Cataloochee Campground
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- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 9 of the next 9 nights read Oct 16
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 27All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Cataloochee campground is located in the historic Cataloochee Valley--a relatively remote part of 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 parts of the park. Keep reading
Recreation
The Cataloochee Valley features an extensive trail system that is less heavily used compared to other areas of the park. The two main trails, Caldwell Fork and nearby Rough Fork Trail, run mostly parallel to one another in the central portion of the valley. Either of these trails extend alongside scenic creeks and streams and support both hikers and horeseback riders. For hikers only, the 3.9-mile Boogerman Trail forms a nice loop off the Caldwell Fork Trail and is less than a mile walk from the campground. Anglers will agree that some of the best Rainbow and Brook trout fishing in the area can be found in the Cataloochee Basin, one of the most remote sections of the park. Fly fishing is particularly good during spring months when aquatic insects hatch in large numbers. 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. A handful of which can be found in the Cataloochee Valley, including the nearby Palmer House, built in 1869, which contains a self-guided museum.
Facilities
Cataloochee 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 and the nearby Cataloochee Group Camp can accommodate larger parties of guests. Additionally, the Cataloochee Horse Camp provides convenient camping for horseback riding enthusiasts.
Natural Features
Cataloochee Campground is surrounded by picturesque mountain ranges and pristine mountain streams, like nearby Cataloochee Creek. Elk are common in this part of the park, during the spring and fall. At a 2,600 foot elevation, Cataloochee provides a moderate climate, characterized by mild winters and hot, humid summers. Whether blanketed in bright spring wildflowers or exploding with vivid fall colors, the scenery at Cataloochee never disappoints.
Nearby Attractions
A number of the park's famous historical buildings, including the Steve Woody and Caldwell Houses, both built in the late 19th-century, are nearby the campground. The Steve Woody House, built in 1880, is located along the Rough Fork trail, an easy 2-mile roundtrip hike from the parking lot at the end of Ranger Station Road.
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.
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.
Everything else this campground posts · 12
A reservation is required to stay at Cataloochee 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.
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 .
Firewood Vendors. Heat-treated wood is available from a growing list of private businesses in communities around the park. Please visit firewoodscout.org for a list of available vendors near the park. 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.
Access to Cataloochee is via a narrow, winding, mountain road. A 3-mile stretch of gravel road contains many narrow, blind curves. Motorhomes over 29' and trailers over 25' in length are not recommended due to the access road.
There are no showers or electric, water or sewer hook-ups in the park.
Quiet hours are in effect from 10 PM to 6 AM. Generator use is restricted to 8 AM to 8 PM. Some campgrounds have generator free sections.
Fires are allowed in fire rings only!
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.
A Tennessee or North Carolina fishing license is required to fish in the park. Special regulations apply in the park.
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.
Cades Cove and Smokemont campgrounds are the only campgrounds open year round.
For additional park information call 865-436-1200 or visit www.nps.gov/grsm
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 27
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 34 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
- Creek
- Backpacking
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 33rd darkest of 84 in NC
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 4 days ago, 5 km away
- Patchy color
Full this Saturdayread Oct 16
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 27 sites on offer is taken this Saturday, and on four midweek nights after it as well. read Oct 16 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
recreation.gov availability, read Oct 16 · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
27 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 27 mapped sitesAll 27 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 27 of the 27 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 27 of the 27 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 1 | standard nonelectric | 31 ft | 76 ft | 79 ft | 117 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 10 | standard nonelectric | 33 ft | 47 ft | 303 ft | 493 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 11 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 33 ft | 350 ft | 475 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 12 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 33 ft | 371 ft | 446 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 13 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 34 ft | 388 ft | 414 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 14 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 37 ft | 396 ft | 376 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 15 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 36 ft | 397 ft | 338 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 16 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 20 ft | 362 ft | 337 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 17 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 62 ft | 332 ft | 250 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 18 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 48 ft | 265 ft | 144 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 19 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 48 ft | 223 ft | 98 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 2 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 76 ft | 76 ft | 103 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 20 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 64 ft | 202 ft | 173 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 21 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 63 ft | 228 ft | 236 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 22 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 48 ft | 291 ft | 264 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 23 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 48 ft | 291 ft | 308 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 24 | standard nonelectric | 22 ft | 20 ft | 342 ft | 340 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 25 | standard nonelectric | 27 ft | 47 ft | 344 ft | 387 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 26 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 34 ft | 307 ft | 448 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 27 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 34 ft | 341 ft | 436 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 3 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 96 ft | 28 ft | 199 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 4 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 85 ft | 111 ft | 200 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 5 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 85 ft | 88 ft | 285 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 6 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 63 ft | 221 ft | 344 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 7 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 63 ft | 158 ft | 367 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 8 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 78 ft | 195 ft | 421 ft | $30 |
| CATALOOCHEE CAMPGROUND | 9 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 63 ft | 245 ft | 480 ft | $30 |
25 of 27 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cataloochee Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.5 mi
Cataloochee Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.7 mi
Balsam Mountain CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 6.7 miBalsam Mt. CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 6.7 mi
Round Bottom Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.2 mi
Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)Great Smoky Mountains National Park · 8.3 miFrom I-40 take Exit 20 in North Carolina. Turn right onto Cove Creek Road and follow to the Park boundary. The road goes from pavement to gravel to pavement. Upon reaching the pavement the second time, turn left. Go 2.5 miles to an intersection and continue another .5 miles to the left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Maggie Valley, NC
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 67°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 24°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
Cataloochee Campground 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 · 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 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 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 Cataloochee Campground for campers who drive up
To the National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park: I tried to camp at Cataloochee Campground in North Carolina and couldn’t. All 27 sites at Cataloochee Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 27 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. Cataloochee 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 Cataloochee 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 Cataloochee Campground (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 Cataloochee Campground, 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 Cataloochee Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 27 sites at Cataloochee Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 27 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. Cataloochee Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cataloochee 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 Cataloochee Campground (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 Cataloochee Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Dear Ted Budd, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Cataloochee Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 27 sites at Cataloochee Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 27 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. Cataloochee Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cataloochee 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 Cataloochee Campground (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 Cataloochee Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Dear Thom Tillis, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Cataloochee Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 27 sites at Cataloochee Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 27 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. Cataloochee Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cataloochee 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 Cataloochee Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina) via campanac.com