked over to loops C&D and E&F and those loops were still quite spacious although not many electric sites that we noticed. The trails are what really makes this an all around great campground. Several hikes for all levels. We did the Benton Falls hike and it was lovely! 3 miles RT. Fall color was just peaking 🍂 Fire pits with cooking grates, lantern posts and picnic tables were clean and well kept. If you're in the area, put this one on your list! You won't be disappointed! The views are killer! 👍

We love this campground! Large private sites throughout. Flush toilets and hot showers nearby. 25 miles of hiking and biking trails starting right from our campsite. F loop is very quiet during the week. $12 non electric. Water spigots can be found throughout the campground. There’s no camp store and no firewood, so bring your own if you plan on making a campfire. 

The campground is well maintained the park staff is always driving around and friendly. Each campground has a fire pit, lantern pole and picnic table! The bathrooms are maintained only thing is you have to keep pushing the button on the wall for the water to come out. There is water spickets around for filling up. There is a nice little hike to near by Benton Falls! Over all the campground is nice!!

Just a great spot

Barely was able to fit the RV in the site, the roads weren’t the issue but on each site were huge ditches for water drainage. While trying to back in, was inches from ended up in one.

Quiet campground, seems mostly for van setups or tents.

The lake on the top of the mountain wasn’t appealing to go in, swampy looking.

Provided a variety of hiking trails.

The bathrooms were 4/10. I hope you’re okay with spiders 🕷!

The best part of the campground were the views that overlook lake Ocoee.

In the future I’d rather stay at the foothills of the mountain and take day trips exploring. I wouldn’t want to spend more than a few days camping there.

Currently RVing across country with my pup Jack 🐶. Follow us on Instagram @danieljacobbb.

Documentary coming soon!

The roads are nice and paved. Pretty busy but a spot was available and they are spread out pretty well. Bathroom facilities were decent and had showers. No water hookup but you can fill your tank at the spiggots. Electric was available at our site.

Our site was probably the worst designed one. Really strange back-in in the shape of an L over a creek with the electric on the wrong side. Probably why it was still available. But we made it work.

The lake was mostly clean, the trails were easy to navigate, honestly the whole grounds were. The drive up was beautiful and long and easy to make our way around. Be very mindful of what snakes are in the area, they are everywhere but all the ones we came across were harmlesssss. You do have to keep in mind this is a water rich area so you’re gonna have all kinds around! Please be kind!

My partner and I headed to nearby Chilhowie Campground in the Cherokee National Forest last year to try out our new teardrop camper.  We chose site 1 in the A Loop as it had shore power. The site was not level and actually had quite an incline which was slightly challenging to level on the sandy pad.   The site itself was nice and roomy.  There were some lovely trees for us to set up our Eno hammock.  The site is right next to the entrance so there was heavy traffic and noise traveling in and out of the campground. This is obviously not highly desirable as it always seems to be available during high demand weekends.   We are going back this summer after selecting another site.  

One of the most spectacular things about this campsite is the accessibility to hiking trails including the fairly easy trail to McKemy Lake and Benton Falls.  McKemy Lake has a nice sandy beach and allows non-motorized boats.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Benton Falls. Though it was fairly busy, people were respectful and mindful of space.

Really looking forward to go back to this treasure!

This is a terrific campground in the Cherokee Natl Forest.   Sites have electricity.   Water is accessible to fill tank before you park a camper.  The trails were wide and clean.

Went here for a weekend hiking and hanging out. Did know what expect and was positively surprised. Large sides, well spaced. Many hikes right off the campground and a nice waterfall. We will come back

Be sure to read the instructions on the park website about how to get here! Google will lead you astray! It was raining when we arrived, and I was so grateful for the nice new road, especially after seeing the road Google wanted us to take.

My husband and I visited the first week in July. There was rain in the forecast everyday, but it only really rained one day (it was a down pour that lasted ~30 mins). It was fairly humid the rest of the time, with a random sprinkle here and there. Camper pads are crushed rock, which I think helps them to dry quickly, but did produce a LOT of mess going in and out of the camper.

We stayed in E loop, but drove the whole park. Loops A&B are closest to the lake and looked great for groups, or folks with kids. Loops E&F were a bit more secluded, and better fit for couples, dogs that don't like a lot of passersby, or people that generally want to keep more to themselves. C&D were somewhere in between.

We were here during COVID, so felt a bit nervous about using the park restrooms, but didn't have an option as our site was electric only, and we needed showers everyday after hiking/biking. The showers were clean, hot and great water pressure. Also, there was a restroom for every 6-7 sites, so not too much traffic.

Some hiking trails were cleared well, and others were overgrown. Benton falls was great, but crowded. For a more secluded waterfall experience head to the Rainbow falls. We didn't go to the swimming beach, because dogs are not allowed. We did hang out at the lake and fish (no bites), but the water was not appealing for swimming (lots of down trees/branches and very silty). 

There is no WiFi or AT&T cellular signal in this park. However, if you drive to any of the scenic overlooks just outside the park, you will get AT&T LTE signal. We also picked up 3 TV stations over the air, which was great for weather/news.

If you need a civilization break, head to Copperhill, as soon as you get to town there is a brewery called Buck Bald Brewing. Excellent craft brew, outdoor seating, and you can bring a picnic or order food delivered from several nearby restaurants. Check out the Olympic White Water runs on your way back!

To get to this campground you have to go up a steep narrow windy mountain road. The camp sites are distanced well and the entire campground is in the shade. There are a lot of hiking trails. The bathrooms could use some TLC.

I love this campground. There are so many hiking/biking trails right off the campground road. You can swim at the lake, go visit a beautiful waterfall, & walk around the loops. Only certain spots have electric. No water, but has a dump station with water to fill your tank. Numerous water slickers around too.

Takes a bit to get up and down the mountain, so make sure you’ve got everything you need with you.

Gorgeous campground. The hosts were great and checked in with us a few times.

There’s a great mountaintop lake with picnic pavilions near the D loop.

This campground is great! It has clean bathrooms with showers, fire rings with grill grates, lots of hiking, hike to a beautiful waterfall, huge lake to swim or float on a raft, and the lightning bugs were breath taking!!

We stayed at site #39. Next to the trail that leads to the lake. Next to rest room, trash bin, and water spout. This specific site has the driveway and then stairs to the fire/table/tent pad. We set our large tent on the tent pad and a smaller tent on the driveway next to the stairs.

Pros: No reservation needed. Warmish showers. Hiking. Lake to swim in. Beautiful waterfall. Perfect to see millions of lightning bugs. Easy payment (put money in slip and put in bin, and yes they do check). Pets allowed.

Cons: we had the WORST neighbors I’ve ever experienced while camping! The staff warned them about quiet hours but never came back to in force it. Fire ring grill topper was broke off.

DON’T drive up the dirt path, we made that mistake. Take the regular rode. GPS sends you automatically to the dirt road.

Over all I’m defiantly going to camp there again. Well kept and overall has a lot to offer

Getting here was like Mr Toads wild ride.  Extreme inclines full of switch backs for a long 5 miles.   The rain did not help much.  Very scary.    Once arrived area well marked and easy to park.  Had electric but no water or sewer.  There are local spigots scattered throughout if you run out in your rig.   Small lake with fishing.  Nice hiking areas.  Love the blooming wild azaleas.   Close to the Ocoee River.

I believe this place is the best campground I’ve stayed! They have tons of sites, and all are spacious and secluded. They do have some with electric hookups, but we didn’t have that, as we were in the rooftop tent. You can’t hardly see your neighbor with all the trees. We were in D loop #36, which was right across from the restrooms and bathhouse, and still we weren’t bothered with noise from a completely sold out campground on Memorial Day weekend. There is a nice little lake area for swimming and/or fishing, picnic areas, hiking trails, beautiful, scenic views, a group site and dispersed primitive area. Getting to the campground is a little tricky. There isn’t much signage to lead you to the campground, and the directions on the website aren’t very clear, we used the Waze app and it took us right to it. I absolutely can’t wait to return!

If at all possible try to drive in during sunset and you will not be disappointed! There are multiple scenic overlooks with a absolutely breathtaking views. Campground, including restrooms is as well kept/clean as they can be. Campground was completely full and we still didn't feel crowded. Awesome hiking trails as well as a decent sized fishing/swimming lake (McKamey Lake).

I absolutely loved this site and hope to go back here soon! There is a beautiful waterfall called Benton Falls near this location and it is a very pleasant, short hike. Our location was very large and had bathrooms near and showers about a mile away.

This campsite was beautiful. sites were clean. the bike trails were challenging. my only complaint is the bathroom. it's not that it was dirty. like most campgrounds insects get into the bathroom. I'm not big on sharing a stall with spiders.

My husband and I stayed here as our first camping trip as a married couple. It’s beautiful! There’s a small hike to Cumberland Falls, which is gorgeous!! We had a great time! Hot water for showers/restroom facilities.