Abram's Creek Campground
5Heads up4 park alerts · 1 fire 25 mi away
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 10 of the next 10 nights read 17:04 UTC
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 16All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Abram's Creek Campground is located in a relatively remote area of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The secluded setting offers visitors the ability to enjoy a multitude of recreational activities like hiking and fishing, without the crowds, which are sometimes common in other areas of the park. Keep reading
Recreation
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a hiker's paradise, with over 800 miles of maintained trails ranging from short, leg-stretchers to strenuous treks. Hiking is not the only reason for visiting the Smokies: Fishing, picnicking, wildlife viewing and auto touring are popular activities. The Abram's Creek area features many hikes from the campground and nearby Abram's Creek Ranger Station. Hikers can access Abram's Waterfall via the Little Bottoms Trail, approximately 8 miles round trip. The Park advises against swimming at the falls due to severe undercurrents. Several drownings have occurred at these falls. Several loop hikes are available for the hiker that does not wish to retrace his/her steps. Chilhowee lake is located off of US-129 and is less than 10 miles from Abram's Creek Campground. Visitors can canoe, kayak and fish in this lake surrounded by majestic mountains. Campers can enjoy high-quality backcountry fishing in the cool waters of the countless streams and rivers that snake through the mountains. Anglers will agree that some of the best trout fishing in the area can be found along Abram's Creek. Fly fishing is particularly good during spring months when aquatic insects hatch in large numbers. Wildlife viewing is a popular pastime, and with around 1,500 bear living in the park, it is not uncommon for visitors to spot one. The park is a sanctuary for a magnificent array of animal and plant life, all which is protected for future generations to enjoy. The Park also holds one of the best collections of log buildings in the eastern United States. Over 90 historic structures, including houses, barns, outbuildings, churches, schools and grist mills, have been preserved or rehabilitated in the Park.
Facilities
Abram's Creek Campground offers a traditional outdoor camping experience with the added convenience of flush toilets and drinking water. There are no hookups or showers at the campground. Hiking trails and fishing streams are easily accessible from the site.
Natural Features
At a 1,125 foot elevation, Abram's Creek Campground provides a moderate climate, characterized by mild winters and hot, humid summers. Beautiful Abram's Creek flows beside the campground offering the camper the peaceful sounds of rippling water.
Nearby Attractions
Nearby attractions include US-129 (aka "The Dragon"), Foothills Parkway, Chilhowee Lake and Cades Cove Charges & Cancellations • If you plan to arrive at a date later than your arrival date you MUST contact the campground office 865-448-4103 in order to avoid a cancellation to your reservation. If you wish to cancel your reservation the day of your arrival you MUST contact the campground office 865-448-4103 in order to receive a refund. • Rules and reservation policies can be found at https://www.recreation.gov/rules-reservation-policies
What the agency tells you
A valid parking tag is required for any vehicle parking for more than 15 minutes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Front country campers parked at their designated campsite will not be required to have a parking tag. If they park elsewhere in the park, a parking tag will be required. Please note that parking tags will be required for vehicles in excess of what is allowable for each campsite.
Over the last 10 years, an average of 339 negative human-bear encounters have been reported each year; many more go unreported. Visitors should be aware that high bear activity can occur in any area, and that your safety is not guaranteed. To increase your odds for a safe visit, please follow best practices for living and recreating in bear habitat. Stay alert and be prepared to react appropriately during possible encounters, and always report any unusual bear interactions as soon as possible.
Stay Limits. A maximum of 6 people may occupy a campsite. The park stay limit is 14 consecutive days. Reservations which exceed the 14 consecutive day limit may be cancelled and refunded.
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Caution: Bear Habitat! Bears and other wildlife frequent the area. All food and equipment used to prepare and store food (even when empty, and even if certified as bear resistant) must be kept in a sealed vehicle or camping unit of solid, non-pliable material AT ALL TIMES when not in use. All scented items, as well as all water containers MUST be stored. Dispose of garbage promptly in dumpsters provided. Unattended or improperly stored coolers, food and/or scented items may be impounded by campground staff. Violators are subject to fines.
Amenities. There are no showers or electric, water or sewer hook-ups in the park.
Fires. Fires are allowed in fire rings only!
Firewood Restriction: Only heat-treated firewood bundled in its original packing and bearing a certification seal from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) or a state department of agriculture may be brought into the park. This rule is strictly enforced. Campers may also collect dead and down wood in the park for campfires..foradditional information about these firewood regulations, please visit the park website at https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/frontcountry-camping.htm.
Firewood Vendors. Heat-treated wood is available from a growing list of private businesses in communities around the park. Please visit for a list of available vendors near the park firewoodscout.org . Concessioners at Cades Cove, Elkmont, and Smokemont will provide heat-treated wood for sale during their operating season. Certified heat-treated firewood is packaged and clearly marked with a state or federal seal.
Quiet Hours. : Quiet hours are in effect from 10PM to 6AM. Generator use is prohibited from 8PM to 8AM. Generators that exceed a noise level of 60 decibels are prohibited. Generator use and battery charging by idling is prohibited in generator free areas.
Fishing in the Park. A Tennessee or North Carolina fishing license is required to fish in the park. Special regulations apply in the park.
Pets. Pets are permitted but cannot be left unattended. All pets must be kept on a leash at all times. Pets are not allowed on trails.
Additional Park Information. For additional park information call 865-436-1200 or visit www.nps.gov/grsm.
A reservation is required to stay at Abrams Creek Campground. Please make your reservation before driving to the campground as cell phone coverage in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is very limited and there are no provisions to make a reservation once you are at the campground. Reservations are site specific therefore you are REQUIRED to occupy only the site(s) for which you have reserved. To make changes to your reservation you must contact Recreation.gov at 1-877-444-6777 or field staff where available.
Cancellation Policy for Individual Campsites: A customer who cancels a reservation the day before or on the day of arrival will pay a $10.00 service fee AND forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for a one-night reservation will forfeit the entire amount paid and will not be subject to an additional service fee.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 16 · 4 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 12 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets - seasonal
- Showers
- None at this campground
- “There are no hookups or showers at the campground.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Creek
- Hiking
- Visitor center
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 73rd darkest of 95 in TN
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 9 days ago, 22 km away
- Minimal color
Full this Saturdayread 17:04 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
4 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:25 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 16 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 1 is free on Tue, Oct 20. read 17:04 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 19
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $30 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
“• If you plan to arrive at a date later than your arrival date you MUST contact the campground office 865-448-4103 in order to avoid a cancellation to your reservation. If you wish to cancel your reservation the day of your arrival you MUST contact the campground office 865-448-4103 in order to receive a refund. • R…” · this campground’s own terms
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 6
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 4
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:25 UTC
- Cades Cove CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 8.9 mi · 1 of 320 site-nights open
- Elkmont CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 20 mi · 1 of 422 site-nights open
- Appalachian ClubhouseGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 20 mi · 1 of 2 site-nights open
- Deep Creek Campground (NC)Great Smoky Mountains National Park · 30 mi · 1 of 180 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 17:04 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
16 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 16 mapped sitesAll 16 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 16 of the 16 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| A | A01 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 27 ft | 101 ft | $30 |
| A | A02 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 27 ft | 92 ft | $30 |
| A | A03 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 54 ft | 68 ft | $30 |
| A | A04 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 42 ft | 35 ft | $30 |
| A | A05 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 34 ft | 19 ft | $30 |
| A | A06 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 34 ft | 14 ft | $30 |
| A | A07 | tent only nonelectric | 12 ft | 36 ft | 19 ft | $30 |
| A | A08 | tent only nonelectric | 12 ft | 43 ft | 32 ft | $30 |
| A | A09 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 43 ft | 56 ft | $30 |
| A | A10 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 33 ft | 66 ft | $30 |
| A | A11 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 33 ft | 82 ft | $30 |
| A | A12 | tent only nonelectric | 12 ft | 35 ft | 128 ft | $30 |
| A | A13 | tent only nonelectric | 12 ft | 35 ft | 132 ft | $30 |
| A | A14 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 38 ft | 140 ft | $30 |
| A | A15 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 28 ft | 161 ft | $30 |
| A | A16 | standard nonelectric | 12 ft | 28 ft | 164 ft | $30 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Look Rock CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.8 mi
Cades Cove CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 8.9 mi
Cades Cove GroupGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 9.1 mi
Anthony Creek Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 9.4 miJake Best CampgroundCherokee National Forest · 15 mi
Metcalf Bottoms Picnic PavilionGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 17 miThere is no street address for this campground North: From I-40 take US-129/Alcoa Highway through Maryville, TN. Continue South on US-129 until mile marker 14.3 (Foothills Parkway exit). Proceed .5 miles beyond Foothills Parkway turning left onto Happy Valley Road. Turn Right onto Abram's Creek Road passing the Abram's Creek Ranger Station. The campground is approximately .5 miles beyond the ranger station. South: Continue North on US-129 where US-19/74/129 split, heading towards Robbinsville, NC. Near mile marker 14 in Tennessee turn Right onto Happy Valley Road (about 05 miles before the Foothills Parkway). Turn Right onto Abram's Creek Road passing the Abram's Creek Ranger Station. The campground is approximately .5 miles beyond the ranger station.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Maryville, TN
Typical weather
Typical October night 44°F, day 68°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 26°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Abram's Creek Campground is in Tennessee’s 2nd congressional district. Its representative, Tim Burchett (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 4
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The office that runs itGreat Smoky Mountains National ParkNational Park Service unit
- The member who votes the moneyTim BurchettU.S. Representative · Tennessee’s 2nd district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationBill HagertyU.S. Senator · Tennessee
- Your senator, on the same appropriationMarsha BlackburnU.S. Senator · Tennessee
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks the National Park Service to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up, and to post what that share is.
Subject Hold back a share of sites at Abram's Creek Campground for campers who drive up
To the National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park: I tried to camp at Abram's Creek Campground in Tennessee and couldn’t. All 16 sites at Abram's Creek Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Abram's Creek Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m asking for one specific thing: set aside a published share of the sites at Abram's Creek Campground as first-come, first-served, and post what that share is so it can be checked. Somebody who drives up has no way in, and no way to find out whether they might have had one. Sent about Abram's Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Abram's Creek Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Dear Tim Burchett, I’m a constituent in Tennessee’s 2nd district. I tried to camp at Abram's Creek Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and couldn’t. All 16 sites at Abram's Creek Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Abram's Creek Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Abram's Creek Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Abram's Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Abram's Creek Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Dear Bill Hagerty, I’m a constituent in Tennessee. I tried to camp at Abram's Creek Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and couldn’t. All 16 sites at Abram's Creek Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Abram's Creek Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Abram's Creek Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Abram's Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Abram's Creek Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Dear Marsha Blackburn, I’m a constituent in Tennessee. I tried to camp at Abram's Creek Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee, and couldn’t. All 16 sites at Abram's Creek Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 16 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Abram's Creek Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Abram's Creek Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the National Park Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Abram's Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee) via campanac.com