Best Tent Camping near Harriman, TN

We reserved our site online, this can be done a month in advance. We were impressed with the paved parking space, picnic table, fire pit and level tent pad. It looks like these are very new. Proximity to cades cove loop was great. The souvineer shop has great gifts and a good selection of snacks and some supplies. Prices are reasonable, better than we expected. Bathroom was not the best, not very clean. The dish washing sink behind the bathroom was handy. No showers, but this is true for any camp sites in the park. Ranger station nearby is helpful to get advice and current weather reports (no phone reception in the park). Bike rentals available near the gift/snack shop too, to bike the loop. Lots of trees on our site that we used to setup a tarp to stay dry.

We camped here for one night on a Saturday. 

The campsites have a fire ring, picnic bench, and lantern pole. Each campsite has their little parking space except site 9, 10, and 11. It is one parking spot for 3 cars and you have to walk about 100 feet. The campsites are very close together. We were very lucky with campsite 11 bc nobody around us showed up. Probably due to the bad weather the first day. The campsite was very spacious and was right on the creek. 

There is no electricity or water at the campground. The vault toilet had no flushing water but was clean and didn't have a smell. The Obed area is very inviting for fishing, hiking, and rock climbing. There are trails that start right from the campground. If you need an escape from the daily grind, that's your place.

Rock Creek Campground is the only campground for the Obed Wild and Scenic River National Park. It's a primitive campground with 11 sites for tents only. RVs are not allowed. There is a restroom for campers with pit style toilets. No potable water available, but there is plenty that you can treat.

Each site has a picnic table, lantern hook, bearproof food locker, fire ring with grill, and a tent pad. Bearproof trashcans are located throughout the campground. A section of the Cumberland Trail begins at the campground. The Emory River runs right alongside the campground with easy access. There is no camp store, but the town of Wartburg is about a mile away if you need anything.

Pros: Good hiking trails and great fishing. Easy access to the river. Restrooms available.

Cons: The sites are very close together and it gets quite crowded during the summer months and on weekends. A public road runs right next to the campground so there is traffic at times when people are coming and going from work. No camp store or potable water available. Bathrooms are not kept stocked.

This campground is located within the Cumberland Mountain State Park. The sites are set up for RVs and it is very popular.

Pros: There is no camp store, but there are vending machines available. There are restrooms available. Staff is in the office during business hours. There are 2 short hiking trails (less than 1 mile in length each). There are playgrounds, a lake for fishing, and a golf course. Each site has parking for 1 vehicle, a large gravel pad, water and electric hookup, picnic table, and lantern hook.

Cons: site are very close together. Tents and RVs do not have separate loops. No camp store. No showers.

Overall, this campground is set up to cater more toward those with RVs than people camping in tents.

Pickett State Park is a great spot to camp if you like peace and quiet, but don’t want to have to backpack in to a spot. Despite the small campground, it was pretty much empty on the first weekend in August when we stayed. It is near the Big South Fork, and Scott State Forest, so there’s lots of great hiking, horseback riding, river recreation, etc. nearby. From other reviews on The Dyrt, I learned the park is excellent for stargazing, and it is true, you will have amazing views at night, we slept in a tent without a rain fly, just so we could see the stars!

The campground has several sites with electric and some without. We stayed in B1, which did not have electric. All the sites have picnic tables and fire rings, and the ones on the outside of the loops back up to the woods and trails. All the sites are spacious.

The restrooms were clean, but they must be pretty old. There were some areas in need of tile repair, but it was just a cosmetic issue, so it didn’t bother me. The showers were nice, and everything was clean.

The campground also has cabins, and those seemed to have more guests than the campground. They have a set of cabins that were connected, like apartments, and they have some larger, freestanding cabins too. They had a group site as well, but I did not go to it.

The park has a lake with swimming area, and canoe/kayak/paddle board rentals, a swinging bridge, playground, tennis courts, a gigantic picnic area, and several great trails.

This was a very pleasant find, and we will definitely return!

This is the campground that has been forgotten by the National Park service. There is a narrow and washed out road to get back to the campground. There is a run down abandoned ranger station at the front of the campground that is not staffed. You would think that for how remote this campground is it would be tranquil and relaxing but that is not the case. The campsites are very close to each other and with the lack of Ranger presence or a campground host and no cell phone reception this camp ground was very loud and overcrowded even after quiet hours. We had people pull up to site 15 (just a few feet away from our tent) at midnight and took over an hour to set up camp with blazing lights and were loud. Being in the most black bear populated national park you would think each site would have a bear box but they don’t. Also the community dish washing sink was always full spiders and was not functional. The bathrooms were just one toilet and one sink with no paper towels or soap. The bathrooms and the wash sink area are in need of a major remodel. Side not e for people that use solar panels this entire campground is shaded 90% of the day which makes it cooler but it also makes it where your battery bank will not charge while you are here. This was the worst national park campground we have ever been too.

We camped two nights last week in Loop A, the tent only, nonelectric section. Being mid-week, there were not many people, meaning it was also nice and quiet. The sites are roomy, with a large tent pad, fire ring, picnic table, lantern hook, and a food storage locker. Yes, this is bear country, but we didn't see any during our visit. The bath houses are as nice as you're likely to find in a national park, with flush toilets, hot showers, and an outside sink for dish washing, etc. There is also a large, wheelchair accessible bathroom with roll-in shower. A water hydrant is available to fill jugs and tanks.

We drove through the other loops to see what they look like, because Loop A isn't open in winter. Should we decide to camp here in winter, Loop B is the only section open. But, that will let us use an electric heater. 

Be aware that some things are not open in 2020 due to Covid-19. The park visitors centers are still closed, the swimming pool wasn't open mid-week, and the check-in building was unstaffed when we arrived. There was a sign at the check-in point telling us to reserve and pay for our site using Recreation.gov. We had cell service there, so no problem. It you don't have service, drive across the road to the Camp Store (which is not always open) to use WiFi there. There is a note on the front door with the password. 

There are so many things to do in Big South Fork and surrounding areas that you really need to just visit the park website and make a list of things to do. Some are easy and roadside, others not so much. For example, to hike the Twin Arches Loop Trail, you'll drive several miles of dirt roads to reach the trailhead and end up hiking about 6 - 6.5 miles. The description says the loop is 4.6 miles, which is true, but you have to add another 1.4 miles for the out-and-back from the parking lot to the start of the loop. The loop trail isn't bad, but the access trail has steep stairs. Anyway, find something you like and enjoy the Cumberland Plateau.

I stayed at this campground for one night this past spring during April. My friends and I went rock climbing at the Obed and originally we were going to stay at the usual climbers campground spot. After checking it out and realizing we were unprepared to set up a tent in a gravel mud puddle we checked out frozen head's campground and it was so nice. The place we set up our tent was relatively dry for the cold, wet weather (about as good as it gets). The fire rings and picnic tables were great and so were the hiking trails. The best part was how big, nice, and clean the bathrooms were. The bathrooms were kept extremely warm for the weather.

TLDR (Too Long Don't Read)

• IDEAL location to camp if you are climbing at the obed
• AMAZING bathrooms especially if you are camping in cold wet weather
• would 100% return if I am looking for camping in TN
• GREAT price

Yarberry Campground is a gated lakefront campground and day use area located on Tellico Lake, not far from the Fort Loudon Dam. The Fort Loudon Marina is also close by, and Calhoun’s restaurant is there too.

The campground is set up perfectly for every site to be good! Most sites are lakefront, and I believe all have a lake view. All have fire rings, picnic tables, and all I saw were pretty level. The sites are large and spaced out so you don’t feel right on top of your neighbors.

The tent area is not huge, but large enough for probably 4-5 tents to have lots of room, maybe more. This would be perfect for groups camping together. There’s a parking lot outside the tent area, so a rooftop tent would not work here, you’d need an individual site.

The day use area is nice, with a roped off swimming area, kayak rentals, picnic tables, a basketball court, etc. there’s also a boat launch for boats.

The restrooms were nice and clean, and individual rooms with a shower and toilet. There are two bathhouses in the campground, I just used one of them, so I assume they were both the same.

This is a great spot on the lake, and I can’t wait to return when we can stay longer!