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Davenport Shelter — Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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Davenport Shelter in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is surrounded by forested terrain and rolling hills. Temperatures range from lows in the 30s Fahrenheit during winter to highs in the 80s during summer. Nearby attractions include the Appalachian Trail and scenic views from Mount Cammerer.

Description

National Park Service

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Shelter on the Appalachian Trail at the North Carolina / Tennessee border.

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Location

Davenport Shelter — Great Smoky Mountains National Park is located in Tennessee

Coordinates

35.76930073 N
83.1234004 W

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Access

Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.
Hike-In
Backcountry sites.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Unknown
Verizon
Available
AT&T
Good
T-Mobile
Fair

Site Types

Tent Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Cabins

Features

For Campers

Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
WiFi
Alcohol

For Vehicles

Pull-Through Sites

Contact

General Info

Visit Website

Drive Time

56 min from Morristown
1 hr 12 min from Knoxville
1 hr 21 min from Johnson City
2 hrs 9 min from Asheville

Lynn G.

Ranger

Reviewed Sep. 30, 2017

Amazing shelter but NOT car camping

This is a beautiful shelter on the Appalachian Trail. The trail from the parking lot to the shelter is at least 3 miles, so this is a true backpacking trip. The shelter is both logs and stone, lots of personality. It sleeps at least 10 people. There’s a great fire pit, nice water spigot nearby, places to hang bags, caged in to protect from bears. If you are day hiking in, consider being a trail angel and bring some treats for the thru-hikers :)

Art S.

Legend

Reviewed Aug. 12, 2016

Davenport Shelter on the Appalachian Trail

Coming upon Davenport shelter we decided to eat a snack and rest up. The shelter has a cage around it to keep out the bears. (They all did in the smokies until people started feeding bears to coax them to stay for photos. Then the bears showed up to much. It was like a reverse zoo. Now the fences are gone except for this one so it was good to see) I might avoid setting up your tent outside of the fence at this shelter. One of my hiking partners sat in the cage and pulled out his travel guitar. We ate to the sound of beautiful acoustic Bach music. What a perfect day.

While we did not see any bears at the shelter, we read in the hiker's log that a black snake dropped right onto a woman in the middle of the night. This was the night before we arrived. Anything is to be expected out in the Appalachian wilderness.

The hike out of the Smokies leads right to a hostel with bunks, showers, laundry and food available. A welcome location in the wildness of this area. Don't miss out on hiking through the Smokies!