Collins Creek Picnic Pavilion
1Heads up1 fire 9.4 mi away
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 16:12 UTC
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Collins Creek, tucked into picturesque mountain ranges and surrounded by pristine mountain streams, is the perfect backdrop for your party or family get-together. Whether blanketed in bright wildflowers in the spring or vivid colors in the fall, the scenery at Collins Creek never disappoints. Keep reading
Recreation
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a hiker's paradise, with nearby trails including the 3.9-mile Smokemont Loop Trail, Bradley Fork Trail and Newton Bald Trail. The Oconaluftee River offers some of the best trout fishing in the park. Downstrean from the confluence with the Bradley Fork, the Oconaluftee River opens up and features large grassy meadows, which are not too heavily populated with anglers. The park 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. History buffs will be delighted to know that a good portion of the surrounding land is a designated part of the Oconaluftee Archaeological District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Facilities
Collins Creek is the ideal location for a group day trip. A large pavilion with tables and multiple grills provides a convenient place for visitors to prepare meals while enjoying the stunning backdrop. The pavilion can hold approximately 70 guests, with four charcoal grills and 15 picnic tables. Visitors should also be aware that while the site meets accessibility standards, the restrooms do not.
Natural Features
Located in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at an elevation of 2,600 ft., Collins Creek provides a moderate climate, characterized by mild winters and hot, humid summers. The Pavilion is located nearby the Oconaluftee River and the Oconaluftee Visitors Center, the gateway to the North Carolina section of the Smokies. The Qualla Boundary, commonly known as Cherokee, North Carolina, is roughly 8 miles south of the pavilion. This area serves as a reservation for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee nation, who inhabited this area long before early Euro-American settlements. Oconaluftee comes from the Cherokee village name meaning, "by the river." Nearby Attractions The Oconaluftee Visitor Center, located just six miles away, features museum exhibits that tell the story of life in the Smoky Mountains dating back to early native Americans. The adjacent Mountain Farm Museum highlights a large collection of historical log structures.
Charges & Cancellations
Customers who cancel a day-use facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will forfeit the total day-use fee.
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. Having a picnic pavilion reservation does not exempt you from the parking tag requirement.
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 · 12
Dispose of garbage promptly in bear-proof dumpsters.
This rule is strictly enforced!
Potable water is available at restrooms but not at the pavilion.
Alcohol is allowed at designated picnic areas.
There are BBQ grills for charcoal fires. Wood fires are not allowed.
Decorations are allowed, provided they do not damage the structure (i.e. no staples) and are cleaned up on departure. Directional signs leading to the site are prohibited.
Commercial activity (for example, sales) is prohibited.
Weddings and wedding receptions require a separate permit in addition to the pavilion reservation; check the park website for Wedding and Special Event Permits
Keep your confirmation notice with you in the event of a conflict with a non-reservation party.
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
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek, Meadow
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Wildlife viewing
- Fall color · reported 8 days ago, 3.5 km away
- Patchy color
Nothing to book until it reopensread 16:12 UTC
recreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend
Every one of the next thirty nights is in recreation.gov’s record and not one site is being offered on any of them. That’s a campground closed or not yet released for booking, not a sold-out one.
Tell me when it reopens
Watch for it to come back
One email when the agency reopens it, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check the agency’s own record once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time it stops saying closed.
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.
Every line of the receipt · 9
What you actually pay
“Customers who cancel a day-use facility reservation less than 14 days before the arrival date will forfeit the total day-use fee.” · 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 · 4
Why this page can’t say why
recreation.gov lists every site at Collins Creek Picnic Pavilion closed this Friday and Saturday night. The National Park Service has published no closure notice we hold, so this page can’t say why, and it won’t fill the gap with a guess. A closed night isn’t a sold-out one: the reservations its record still carries were taken before the sites were closed.
There’s no notice to quote and no reason to argue with, so this page offers you the watch and the list below, and no letter.
Open within 60 miles · 4
The agency’s own word that these are open, not our reading of a season.
- Smokemont CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.5 mi · 142 sites
- Cades Cove CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 25 mi · 164 sites
- Cove Creek Group CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 35 mi
- Standing Indian CampgroundNantahala National Forest · 36 mi · 81 sites
recreation.gov availability, read 16:12 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 records · the site map
All 2 records
| Pavilion | 4-8PM | day use | 218 ftCollins Creek |
| Pavilion | 7AM-3:30PM | day use | 218 ftCollins Creek |
The agency files 2 more records here that aren’t sites for the night. It files them as day use. They’re in the table above, marked for what they are, and none of them is counted as a site.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Smokemont Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.3 mi
Smokemont CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.5 mi
Tow String Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 2.8 mi
Round Bottom Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.6 mi
Balsam Mountain CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 9.0 miBalsam Mt. CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 9.0 miThere is no street address.
Collins Creek picnic area is 8 miles north of Cherokee, NC on Newfound Gap Road (aka U.S. 441)
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Cherokee, NC
Typical weather
Typical October night 43°F, day 69°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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Collins Creek Picnic Pavilion 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 →