Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion
1Heads up1 fire 12 mi away
This place has sites and nobody may sleep in them.Ask for camping here →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 16 of the next 16 nights read 16:14 UTC
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 15 notices
In the agency’s own words
Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion, surrounded by pristine mountain streams and clear blue skies, is the perfect mountain 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 Deep Creek never disappoints. Keep reading
Recreation
Picnicking is the most popular activity at Deep Creek Pavilion, but visitors also enjoy an excursion to one of three scenic waterfalls in the nearby area. From Deep Creek Campground, walk Deep Creek Trail 0.7 miles to the junction with Indian Creek Trail. On your way you can view elegant Tom Branch Falls located on the far side of Deep Creek. Turn right at the junction with Indian Creek Trail and proceed approximately 200' to Indian Creek Falls. The falls are 25 feet in height. Juney Whank Falls is divided into an upper and lower section. Both can be viewed from the footbridge which crosses Juney Whank Branch at the falls. Together they drop 90 feet from top to bottom. The trail to the waterfall is 0.8 miles roundtrip and can be accessed from the trailhead at the end of Deep Creek Road. Deep Creek runs on the edge of the nearby group campground and provides easily accessible fishing, wading and tubing. Visitors can also enjoy high-quality backcountry fishing in the cool waters of the countless streams and rivers that snake through the mountains, with trout available in abundance.
Facilities
This well-kept picnic pavilion offers room for up to 70 people and 15 covered picnic tables. There is no electricity at the site, but four elevated charcoal grills just outside the pavilion, make cooking for a crowd convenient.
Natural Features
Deep Creek provides a moderate climate, characterized by mild winters and hot, humid summers. With such close proximity to one of the park's most popular creeks, this facility is ideal for guests looking for scenic water recreation and hiking opportunities.
Nearby Attractions
Bryson City, located about three miles away, offers grocery stores and medical facilities.
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 strickly 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
This is a Day-use area. There is no overnight camping allowed.
Facilities
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, River, Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horseback riding
- Visitor center
- Wildlife viewing
- Fall color · reported 8 days ago, 14 km away
- Minimal color
3 of 4 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:14 UTC
The agency files 2 records here and marks every one of them day use, not overnight. On its own record there’s nothing here to spend the night in.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
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 · 13
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 · 6
recreation.gov availability, read 16:14 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
2 records · the site map
All 2 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 2 of the 2 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
| Pavilion | 4-8PM | day use | 107 ft | 27 ft | $32 |
| Pavilion | 7AM-3:30PM | day use | 107 ft | 27 ft |
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
Deep Creek Campground (NC)Great Smoky Mountains National Park · 0.2 mi
Deep Creek Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 0.3 mi
Cheoah Point Cabin 16.9 mi
Cheoah Point Cabin 26.9 mi
Collins Creek Picnic PavilionGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 9.5 mi
Tow String Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 9.7 miSeasonal phone is 828-488-3184
From downtown Bryson City, NC: Follow signs to Deep Creek, 3 miles away.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Bryson City, 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 · 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
Deep 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 →
Who can change it · 3
The agency’s own record files sites here and marks every one of them day use. The draft asks whether any could open to overnight camping, and if not, why.
- 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
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Chuck Edwards, I’m a constituent in North Carolina’s 11th district. Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina carries 2 records on the National Park Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the National Park Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Ted Budd, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina carries 2 records on the National Park Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the National Park Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the same question to the agency in writing.
Subject Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion has sites, and nobody may sleep in them
Dear Thom Tillis, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina carries 2 records on the National Park Service’s own file, every one of them marked day use rather than overnight. I’m asking you to put one question to the National Park Service in writing: would they consider opening any of these sites to overnight camping, and if not, why not? Road trips and camping on public land are part of how this country knows itself. It’s where a lot of people meet the place they live in for the first time, and it has never been something you had to be well off, or well organised six months in advance, to do. Sent about Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion (Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina) via campanac.com