# Great Smokey Mountains Natl. Park / Tn



## Sir Campselot (Feb 15, 2009)

Doing some homework for our trip. Can anyone give me some advice on this park? We will be going to TN in early Oct. Looks to have 10 campgrounds and 500k acres at varing elevations, WOW. We like the wilderness of this park and the abundant wildlife, BEARS, BEARS and more BEARS









If you have been there which campground did you like best? We have a 32 ft. 5ver with 2 slides opposite sides.

Thanks,
Curtis


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Timing is everything! [grin!] We're just back from 5 days at GSMNP!! Stuff we learned:

1. The Park is split by the TN - NC border. On the NC side: Smokemont campground is quite nice. Large 5ers fit nicely in Section F. F is for RVs only--no tent camping. Spaces on the south end (F23, 24 and on up) are quite nice. The running creek goes down the east side of Section F--use the map on the Park Service reservation site to pick a space. You definitely should have a reservation in August if you want to stay in the Park. Sect. F is quiet, but they allow gensets between 0800 and 2000. Thus we could recharge our batteries after getting back to the site from the "day trip".

2. Bathroom has toilets and sinks and running water but no shower. No hookups at all--it's a National Park.

3. On the TN side, the Cades Cove Campground is usually crowded. Much bigger than Smokemount. We had a res. there for 3 days but canceled it and stayed at Smokemont--quieter, and just as convenient to Park "stuff."

4. Pets: our dog did fine. 38 pound terrier (looks like Little Orphan Annie's dog Sandy). No dogs allowed on the Park trails EXCEPT the Okonoluftee River Trail. It goes 1.5 miles along the river south from the Okono. Visitor's Center to Cherokee, the town immediately adjacent to the park. Great walk, wide trail, and right next to the river so the dog could get wet and loved it!

5. Cherokee is the usual crowded tacky town adjacent to a big attraction. BUT the McDonalds outside of town has free wi-fi! And they don't mind visitors clamping down on a table as long as you buy something.

6. On the TN side, we did a day-trip to Cades Cove. Cove in South-speak means valley, and Cades Cove is a beautiful valley that had about 500 - 600 residents from the 1820's to 1930s. When the Park was created in 1936, the National Park Service (NPS) bought up all the private land and evicted the residents. The NPS moved some of the houses to a grouping so visitors like us could see what living was like then. There are a bunch of houses, three original churches still on their original sites, etc. There is an 11 mile loop road around the valley, with a nice stop at the site of the houses and "town". A working grist mill is there and we bought some real fresh ground corn meal! We also learned the origins of some common expressions like "Keep your nose to the grindstone". That came from the fact that if corn grinding was done too fast, the corn would heat up and start to burn, ruining it. So to maximize production but not ruin the corn, the grinder "kept his nose to the grindstone" to sniff for a burning smell! There are others, but we'll let you learn them on your visit to the grist mill!

7. Gatlinburg is only 50% tacky and crowded. Pigeon Forge won the tackiness award with a zillion motels, lots of amusement areas. Great to drive though and see all the folks NOT crowding the Park! 

8. The drive over the top from one side of the Park through Newfound Gap to the other side with a TT is doable, but you'll want to take your time and use lower gears to go down the 5 - 8 mile long 9% grades.

9. There is a cutoff on the Cades Cove Loop Road. The Loop Road, one lane only and one way, can get REALLY crowded and slow, so some folks bail and go out over Riley Mountain. We did, it's do-able, but do not even THINK of towing across it. All gravel, steep, no turnarounds, sharp curves, and I strongly recommend just do the Cades Cove Loop unhitched, and if it's totally a zoo and going 5 mph, you can choose to go out over the mountain safely. With a TT, you do not have that choice.

10. Weather in late July was 100 in Baltimore, but 85 - 90 at the park, But it did cool off at night, going down to 70 or so. No air cond, of course, since no gensets after 2000. Can't help you with October weather.

If there is anything else we can help with, you can PM me. Enjoy your vacation!


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## TN Campers (Jan 31, 2005)

On the TN side we actually prefer the campground at Elkmont over the one at Cades Cove. Sites are a little less cramped. And in June you're in the best position to see the synchronous fireflies.


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## col. Sanders crew (Sep 28, 2007)

We have been to The Smokies so many times we have lost count, we absolutely love it and are lucky to live about 4 1/2 hours away. We like to stay close to it all, so we normally stay in Pigeon Forge, we have stayed at Claboughs Campground several times which is a nice campground, but our fave place to stay is RiverEdge RV Park. Sites are close together, but sites are close in most commercial campgrounds in the area. We have never had a bad experience there, staff is nice, friendly, accomodating, park is always clean, and the bath houses are Five Star!


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## outbackmac (Feb 1, 2005)

i agree Rivers edge is nice. You will not find a better bath house. They are so have monitors in the game room so you can see what the kids are doing.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

We visited GSMNP a few years back and stayed here: Twin Creek RV Resort , in Gatlinburg.

It was fairly expensive (about $55/nite then), but it includes full hookups, cable TV, Wi-Fi, and a level solid surface site. Very pretty and EXTREMELY clean! (They went around every day and swept each site free of leaves, etc). There is a city trolley that stops right across the street from the entrance and will take you to anywhere in downtown Gatlinburg. It is only a couple minutes from the park entrance.

If we go back there, we will definately stay there again. Very friendly people run the place with lots of amenities (I think they even have a couple of small SUVs you can rent for the day if you have a motorhome with no dinghy!).

Mike


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## ftwildernessguy (Oct 12, 2009)

Just returned from a week at Riveredge. Nice campground and close to everything. The trolley serves the campground, and for 50 cents you can go downtown, make a connection with another trolley to Dollywood, the Gatlinburg welcome center, outlet malls, etc.


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## TeamCyBo (Oct 22, 2011)

ftwildernessguy said:


> Just returned from a week at Riveredge. Nice campground and close to everything. The trolley serves the campground, and for 50 cents you can go downtown, make a connection with another trolley to Dollywood, the Gatlinburg welcome center, outlet malls, etc.


We just got back from a week in the Pigeon Forge area. We stayed in Sevierville at Up the Creek CG. It's a small quaint place nessled between 2 running creeks. Its does not have any facilities but is very well maintained. If you are looking for a small, quiet place to stay that is situated between Townsend and Pigeon Forge, this is the place. At $40 a night complete with full hook ups, cable and wifi, it's a great little cg.

TeamCyBo


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## e5b (May 26, 2011)

This past summer we spent two weeks in that area: a week at the Yogi's in Cherokee and a week at the KOA in Pigeon Forge. If I had it to do over again (which I will this coming summer) we would have stayed at Cherokee the entire time and just made day trips to the places we want to see. Pigeon Forge was way too crowded and that KOA was the worst camp site we've been to yet.

Loved Cherokee, though.

Cades cove was a great day trip. I recommend putting the lawn chairs in the back of the pickup (you'll end up driving less than 5 mph anyway) and pack a lunch.

Dollywood was great.


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