Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)
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 9 of the next 9 nights read 16:44 UTC
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 12All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Big Creek Campground is located in a remote portion of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Backcountry camping in a front country setting. There are flushing toilets and potable water. This is a tent only campground with a short walk from the parking area. The beautiful flowing waters of Big Creek parallel the campground offering the visitor a pleasant soundscape and peaceful beauty. Big Creek is an oasis for hiking, swimming, wildlife, fishing, and relaxation. 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. The Big Creek area offers some of the most challenging hikes within the Park. Baxter Creek trail begins near the campground and with an elevation gain of 4200' from trail head to the summit of Mt Sterling provides a strenuous work out for the strongest of hikers. The nearby Big Creek trail offers a pleasant hike along the waters of Big Creek with a beautiful waterfall along the way. Local anglers agree that Big Creek offers some of the best trout fishing in the area. 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 black 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 of which is protected for future generations to enjoy.
Facilities
Big Creek Campground offers 12 TENT ONLY campsites for a traditional outdoor camping experience with the added convenience of flush toilets and drinking water. There are no hookups or showers at the campground. There is an emergency phone available at the Big Creek Ranger Station located 1 mile from the campground. No generator use or recreational vehicles are allowed in Big Creek Campground. There is a food storage locker available for public use.
Natural Features
Located at an elevation of 1,700' Big Creek Campground is surrounded by picturesque mountain ranges and a pristine mountain stream. Black Bear sightings are not uncommon and some lucky visitors may spot River Otter playing in Big Creek. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (423) 487-2683.
Nearby Attractions
Nearby attractions include the Cataloochee Valley, Newport, TN, Cosby Campground, Hartford Whitewater Rafting, the Appalachian Trail and the Max Patch/Pisgah National Forest.
What the agency tells you
Notice: There is ongoing construction near Exit 451. Big Creek Campground is accessed only via the Waterville Road exit. How to Reach the Campground: All I‑40 eastbound and westbound exit and entrance ramps for Exit 451 are open. When traveling eastbound toward Asheville, be aware that the temporary exit for Big Creek occurs about ½ mile before the usual Exit 451 location. GPS will incorrectly announce the exit as being 1 mile ahead, which may cause visitors to miss the temporary exit sign and assume the exit is closed. If the exit is passed, the next available exit is roughly 7 miles away in Clyde, NC to turn around. The “closure” being reported via some GPS units is a construction-related reroute of the ramps.
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.
Everything else this campground posts · 11
A reservation is required to stay at Big 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.
Big Creek Campground is located in Waterville, NC. GPS: 35.750177, -83.111206
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.
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.
Garbage Disposal. Dispose of garbage promptly in bear-proof dumpsters. This rule is strictly enforced!
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. For additional information about these firewood regulations, please visit the park website at http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/frontcountry-camping.
Quiet Hours. Quiet hours are in effect from 10 PM to 6 AM. Generator use is prohibited in Big Creek Campground.
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
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 12 · 12 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 18 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- FLUSH TOILETS on 11 of 12 campsite records, FLUSH TOILETS (SEASONAL) on 1 of 12 campsite records
- Showers
- None at this campground
- “There are no hookups or showers at the campground.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- DRINKING WATER on 12 of 12 campsite records, WATER SPIGOT on 1 of 12 campsite records
- Bear boxes
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, River, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Visitor center
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 30th darkest of 84 in NC
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 4 days ago, 18 km away
- Patchy color
Full this Saturdayread 16:44 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
3 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:38 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 12 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 8 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 16:44 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 · 17
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.
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 · 5
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 3
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:38 UTC
- Cosby CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 5.5 mi · 1 of 124 site-nights open
- Harmon Den CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 7.6 mi · 6 of 38 site-nights open
- Smokemont CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 18 mi · 1 of 274 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:44 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
12 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 12 mapped sitesAll 12 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. 12 of the 12 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 001 | tent only nonelectric | 76 ft | 321 ftBig Creek | $30 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 002 | tent only nonelectric | 45 ft | 277 ftBig Creek | $30 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 003 | tent only nonelectric | 57 ft | 211 ftBig Creek | $30 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 004 | tent only nonelectric | 33 ft | 170 ftBig Creek | $30 | |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 45 ft | 259 ftBig Creek | $30 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 006 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 33 ft | 183 ftBig Creek | $30 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 007 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 48 ft | 212 ftBig Creek | $30 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 48 ft | 180 ftBig Creek | $30 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 009 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 56 ft | 84 ftBig Creek | $30 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 010 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 48 ft | 107 ftBig Creek | $30 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 011 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 48 ft | 78 ftBig Creek | $30 |
| BIG CREEK CAMPGROUND (GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK) | 012 | tent only nonelectric | 18 ft | 56 ft | 59 ftBig Creek | $30 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Big Creek Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 0.2 mi
Big Creek Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 0.4 mi
Cosby Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 5.4 mi
Cosby CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 5.5 mi
Cataloochee Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.2 mi
Harmon Den CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 7.6 miCampground is at the end of Big Creek Entrance Rd. Waterville, NC, 28785 (Haywood County)
GPS coordinates are 35°45'00.3"N 83°06'38.6"W
The 4 way intersection is composed of Big Creek Campground Road and Waterville Rd (from I-40) + Mt. Sterling Road (from Cataloochee) + Hwy 32 (from Cosby)
Drive up to the end of Big Creek Entrance Road. You will pass the Ranger Station, horse camp, group camp, and hiker parking.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Cosby, TN
Typical weather
Typical October night 48°F, day 70°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°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
Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) is in North Carolina’s 11th congressional district. Its representative, Chuck Edwards (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 · 3
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 member who votes the moneyChuck EdwardsU.S. Representative · North Carolina’s 11th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationTed BuddU.S. Senator · North Carolina
- Your senator, on the same appropriationThom TillisU.S. Senator · North Carolina
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 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 Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park), Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Dear Chuck Edwards, I’m a constituent in North Carolina’s 11th district. I tried to camp at Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park), Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 12 sites at Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 12 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park). 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 Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina) 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 Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park), Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Dear Ted Budd, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park), Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 12 sites at Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 12 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park). 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 Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina) 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 Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park), Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Dear Thom Tillis, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park), Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 12 sites at Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 12 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park). 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 Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina) via campanac.com