This is such a beautiful National Park, and very accessible to most of the east coast cities. We traveled down from Pittsburgh and stayed Friday through Monday at Lewis Mountain campground, which is one of the smaller campgrounds in the park. Reservations are first-come, first-served, which makes it a bit tricky. Out of the 31 sites (including host site), only 3 remained when we arrived at about 1:45 PM on a Friday afternoon, and those remaining filled up within the hour. Especially in the busier months of the summer, I would suggest arriving prior to 11 or 1130 AM if you're trying to get a site on a Friday or Saturday night. This campground is known as the quieter campground in the park, since it is primarily tent campers, and the quiet hours are enforced as a result. There are also cabins available that you can rent that are closer to the picnic area and Skyline Drive. This campground is right next to the AT and convenient to closer hikes like Bearfence Mountain (probably my favorite hike in the park - beautiful 360 degree views from the rocky summit) and the short trail up to Lewis Mountain itself. During our long-weekend stay, we saw a total of 6 black bears, a barred owl, tons of awesome bugs (moths, beetles, etc), brook trout, a salamander, and some other wildlife. We did approx 7 trails, most of which were appropriate for younger kids (7 & 9), and generally had an amazing weekend. This campground is perfect if you prefer the quieter, hiker-friendly side of things, vs. the more RV-oriented Big Meadows or Skyland, which is cabin/lodge oriented. I have not camped at either Loft Mountain or Mathews Arm, so I can not comment on those.