Cataloochee Horse Camp
1Heads up1 fire 21 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 16:09 UTC
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 7All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Located in the scenic Cataloochee Valley, tucked in a cool and shady canopy, this campground offers the best that the Great Smoky Mountains National park has to offer, including some of the most coveted horseback riding trails in the park. World-renowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains and the preservation of Southern Appalachian culture, the Great Smoky Mountains is America's most visited national park. You MUST have a HORSE to camp at Cataloochee Horse Camp! Keep reading
Recreation
With access to some of the most popular trails in the area, including the Rough Fork and Caldwell Fork Trails, this site is a favorite for horseback riding enthusiasts. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is also a hiker's paradise. Boogerman Trail, accessed via the Caldwell Fork Trail, provides a 3.9 mile detour through a beautiful, densely forested terrain, allowing visitors to stretch their legs and explore the area. Campers can enjoy high-quality backcountry fishing in the cool waters of the countless streams and rivers that snake through the mountains, with wild trout available in abundance. Wildlife viewing is a popular pastime, and with around 1,500 bears living in the park, it's not uncommon for a visitor to spot one. The Cataloochee area is also known for an elk herd that populates the valley, making for an impressive display of wildlife. 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 these buildings are nearby the campground, including the Palmer House, which offers a self-guided museum.
Facilities
Cataloochee offers primitive-woods camping. A canopy of trees provides adequate shade, while a few open areas let in the sunlight and allow for pleasant group activities. There is no potable water provided at the campground, so visitors must bring their own. The nearby Cataloochee Campground offers additional camping space for those visitors without horses, and the Cataloochee Group Camp provides a larger space for group trips. Each site at Cataloochee has four horse stalls with hitching racks. You MUST have a HORSE to camp at Cataloochee Horse Camp!
Natural Features
Cataloochee Horse Camp sits in along the gentle waters of Cataloochee Creek in the remote Catalooche Valley, surrounded by some of the park's most picturesque and rugged mountain ranges. Whether blanketed in wildflowers in the spring or vivid colors in the fall, the scenery at Cataloochee never disappoints.
Nearby Attractions
A number of Great Smoky's famous historical buildings, including cabins and churches, are located close to the campground. The nearby towns of Maggie Valley or Waynesville offer groceries and other supplies.
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: Bears and other wildlife frequent the area. All food and equipment used to prepare and store food 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 · 9
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 https://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/frontcountry-camping.
Access to Cataloochee is via a narrow, winding, mountain road. A 3 mile stretch of gravel road contains many narrow, blind curves. Though many campsites will accommodate large rigs, motorhomes over 32' 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 p.m. to 6 a.m. Generator use is restricted to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
You MUST have a horse to camp in a horse camp. All horses must have a current Coggins test. There is a 4 horse stall located at each of the campsites. Horses may not be tied to trees. Campers are responsible for cleaning their stalls before departure and placing waste in a manure trailer. Important Information: Food storage regulations are strictly enforced. Horse feed is also covered by food storage regulations.
With the exception of Big Creek, horse camps do not have potable water.
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.
For additional park information call 865-436-1200 or visit www.nps.gov/grsm.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 7 · 7 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- VAULT TOILETS on 7 of 7 campsite records
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…and allow for pleasant group activities. There is no potable water provided at the campground, so visitors must bring…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horseback riding
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 28th darkest of 84 in NC
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 5.9 km away
- Patchy color
Full this Saturdayread 16:09 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
7 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 17:03 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 7 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 6 are free on Thu, Oct 22. read 16:09 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 · 7
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first; the nearest 5 of 7. read 17:03 UTC
- Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)Great Smoky Mountains National Park · 8.4 mi · 1 of 24 site-nights open
- Cosby CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 10 mi · 1 of 124 site-nights open
- Harmon Den CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 12 mi · 16 of 44 site-nights open
- SunburstPisgah National Forest · 20 mi · 2 of 18 site-nights open
- Deep Creek Campground (NC)Great Smoky Mountains National Park · 21 mi · 1 of 180 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:09 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
7 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 7 mapped sitesAll 7 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. 7 of the 7 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Horse Camp | 1 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 194 ft | 158 ft | $30 |
| Horse Camp | 2 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 187 ft | 77 ft | $30 |
| Horse Camp | 3 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 81 ft | 192 ft | $30 |
| Horse Camp | 4 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 81 ft | 137 ft | $30 |
| Horse Camp | 5 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 96 ft | 262 ft | $30 |
| Horse Camp | 6 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 106 ft | 251 ft | $30 |
| Horse Camp | 7 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 139 ft | 120 ft | $30 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cataloochee CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.7 mi
Cataloochee Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 2.8 mi
Balsam Mountain CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 5.5 miBalsam Mt. CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 5.5 mi
Round Bottom Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 5.5 mi
Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)Great Smoky Mountains National Park · 8.4 miTake I-40 east from Knoxville, TN or west from Asheville, NC. Exit I-40 at NC exit 20, twenty-five miles west of Asheville (87 miles east of Knoxville). Turn right onto Cove Creek road 1/10 miles from I-40. Follow Cove Creek road approximately 11 miles to Cataloochee horse camp.
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 Horse Camp 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 Cataloochee Horse Camp, 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 Horse Camp, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 7 sites at Cataloochee Horse Camp are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 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. Cataloochee Horse Camp keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cataloochee Horse Camp. 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 Horse Camp (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 Horse Camp, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Dear Ted Budd, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Cataloochee Horse Camp, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 7 sites at Cataloochee Horse Camp are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 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. Cataloochee Horse Camp keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cataloochee Horse Camp. 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 Horse Camp (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 Horse Camp, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina
Dear Thom Tillis, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Cataloochee Horse Camp, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 7 sites at Cataloochee Horse Camp are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 7 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. Cataloochee Horse Camp keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Cataloochee Horse Camp. 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 Horse Camp (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina) via campanac.com