Harmon Den Campground
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights read 16:38 UTC
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 22All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Harmon Den Campground is nestled on a mountainside beneath a forest of mixed hardwoods in the Pisgah National Forest. The camp is in a secluded area off of Cold Springs rd. in Haywood County, and the individual sites provide ample privacy. The upper loop is reserved for horse campers while the lower loop is reserved for tent camping and small trailers. There are no hookups, no dump station, and no drinking water at this time. There is a vault toilet facility for each camping loop as well as bear-proof garbage cans. The area trails are horse and hiking use only, NO bikes. Keep reading
The campground is an ideal base for exploring the miles of nearby trails and enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery, with nearby access to I-40, Max Patch, and Hot Springs, NC Recreation Local attractions include more than 14 miles of trails designated for hiking and horseback riding and about 40 miles for hiking. Equestrians may ride other open roads unless signed closed to horses with caution due to traffic during busy recreational seasons. Trails include the 5.4-mile Buckeye Ridge, 2.6-mile Cherry Ridge, 2.5 mile Robert Gap and 3.6-mile Cold Springs Trails. Hunting and fishing are other popular activities in the area.
Facilities
Harmon Den Campground has an upper loop for Horse campers and a lower loop for tent or dry trailer campers. Facilities provided include horse stalls and mangers that accommodate a maximum of 4 horses and 8 people at each site with a picnic table, tent pad, lantern post, fire ring and parking for a single vehicle with horse trailer. Also located within the campground are 2 vault toilets, a self-service livestock manure station and watering tank (non-potable) for livestock.
Natural Features
The Harmon Den Area is located on the Appalachian Ranger District, an area that stretches westward from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park's eastern boundary to Craggy Gardens on the Blue Ridge Parkway to Roan Mountain near Tennessee. Elevations range from 1,900 feet at Max Patch to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell. Visitors to the area will find waterfalls, lush forest undergrowth, forested peaks and miles of cold mountain streams. Wildlife in the area include bear, deer, grouse and wild turkey.
Nearby Attractions
Great Smoky Mountains National Park makes an ideal day trip from Harmon Den. Max Patch is an open bald area with panaramic views and other trials for hiking include the Appalachian Trail, Cherry Creek and Groundhog Creek.
What the agency tells you
No accommodations for walk-ups at this location; reservations are required no less than 24 hours in advance.
The water handpump is non-potable currently, please bring your own drinking water.
This campground has gated access; the lock combination will be given when a reservation is made. Once code is entered, push down on shackle to open.
Everything else this campground posts · 8
Horses are not allowed in the interior portion of the campground; a perimeter trail provides access to riding trails.
Campground is located within a bear sanctuary; all food and waste must be in bear-proof containers.
Coggins test required.
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.
Please remove all leftover hay and straw during your departure.
The upper loop is designed for horse camping, the lower loop is available for tent campers and small trailers.
Please use shovel and wheelbarrow provided to dispose of any horse manure and hay into designated trailer.
Click here for more information about National Forests in North Carolina.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 22 · 13 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 30 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…drinking water at this time. There is a vault toilet facility for each camping loop as well as…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “There are no hookups, no dump station, and no drinking water at this time.”
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs, Waterfall, Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 19th darkest of 84 in NC
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 4 days ago, 21 km away
- Patchy color
6 of 38 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 16:38 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
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
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 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 16:38 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
22 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 10 mapped sitesAll 22 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. 22 of the 22 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Lower | T15 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Lower | T16 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Lower | T17 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Lower | T18 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Lower | T19 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Lower | T20 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Lower | T21 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Lower | T22 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Lower | T23 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Upper | HD01 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Upper | HD02 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Upper | HD03 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | $15 | ||
| Upper | HD05 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 36 ft | 267 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD06 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 36 ft | 299 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD07 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 46 ft | 252 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD08 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 34 ft | 290 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD09 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 46 ft | 228 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD10 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 34 ft | 262 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD11 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 31 ft | 200 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD12 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 31 ft | 173 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD13 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 67 ft | 114 ft | $15 |
| Upper | HD14 | equestrian nonelectric | 30 ft | 67 ft | 157 ft | $15 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Big Creek Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.3 mi
Big Creek Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.4 mi
Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)Great Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.6 mi
Cataloochee Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 9.2 mi
Rocky Bluff CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 10 miFrom Hot Springs, North Carolina, take Highway 209 south for approximately 7 miles. Turn right onto Meadowfork Road NCSR# 1175. After 6 miles turn right onto Little Creek Road NCSR# 1181 for 3 miles. Take a left onto Max Patch Road NCSR# 1182, then travel approximately 0.75 miles and turn right onto Cold Springs Road NFSR# 148. Travel southwest for about 3 miles to the intersection of Fall Branch Road NFSR#3526, the continue a half-mile to entrance of the campground on the left. Also access from Interstate 40 Exit 7 Harmon Den, travel east 3.0 miles on Cold Springs road NFSR#148 to Falls Branch road NFSR#3526 and 0.5 mile to entrance.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Hot Springs, NC
Typical weather
Typical October night 41°F, day 70°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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Harmon Den 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 →