Panther Creek State Park Campground

Panther Creek SP

Panther Creek State Park was an unexpected find outside of Knoxville, TN , in Morristown. I’ve driven by the sign but no need to camp so close to home. I ended up sharing a site with a friend who lives even closer, lol This is a small State Park but it offers a lot to do recreation wise. The weekend we stayed there was a youth mountain bike event and cross country running going on. There’s also horseback trails. My only complaint about the trails is they are not marked well. A Boy Scout troop needs to do some merit badge work and improve them . The campground is small, a little tight in the sides and limited on full service sites. It’s a gradual uphill drive through the camp , you curve to the left and then back down the hill. The sites in the upper curve are bigger then the ones on the hill. There are several that offer tent pads and small vehicle pads. Check your lengths and bring your leveling boards. The two showerhouses are next to pavilions. All well maintained. The upper pavilion has a very cool fire pit area. And can accommodate a small gathering. There is a trailhead in the campground and several other trailheads in easy walking, pedaling distance , plus an awesome overlook and more strenuous hike up the road. The boat ramp is in an adjacent area and the lake is beautiful.

Paved level campsites of varying lengths, so check before reserving. There are about 12 premium sites the have sewer for RV’s. Bathrooms are very clean, loads of hot water and private. There are two bathhouses each with 6 private bathrooms containing sink, shower and toilet. A separate laundry room is available, as is recycling for plastic & aluminum. The park is quiet and well patrolled by rangers and sheriff, so very safe. Store closest to campground is open 2-7:30 PM. Visitor Center at the entrance opens at 7 AM. Tent pads appeared to be 8x8’ max, so if you have a family size tent you’ll need to find flat grass to pitch on YOUR site. During my stay, 9/15-18/2022, crows gave early wake up call but muck better than waking to traffic noise. Watch for stink bugs, there were plenty during my visit and found one in my pop up when I opened up upon returning. Everything you could possibly need in Morristown and the Houston River was a nice paddle.

Great place to camp. Lots of trails for hiking and mountain biking! Easy access to the lake and a great Disc Golf course. Can’t wait to go again.

We enjoyed our stay here so much! There are beautiful trails, frisbee golf, a big park and pretty streams. Was great for a camping weekend. The shower stalls/bathrooms were great; much better than most are and we also used the laundry room which was clean too!

This park is less than 10 minutes from I-81, so very convenient for a one night stop over like we did on this trip. The camping loop is on a hill, so the sites are not 100% level (makes sure you have leveling gear). Also, we found the sites to be very short (and this is coming from someone in a teardrop trailer). Pay attention to the site lengths when making your reservations. The bathhouse was very nice; individual suites with a bench, sink, toilet, and shower. We'll definitely keep this on our list for I-81 stopovers and hope to have a point where we can explore it some more.

Panther Creek was an incredible experience. We loved the campground and it's accessibility to trails. No matter where you camp, your just a short walk from a trailhead that connects to multiple trails. Not to mention the wildlife was great! A raccoon watched us make s'mores from about 20 feet away and it seems like every hour we would see deer. Two deer had lunch on some vegetation while we were having lunch about 30 feet away. We also saw a wild turkey. The rangers are super nice and helpful. Great place to camp, padeboard, hike, and play disc golf!

Panther Creek State Park has a great campground for families to spend time at. For a lesser known state park, they have a lot of amenities. Playgrounds, hiking, horseback trails, mountain bike trails, tennis courts, disc golf, baseball field, volleyball, lake access, swimming pool (closed for covid). Lots of wildlife here, even a rescued barred owl to view near the gift shop. It can get lively throughout the day, but most people are respectful and keep the noise down at night. The bath houses are kept clean, and have some nice pavilions for gatherings. Though if you come in the summer look out for ticks. Panther Creek is notorious for ticks. I pulled 6 off of me in one day.

Great trails, walkways, and a lot of activities available (tennis courts, basketball, frisbee, etc.). The restrooms/showers were clean and well stocked. The only drawback was the slow, and sometimes non-existent, wi-fi service.

Very nice bathrooms. The sites aren’t the most private we’ve ever stayed at, but the mountain biking was so much fun we didn’t care! Hiking and biking was an A+. Great place for families because of the surrounding wooded activities.

This is our absolute favorite campground. Great amenities and ease of access for anything we need with a short drive into town. It’s quiet and relaxing. Watch out for pesky raccoons in site 7. They love to eat dog food.

Large RR/shower rooms well maintained. Lots to do with a great lake for kayaking. Great trails, and other activities

Panther creek has great hiking trails, pool, playground fire pits and so much more! The campground tends to be quiet and relaxed and has full hookups on some of the sites along with a nice little store and the dump station.

This is a very quiet campground. It has roomy sites and all amenities. The number of sites with sewer is limited, so book early to ensure availability. The campground is a single loop and the full hookups are on a hill. Parking area on the Sites are level, but they tend to slope otherwise. We enjoyed our stay here and will return as it is local and good for quick trips.

The campground has 50 full-hookup sites. A pavilion, shower house. The Park has tennis courts, a swimming pool, 60 miles of trails and a boat ramp for Cherokee Lake.

This camp site is great for hikers! We visited this site while participating in the Dirty Bird Dirt Circuit! We camped while running the race through the trails of the park. The campsite is small but close to all the trails.

Lots of hiking trails, easy access to Cherokee lake. Playground is good for kids. Pool closes before Labor day

The sites arnt very large so check the internet under TN State Parks for available sites. The Campground sits away from the pool and Cherokee Lake but a short drive to the boat ramp allowed for some fun fishing. Lots of hiking trails...but "easy" trail wasn't really easy..

This great park for hiking is less than an hour from Knoxville. It’s always nice to escape the city and this was an ideal place to go. The hiking trails ranged from difficult to short and easy. The ’Trout’ hiking trail was very nice. One of the longer hikes was the Knob trail and it was very nice as well. They even allowed mountain biking on a good amount of trails- bringing a bike next time! This park doesn’t have a huge campground (which is a positive in my book). A drawback is the lack of seclusion,-there really is none. The sites are essentially all in a flat grassy area with some trees around the outside, but they don’t help with privacy much. I would probably make this park a day trip destination or just stay a night because it is not a campground I would enjoy just hanging out around.