Chilhowee Campground
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 30 of the next 30 nights read 16:38 UTC
- A night
- $12–$30Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 6159 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 12 notices
In the agency’s own words
Located in the Chilhowee Recreation Area, Chilhowee Campground offers a multitude of camping opportunities for both RV and tent sites, many with electric hookups. The day-use area includes McKamy Lake, a swim area with sand beach, picnic sites, a group picnic area, and a bathhouse. Be Aware; Do not use GPS directions: GPS coordinates will direct you up Benton Springs Rd. This route is not recommended. We recommend using Forest Service Road 77 to reach the recreation area. It's important to note, this facility requires driving 7 miles up to Chilhowee Campground on a narrow, winding road. Do not use the Benton Springs Access Road to the campground as this is an unpaved and dangerous road for RVs. Inexperienced RV drivers may have difficulties getting to and around the site. Keep reading
Recreation
Chilhowee Recreation Area is an excellent hub for hiking and mountain biking in the Chilhowee Trails System, fishing in McKamy Lake, and wildlife viewing without having to get in your car. The 7-acre McKamy Lake offers a swim area with a sand beach, and fishing from the bank. Boats are allowed, but gasoline motors are not. Within the recreation area are approximately 25 miles of hiking and biking trails, and a scenic waterfall. The views and lake are beautiful, especially hiking to Benton Falls via a 1.5 mile in and out moderate trail. On the drive up to the campground, stop at one of the many observation overlooks to see beautiful mountain settings. Wildlife is abundant in this area, so have your camera ready and tread lightly. Chilhowee Recreation Area Map and Guide Facilities Picnic tables, grills, and lantern posts are located at each site. Bathhouses providing flush toilets and warm showers are available in each loop, as well as in the day use area. Water hydrants are located throughout the campground. An RV dump station is located at the end of E Loop. Loops A and B offer walk-in tent sites with electricity. Be Aware; Do not use GPS directions: GPS coordinates will direct you up Benton Springs Rd. This route is not recommended. We recommend using Forest Service Road 77 to reach the recreation area. It's important to note, this facility requires driving 7 miles up to Chilhowee Campground on a narrow, winding road. Do not use the Benton Springs Access Road to the campground as this is an unpaved and dangerous road for RVs. Inexperienced RV drivers may have difficulties getting to and around the site.
Natural Features
The Cherokee National Forest is located in eastern Tennessee and stretches from Chattanooga to Bristol along the North Carolina border. The 650,000-acre swath of land is Tennessee's only national forest. It lies in the heart of the Southern Appalachians and is home to more than 20,000 species of plants and animals, as well as many rivers, creeks and lakes.
Nearby Attractions
In addition to the immediate local activities, world class whitewater rafting opportunities are nearby on the Ocoee and Hiwassee Rivers.
What the agency tells you
Be Aware! Do not use GPS directions - GPS coordinates will direct you up Benton Springs Rd. This route is not recommended. We recommend using Forest Service Road 77 to reach the recreation area. It's important to note, this facility requires driving 7 miles up to Chilhowee Campground on a narrow, winding road. Do not use the Benton Springs Access Road to the campground as this is an unpaved and dangerous road for RVs. Inexperienced RV drivers may have difficulties getting to and around the site.
The campground is located on FDR 77/Oswald Dome Road.
Campfires are permitted in designated fire rings only.
Everything else this campground posts · 9
Do not leave fires unattended. They will be extinguished.
Discharging firearms and fireworks is prohibited.
Pets must be on a leash and are not allowed on the beach.
No lifeguards on duty; swim at your own risk.
Alcoholic beverages are prohibited.
The nearest restaurants and/or stores for purchasing supplies are about 14 miles from the campground.
Campground hosts are on site.
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Be Bear Wise: Never leave food out on tables or in the open. Store unattended food in bear-resistant containers, in a vehicle in solid non-pliable material, or suspend food at least ten feet off the ground. Remember to use the bear resistant trash receptacles provided at this facility.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 61 · 11 tent-only
- Hookups
- 32 electric
- Longest rig
- 90 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…at each site. Bathhouses providing flush toilets and warm showers are available in each loop, as…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…loop, as well as in the day use area. Water hydrants are located throughout the campground. An RV dump…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 13 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Creek, Beach
- Accessible Swimming
- Biking
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Mountain biking
- Rafting
- River Trips
- Scenic drives
- Swimming
- Water access
- Whitewater rafting
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 48th darkest of 95 in TN
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 16:38 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 16:42 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 51 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 39 are free on Wed, Oct 21. read 16:38 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 · 16
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $12–$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 · 1
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:42 UTC
- Morganton PointChattahoochee-Oconee National Forest · 28 mi · 1 of 80 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:38 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
61 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 59 mapped sitesAll 61 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 61 of the 61 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. 59 of the 61 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| A Loop | 01 | rv electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 131 ft | 316 ftMcCamy Lake | 299 ft | $20 |
| A Loop | 02 | rv electric | 38 ft | 30 amp | 131 ft | 199 ftMcCamy Lake | 277 ft | $20 |
| A Loop | 03 | tent only electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 76 ft | 115 ftMcCamy Lake | 254 ft | $15–$30 |
| A Loop | 04 | tent only electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 92 ftMcCamy Lake | 291 ft | $15–$30 |
| A Loop | 05 | tent only electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 68 ft | 146 ftMcCamy Lake | 250 ft | $15–$30 |
| A Loop | 06 | tent only electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 92 ft | 202 ftMcCamy Lake | 169 ft | $15–$30 |
| A Loop | 07 | rv electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 104 ft | 319 ftMcCamy Lake | 135 ft | $20 |
| A Loop | 08 | rv electric | 20 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 409 ftMcCamy Lake | 235 ft | $20 |
| A Loop | 09 | rv electric | 90 ft | 30 amp | 104 ft | 365 ftMcCamy Lake | 33 ft | $20 |
| A Loop | 10 | rv electric | 90 ft | 30 amp | 86 ft | 436 ftMcCamy Lake | 132 ft | $20 |
| A Loop | 11 | rv electric | 85 ft | 30 amp | 82 ft | 474 ftMcCamy Lake | 218 ft | $20 |
| A Loop | 12 | rv electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 95 ft | 539 ftMcCamy Lake | 313 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 13 | type not stated | 80 ft | 30 amp | 416 ftMcCamy Lake | 201 ft | ||
| B Loop | 14 | rv electric | 70 ft | 30 amp | 101 ft | 226 ftMcCamy Lake | 352 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 15 | rv electric | 70 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 317 ftMcCamy Lake | 285 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 16 | rv electric | 75 ft | 30 amp | 126 ft | 425 ftMcCamy Lake | 159 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 17/18 | tent only electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 392 ftMcCamy Lake | 280 ft | $15–$30 |
| B Loop | 19 | tent only electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 145 ft | 535 ftMcCamy Lake | 276 ft | $15–$30 |
| B Loop | 20 | rv electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 640 ftMcCamy Lake | 186 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 21 | rv electric | 55 ft | 30 amp | 96 ft | 682 ftMcCamy Lake | 282 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 22 | rv electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 102 ft | 780 ftMcCamy Lake | 322 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 23 | rv electric | 65 ft | 30 amp | 139 ft | 888 ftMcCamy Lake | 362 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 24 | rv electric | 80 ft | 30 amp | 139 ft | 901 ftMcCamy Lake | 324 ft | $20 |
| B Loop | 25 | rv electric | 75 ft | 30 amp | 139 ft | 763 ftMcCamy Lake | 185 ft | $20 |
| C Loop | 27 | rv nonelectric | 70 ft | 80 ft | 1,070 ftMcCamy Lake | 413 ft | $12 | |
| C Loop | 28 | rv nonelectric | 55 ft | 58 ft | 1,111 ftMcCamy Lake | 291 ft | $12 | |
| C Loop | 29 | rv nonelectric | 65 ft | 58 ft | 1,067 ftMcCamy Lake | 348 ft | $12 | |
| C Loop | 30 | rv nonelectric | 65 ft | 97 ft | 1,134 ftMcCamy Lake | 184 ft | $12 | |
| C Loop | 31 | rv nonelectric | 75 ft | 64 ft | 1,194 ftMcCamy Lake | 98 ft | $12 | |
| C Loop | 32 | tent only nonelectric | 60 ft | 58 ft | 1,258 ftMcCamy Lake | 43 ft | $12 | |
| C Loop | 33 | tent only nonelectric | 60 ft | 68 ft | 1,347 ftMcCamy Lake | 70 ft | $12 | |
| C Loop | 34 | tent only nonelectric | 60 ft | 68 ft | 1,361 ft | 135 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 35 | tent only nonelectric | 60 ft | 145 ft | 1,279 ft | 295 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 36 | rv nonelectric | 70 ft | 58 ft | 1,237 ftMcCamy Lake | 56 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 37 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 64 ft | 1,273 ftMcCamy Lake | 68 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 38 | rv nonelectric | 70 ft | 73 ft | 1,344 ftMcCamy Lake | 72 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 39 | rv nonelectric | 70 ft | 75 ft | 1,369 ftMcCamy Lake | 142 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 40 | rv nonelectric | 90 ft | 77 ft | 1,229 ft | 241 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 41 | rv nonelectric | 80 ft | 66 ft | 1,269 ft | 231 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 42 | rv nonelectric | 80 ft | 61 ft | 1,161 ft | 315 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 43 | rv nonelectric | 75 ft | 61 ft | 1,203 ft | 289 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 44 | rv nonelectric | 40 ft | 46 ft | 1,114 ft | 396 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 45 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 46 ft | 1,155 ft | 373 ft | $12 | |
| D Loop | 46 | rv nonelectric | 60 ft | 79 ft | 1,123 ft | 444 ft | $12 | |
| E Loop | 47 | type not stated | 70 ft | 50 amp | 869 ft | 307 ft | ||
| E Loop | 48 | rv electric | 65 ft | 50 amp | 89 ft | 827 ft | 207 ft | $20 |
| E Loop | 49 | rv electric | 85 ft | 50 amp | 89 ft | 746 ft | 219 ft | $20 |
| E Loop | 50 | rv electric | 65 ft | 50 amp | 115 ft | 622 ft | 194 ft | $20 |
| E Loop | 51 | rv electric | 80 ft | 50 amp | 81 ft | 657 ft | 410 ft | $20 |
| E Loop | 52 | rv electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | 81 ft | 728 ft | 383 ft | $20 |
| E Loop | 53 | rv electric | 85 ft | 50 amp | 123 ft | 794 ft | 542 ft | $20 |
| E Loop | 54 | rv electric | 70 ft | 50 amp | 123 ft | 879 ft | 468 ft | $20 |
| F Loop | 55 | rv electric | 65 ft | 50 amp | 93 ft | 683 ft | 79 ft | $20 |
| F Loop | 56 | rv electric | 75 ft | 50 amp | 93 ft | 773 ft | 45 ft | $20 |
| F Loop | 57 | rv nonelectric | 65 ft | 76 ft | 835 ft | 111 ft | $12 | |
| F Loop | 58 | rv nonelectric | 65 ft | 66 ft | 796 ft | 160 ft | $12 | |
| F Loop | 59 | rv nonelectric | 80 ft | 64 ft | 827 ft | 224 ft | $12 | |
| F Loop | 60 | rv nonelectric | 75 ft | 64 ft | 891 ft | 243 ft | $12 | |
| F Loop | 61 | rv nonelectric | 50 ft | 83 ft | 892 ft | 316 ft | $12 | |
| F Loop | 62 | rv nonelectric | 60 ft | 50 ft | 1,115 ft | 408 ft | $12 | |
| F Loop | 63 | tent only nonelectric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 50 ft | 1,164 ft | 440 ft | $12 |
25 of 61 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Chilhowee Group CampCherokee National Forest · 0.0 miChilhowee Recreation AreaCherokee National Forest · 0.1 mi
Parksville Lake RV CampgroundCherokee National Forest · 3.2 miLost Corral Horse CampCherokee National Forest · 6.8 miLost Creek CampgroundCherokee National Forest · 8.0 mi
Thunder Rock Campground8.8 miThe campground is located on FDR 77/Oswald Dome Road.
Be Aware; Do not use GPS directions: GPS coordinates will direct you up Benton Springs Rd. This route is not recommended. We recommend using Forest Service Road 77 to reach the recreation area. It's important to note, this facility requires driving 7 miles up to Chilhowee Campground on a narrow, winding road. Do not use the Benton Springs Access Road to the campground as this is an unpaved and dangerous road for RVs. Inexperienced RV drivers may have difficulties getting to and around the site.
From Highway 64/411 intersection travel east 7 miles, turn onto Forest Road 77, drive 7.5 miles to campground/recreation area. Do not use Benton Springs Road for access to the mountain.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Benton, TN
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 72°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 25°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
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Chilhowee Campground is in Tennessee’s 3rd congressional district. Its representative, Chuck Fleischmann (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 moneyCharles J. "Chuck" FleischmannU.S. Representative · Tennessee’s 3rd 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 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 Chilhowee Campground, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee
Dear Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann, I’m a constituent in Tennessee’s 3rd district. I tried to camp at Chilhowee Campground, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 59 of the 61 campsites the agency files at Chilhowee Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 51 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. Chilhowee Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Chilhowee Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest 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 Chilhowee Campground (Cherokee National Forest, 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 Chilhowee Campground, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee
Dear Bill Hagerty, I’m a constituent in Tennessee. I tried to camp at Chilhowee Campground, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 59 of the 61 campsites the agency files at Chilhowee Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 51 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. Chilhowee Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Chilhowee Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest 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 Chilhowee Campground (Cherokee National Forest, 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 Chilhowee Campground, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee
Dear Marsha Blackburn, I’m a constituent in Tennessee. I tried to camp at Chilhowee Campground, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 59 of the 61 campsites the agency files at Chilhowee Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 51 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. Chilhowee Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Chilhowee Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest 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 Chilhowee Campground (Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee) via campanac.com