Best Campgrounds near Oak Ridge, TN

Start with, campground has great views of the smokes. Getting to it can be tricky as TN-68 has steep grades and decent curves but is doable for all but the absolute longest if rigs. That said, I was looking for a campground that would be well suited to a motorcyclist and the sites are fairly loose gravel and roads are fairly compacted but still gravel. With the steep grade to get to the lower sites, not the best suited for being on 2 wheels, but it is passable. Because sites are loose gravel, leveling can be a challenge is your rig does not auto level.

Staff was great! Fellow campers could have been better people. Way to many KAREN'S. We have 4 dogs. We did everything possible to keep them quiet. Including buying muzzles. We worked with the rangers and staff to get the furtherest away from people. Because of barking. The closest people was a block away. The other campers complained!! Maybe the complaining people should have bought ear plugs!! We did everything possible in concirsation of other campers. The night ranger was not friendly at all. 10 pm he pulled up to tell us to make sure we keep our dogs quiet and to keep the fire down. At that time 10pm everyone was in bed. No one had a fire the whole 6 days we were here. It was like building a fire was illegal. That's how the ranger made me feel about a fire in the fire pit.

My son and I have been twice. The first trip was marred by car issues, but the second trip, we were able to actually camp in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. 

We parked at the Twin Arches Loop National Recreation Trail head, then made our way down into the valley to view the two gorgeous and huge arches there.

As the sun was setting, we found a good place to set up our hammock gear a little ways off of the trail, then we fixed our supper at a nearby over hang, and finally snuggled in for a wonderfully cold night (late march). There was ice on the trees in the shade of some of the overhangs.

It is a nice hike, plenty of interesting areas to set up camp. Fair warning, some of the "stairs" down into the canyon are steep so be prepared.

Make sure you have your permit with you while camping and have a wonderful time in this beautiful valley.

We traveled in a Class C, so I chose this CG because the bus stop is just outside the CG. Unfortunately, the bus route was suspended due to a lack of drivers just 2 weeks before we arrived. (Not the CG's fault, but it did complicate our trip a bit.) The CG is nice, sites are regularly spaced somewhat close to each other but level. There are many seasonal campers here. Restrooms are clean, laundry is convenient. There are many things to do in the CG, pools, arcade and lots of kids. There is a gas station/convenience store on the property. Staff in the office can answer questions about the area.

We would stay here again if the bus is running.

Cumberland Mtn. S.P. is a beautiful park, all interactions with staff were friendly and pleasent. Be advised that if you arrive after 4pm as per checking time posted on the website, the office will be closed. Talking to the wonderful staff I found that numerous requests have been made to have the site updated but has not happened. Also, our opinion was that many of the facilities could use a little love, the bathhouses are dated and in desperate need of renovation, and during our stay were void of any cleaning. Even the presence of spider webs and eggs around the windows spoke of neglect in proper cleaning. The park does offer wifi for those wanting to stay connected however for us it would continually go off line and have to wrestle with reconnecting and signing in. Overall it is a very nice park, just in need of cleaning and a little TLC.