The best TENT SITES camping near
Knoxville , TENNESSEE

We stayed here during Thanksgiving break 2020. We had a great spot on the river. The staff is very helpful and accommodating. We needed to work and do school while there and the Verizon cell service was limited and the WiFi signal was not great at our rig. The Lizard Lounge has a separate WiFi but you have to be inside or just outside to use it. Amazing river views and very close to the entrance of the National park. After walking around the river front patios are amazing followed by the river front decks.

Pulled in overnight after passing through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Great Towns to visit during Christmas season! The road up to the Picnic area is a bit narrow and windy albeit only a mile up or so. Our Diesel Truck w/ Camper managed the road ok but a large Class A or pull behind might be a problem. The entrance to the area is on the right. We parked in the Parking to the immediate area to the right ahead of the designated Picnic Area that had some County Vehicles also parked there. We stayed the night. No issues. Very remote and dark but safe.

Clean and safe but very close together sites and while convenient to I-40 it’s a ways from the attractions in the area.

Pull ins for class As on the river which do afford a nice view…

Laundry and baths are pristine and worked great.

Has a good playground we used thoroughly. (Also a pool but too cold for us to use).

Wifi was ok if you could connect to the 5G network but unusable otherwise and did not work in laundry room.

We hiked into Rufas Morgan, northbound on the Appalation Trail, and found the shelter occupied. We set up our tents on the levalest spots we could find down hill from the shelter. Great water point at this shelter! Best thing is that NOC is only .8 miles up the AT! Easy to go get something to eat, grab a resupply, and return to camp!

Almost 5 stars! Only negative was that they have a huge playground with many structures but none of it is friendly to littles under age 5 which means you have to “helicopter parent” if you have a little…

The campground is surrounded by a little river so many sites have river views. Most are relatively spacious. There are also a few spots on the road side of the island.

The amenities were spotless. Laundry was pretty new and worked great.

Location was fantastic. Removed from the chaos and in the woods but close enough to be in Gatlinburg in 10 minutes or on a smoky mountain hike in 20. 5 stars for this location!

We stayed in #200 which is a “sideways pull though” though it’s a pretty risky attempt to actually pull through vs back in with a tight squeeze between a tree and your hookups. This spot is on the road side (off the island) but we had an excellent river front and the road noise wasn’t a problem.

Wifi is ok… good for most things but can’t handle a video conference. Had ok cell service on att.

Site 69 , love the view love the place very quiet and very clean showers are clean site it self it’s clean friendly host and the security guy very friendly as well , my wife approves it lol and we are definitely coming back

Full of permanent residents.

Very rugged site. Rig sunk in had a hard time leveling, good for an emergency night stay. Friendly staff.

We spent 4 nights there recently.  So much to do yet so little time to get it done.  Being near Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, The Great Smoky Mountains, Knoxville etc. , it makes for a wonderful centralized place to stay so that you can do activities to your hearts contents.  Zip Lines, Shopping, Hiking, Dollywood, Kayaking.  One day while there we took a 1 1/2 hour drive to Ashville NC to tour the Biltmore estate.  We planned on posting some photos but quite honestly we didn't have time because of all of the other activities we had going on.

Pros:

• beautiful and scenic
• Near great trails
• lots of wildlife - saw a bear!
• clean and quiet campground
• camp store nearby
• easy enough to get to with an RV
• reserved same day

Cons:

• campsites are kind of close to each other
• no dogs allowed on trails (I know that’s pretty common for national parks, but it’s still something we look for)