Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Tellico Plains, TN

If you drive the Cherohala Skyway from Tellico plains, make a left onto Joyce Kilmer Road. You'll come to an intersection; Left gets you Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, Straight ahead will garner you a fabulous view from Maple Springs Overlook, and Right, will take you by Hose Cove Campground. Go Right first and secure a spot at this first-come first-served campground, nestled among the trees of the Nantahala Forest, beside the rushing waters of the Little Santeetlah Creek ...and then go back for hiking and views:)

This campground has 13 sites on the opposite side of the road from the lake, and several spots flanking Santeetlah. If you are a tent camper, my suggestion is go for the opposite side of the lake. I don't think you can even fit a camper into one of these spaces. The campground is a dead end with #13 at the very end, and no turn around past #10. 

We arrived at the perfect hour of the day and had our pick of any site. We chose #12, for its privacy and the beautiful rushing water to sleep by and watch while sitting beside the fire and enjoying morning coffee. If you like camping with friends in adjoining campsites, it looked like #8 and #9 would be good to grab as they are closer together and have a little path that runs between them.

There are flushing toilets and sinks with cold running water, but no hot water and no showers. Just don't even think about using the bathroom facilities until you've selected your spot and paid for it. Elizabeth and John are the camp hosts and NOTHING gets by Elizabeth. Dogs are welcome, but should be leashed. There is a boat ramp with plenty of parking, maybe a mile past the campground, perfect for putting in kayaks and canoes. Bear proof trashcans are on site at Horse Cove, and usual Bear Precautions apply.

This is a great little tucked away haven and totally worth the $10 a night!

Convenient location just off Interstate 75. Quiet wooded area with plenty of activities for the kids. Swimming pool, fishing pond, playground, jump pad. We don't have pets, but there is a small dog park area. Lots of planned weekend activities. Bathrooms are very clean and well-maintained. My husband is disabled and we are very appreciative of the separate handicap facilities. You don't have that in a lot of campgrounds. We like the sites best towards the front of the park close to the pool. The owners are very hands-on and involved and you can tell. We have camped all over the country but this is our favorite local getaway when we have a free weekend.

This is one of a series of seven campgrounds located within a mile or so of each other on River Road. While the fishing is the foremost attraction, there is seasonal kayaking, numerous world class hiking trails, MTB trails and this is a super place to base camp or overnight if you are on an ADV or duel sport motorcycle adventure. The campground(s) are impeccably clean with well maintained pit toilets. The area can be pretty busy on nice weekends and you are essentially right next to the road but generally there is little to no traffic after dark. Weekdays you could very well have an entire campground to yourself as was the case on our early November visit. The area is pretty remote, there is no water or services at any of the campgrounds but there is a small outfitter/store at Green Cove about two miles north on River Rd. The people at the store are very nice but stock is limited. Pack and plan ahead. Tellico Plains and Murphy are each about an hours drive away but the drive to Murphy is over the mountain range via a dirt road

Our group overnighted here as part of a week long duel sport motorcycle trip and this was our favorite spot for the week. We managed to assemble the basics from the store to provide a hearty dinner and breakfast (hot dogs and beans, sausage, eggs, milk for coffee). The riding in this area provided some of the longest stretches of dirt on our trip. We would definitely return to this area for a repeat

This campground has a beautiful mountain view behind the lake. There is also a beautiful waterfall to hike to. They offer paddle boards, kayaks, peddleboats, and aqua cycles to rent for the lake. They also offer bike rentals and putt putt course. There is a general store in the visitor center. There are hiking trails for the extreme hikers too that go into the mountains on the Appalachian trail. The campsites are pretty close together, but we had a premier spot that was larger and a pull-through. The bathrooms were clean, but old and dated. This is one of the oldest campgrounds in the state. They offer cottages and cabins for rent. There was a dog parking loud constantly that was so annoying. We have dogs and many people camping there did, but our dogs don’t bark constantly. I would say this isn’t the campgrounds fault, but this irresponsible pet owner was literally between two campground hosts. Had it continued late at night past 10pm we would have had to call someone. It’s hard to relax by the fire with a dog barking constantly. The campground needs to add more signage. People are driving around looking lost. Here’s the problem ... if you have an RV or camper and park in the RV spaces when you pull out on the far end to the right you cannot see the directional signs. We pulled to the right and it was a dead end at the cottages. It was very stressful trying to the turn around hauling a camper. People in the cottages told us we weren’t the only ones to pull down there and have to turn around. Lots of cars were turning around down there, but with a camper it’s a nightmare. I paid extra for a pullthrough only to deal with that nonsense at the start. I suggest adding a sign at the far right exit of parking lot that has directions. Add another sign that says “Cabins only - Dead End”. If our camper had been an inch longer we couldn’t have turned around. Not impressed by the swimming area at the beach.

I should have gotten one of their little cabins...they look cozy and they are right next to the primitive camping.

I checked in after hours and its a little confusing as to where I can park my car back here. I am next to a sign that says cars aren't allowed beyond this point, but I see another group who have their car... beyond said point. There's a water spigot behind the sign, so perhaps its just meant as a warning so drivers don't crash into it.

The sound of people's wood cracking in their fire is stressing my retired greyhound dog out, but he's never been around camp fires before.

Place seems nice enough in general.

They have a little dog park... that's cool.

And I have two bars of 5G service through T-Mobile.