More than a few folks have headed to Great Smoky during the summer months to relax in the shadows of the mountains. For some families, camping in the park has been passed down from generation to generation.
A site at Deep Creek Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park / NPS file
To accommodate these visitors, and others who might be making their one and only visit to the park, Great Smoky offers four different types of campsites: backcountry, frontcountry, group campgrounds, horse camps. To camp in the park, a parking tag is required and may be purchased through recreation.gov.
Backcountry Camping
Backcountry campsites require hiking several miles into the park's hinterlands. A permit and advanced reservations are required in addition to a parking tag.
Frontcountry Camping
Reservations are required at all the campgrounds and may be made 6 months in advance through recreation.gov or by calling 877-444-6777.
There are 10 frontcountry campgrounds in Great Smokies Mountain National Park, two of which are open year-round. All other frontcountry campgrounds are open seasonally. Which campground you choose depends both on where in the park you want to set up your basecamp to how much solitude you want. Each campground has restrooms with cold running water and flush toilets, but there are no showers or electrical or water hookups in the park. Shower facilities are available in the communities surrounding the national park. You can ask about the nearest facilities when you check-in at the campground. Each individual campsite has a fire grate and picnic table.
Smokemont Campground is open year-round and offers 142 sites (44 RV only), including 7 ADA accessible sites and 3 group sites. Maximum length for RVs is 40 feet (12 m) / for trailers, 35 feet (10.7 m). Individual sites go for $30 per night and must be reserved through recreation.gov. Group sites, which can accommodate up to 20 people, are open May 10 – October 31 for the 2024 season, go for $50 per night, and must be reserved through recreation.gov.
A site at Cades Cove Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park / NPS - Warren Bielenberg via Flickr
Cades Cove Campground is open year-round and offers 161 sites (31 tent only), including 11 ADA accessible campsites and 2 CPAP campsites. There are 4 group sites at this campground. Maximum length for RVs is 40 feet (12 m) / for trailers, 35 feet (10.7 m). Individual sites go for $30 per night and must be reserved through recreation.gov. Group sites, which can accommodate between 20 – 30 people (depending upon the site chosen), are open February 8 - October 31 for the 2024 season and go for between $50 - $94 per night. Reservations may be made through recreation.gov.
Elkmont Campground is open March 8 – December 31 for the 2024 season and offers 211 sites (25 tent only), including 10 ADA accessible campsites. There are four group sites at this campground. Maximum length for RVs is 35 feet (10.7 m) / for trailers, 32 feet (9.8 m). Individual sites go for $30 per night and must be reserved through recreation.gov. Group sites, which can accommodate between 15 – 30 people (depending upon the site chosen), are open April 26 – October 31 for the 2024 season, and go for between $38 - $75 per night. Reservations may be made through recreation.gov.
Cosby Campground is open March 29 – October 27 for the 2024 season, and offers 157 sites (134 tent only), including 2 ADA accessible campsites. There are 3 group sites at this campground. Maximum length for both RVs and trailers is 25 feet (7.6 m). Individual sites go for $30 per night, up to 6 people per site. Reservations are made through recreation.gov. Group sites, which can accommodate up to 20 people, are open March 29 – October 27 for the 2024 season, and go for $50 per night. Reservations may be made through recreation.gov.
Abrams Creek Campground is open April 26 – October 27 for the 2024 season, and offers 16 campsites (4 tent only). Maximum trailer length is 12 feet (3.7 m). Sites go for $30 per night and reservations are made through recreation.gov.
Big Creek Campground is open March 29 - October 27 for the 2024 season, and offers 12 sites – all tent only – for $30 per night through recreation.gov. One group site open March 29 – October 27 and accommodating up to 30 people is available for $30 per night, and reservations may be made through recreation.gov. This campground offers a drive-in horse camp for $36 per night. Reservations must be made through recreation.gov.
Cataloochee Campground is open March 29 – October 27 for the 2024 season, and offers 27 sites, 3 group sites accommodating up to 25 people, and 7 horse camps. Individual sites go for $30 per night, group sites go for $50 per night, and the horse camps for $30 per night. Reservations must be made through recreation.gov.
Deep Creek Campground is open March 29 – October 27 for the 2024 season, and offers 92 sites (60 tent only), including 1 ADA accessible campground. Maximum RV/trailer length is 26 feet (7.9 m). Individual sites go for $30 per night and reservations may be made through recreation.gov. The three group sites at this campground can each accommodate up to 20 people, and go for $50 per night. Reservations may be made through recreation.gov.
Balsam Mountain Campground is open May 10 – October 14 for the 2024 season, and offers 43 sites (19 tent only), including 1 ADA accessible campsite. Each site goes for $30 per night and reservations may be made through recreation.gov.
Look Rock campsite, Great Smoky Mountains National Park / NPS file
Look Rock Campground is open April 26 – October 27 and offers 68 sites (5 tent only; 4 RV only), 10 sites of which have full hook-ups. RV/trailer lengths vary from 30 – 48 feet (4 – 15 m) depending on the site. Individual non-electric sites are $30 per night and individual sites with electric hook-ups are $36 per night. Reservations may be made through recreation.gov.
Click this link and scroll down to the list of PDFs you can download for each frontcountry campground’s sites.
Great Smokies has seven areas with group campgrounds: Big Creek, Cades Cove, Cataloochee, Cosby, Deep Creek, Elkmont, and Smokemont. These sites can accommodate anywhere from 15 to 30 people, depending upon the group site and campground. Prices range from $30 to $94 per night and all must be reserved through recreation.gov.
Horse Camps
These small camps are vehicle-accessible and have primitive camping facilities and hitch racks for the horses.
In addition to the horse camp sites at Cataloochee Campground already mentioned in the Frontcountry Camping section, there are four other horse camps: Anthony Creek (open March 29 – November 11 for 2024, and May 23 – September 3 for 2025), Big Creek (open March 29 – October 27 for 2024, and May 23 – September 3 for 2025), Round Bottom (open March 29 – October 27 for 2024, and May 23 – September 3 for 2025), and Tow String (open March 29 – October 27 for 2024, and May 23 – September 3 for 2025). Prices range from $30 - $36 and reservations may be made through recreation.gov.
