Indian Boundary
1Heads up1 fire 38 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 18 of the next 18 nights read 16:08 UTC
- A night
- $20From, per site
- Sites
- 8886 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 11 notices
In the agency’s own words
Indian Boundary Recreation Area is the crown jewel of the South Zone of the Cherokee National Forest on the Tellico Ranger District. This family-oriented campground offers a swim beach and picnic area with grills and an accessible picnic pavilion, as well as a fantastic, 3.2-mile hiking and biking trail around the lake. Spectacular mountain views, glimpses of wildlife, and a peaceful setting await visitors who come to Indian Boundary. Keep reading
Recreation
Opportunities abound for fishing, swimming, boating, wildlife viewing and scenic driving. Other popular activities include hiking and biking the trail around Indian Boundary Lake. The recreation area contains a swim beach, boat ramp, fishing pier, picnic area and volleyball court.
Facilities
The 87-site campground has electric hookups, water faucets throughout the campground, grills, picnic tables and lantern posts. Modern restrooms add to the comfort of visitors in this natural setting. An on-site campground store sells bread, ice, milk, ice cream and other camping supplies. Indian Boundary Recreation Area Map Natural Features Indian Boundary Lake covers 96 acres at an elevation of 1,560 feet, and sits among hardwoods and pines. At the lake, visitors enjoy watching beaver that inhabit an adjacent pond, identifying several species of ducks and other waterfowl and trying their luck at catching bass, sunfish and catfish. 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. Elevations range from 750 to 5,500 feet.
Nearby Attractions
The campground is two miles off the Cherohala Skyway, a 43-mile National Scenic Byway that stretches from Tellico Plains, Tennessee, to Robbinsville, North Carolina. Bald River Falls on Tellico River Road 210 is a popular destination. The Pheasant Fields Fish Hatchery also on Tellico River is operated by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and is the rearing pools for the fish stocking program on Tellico River, Citico Creek, and the Green Cove Pond.
What the agency tells you
Check In is at 2:00 p.m. Check out is now 1:00 p.m. Campers with reservations must arrive within 24 hours of their reservation (by 2 p.m. the following day of their first night) or they will forfeit their campsite.
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.
Campground road is designed for vehicles up to 26 feet in length; any damage caused by larger vehicles may result in a fine
Everything else this campground posts · 8
Please fill your RV at the dump station before you enter the campground
Alcohol is prohibited
Please do not call the Indian Boundary Outpost for information or reservations; they are a private concessionaire.
Click here for more information on the Cherokee National Forest
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.
Hammocks are considered camping equipment and MUST be hung within the campsite's timbered borders. Hammocks are NOT allowed outside the timbers or in the woods.
When plugging in your camper/RV electric cord to the electrical outlet please do the following: • Check to make sure the breakers are turned off prior to plugging the camper/RV to the electrical outlet. • After plugging the RV/camper to the electric outlet, turn the breakers on. Close the cover so that water does not get into the outlets. • Multiple appliances in the camper and RV cannot be turned on at the same time. You must run one appliance at a time. Do not run your air conditioning unit and another appliance at the same time, including your television. • Turn off the electric breaker prior to removing your RV/camper electric cord before leaving the campsite. By following these steps, it helps prevent the electric breakers from failing during your stay at the Indian Boundary Recreation Area.
Campsites are non-transferrable (you cannot sell your campsite to another person) from one person to another and cannot be reserved for the purpose of selling them to someone else especially for a higher price. As stated in the confirmation letter, you CANNOT do this. Fines for this activity began at a miniumum of $80.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 88
- Hookups
- 86 electric
- Longest rig
- 26 ft
- Paved pads
- 1 of 88
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…87-site campground has electric hookups, water faucets throughout the campground, grills, picnic tables…”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 13 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek, Beach
- Accessible Swimming
- Backpacking
- Badminton
- Biking
- Birding
- Boating
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Kayaking
- Mountain biking
- Non-Motorized Boating
- Ranger Station
- Scenic drives
- Night sky · 21st darkest of 95 in TN
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 16:08 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 16:12 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 83 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 12 are free on Wed, Oct 21. read 16:08 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 · 12
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $20 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 16:12 UTC
- Cades Cove CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 23 mi · 1 of 320 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:08 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
88 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 86 mapped sitesAll 88 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. 86 of the 88 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 | 001 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 108 ft | 303 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 002 | type not stated | 26 ft | 30 amp | 304 ftIndian Boundary Lake | |||
| A | 003 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 69 ft | 340 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 004 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 69 ft | 385 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 005 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 79 ft | 394 ft | $20 | |
| A | 006 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 64 ft | 322 ft | $20 | |
| A | 007 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 24 ft | 272 ft | $20 | |
| A | 008 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 24 ft | 290 ft | $20 | |
| A | 009 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 25 ft | 226 ft | $20 | |
| A | 010 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 25 ft | 251 ft | $20 | |
| A | 011 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 193 ft | $20 | |
| A | 012 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 155 ft | $20 | |
| A | 013 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 19 ft | 162 ft | $20 | |
| A | 014 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 19 ft | 143 ft | $20 | |
| A | 015 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 47 ft | 141 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 016 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 47 ft | 129 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 017 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 64 ft | 127 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 018 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 154 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 019 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 189 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 020 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 213 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 021 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 211 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 022 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 65 ft | 204 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 023 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 190 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| A | 024 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 186 ftIndian Boundary Lake | $20 | |
| B | 028 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 29 ft | 97 ft | $20 | |
| B | 029 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 48 ft | 151 ft | $20 | |
| B | 030 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 49 ft | 171 ft | $20 | |
| B | 031 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 29 ft | 104 ft | $20 | |
| B | 032 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 75 ft | 188 ft | $20 | |
| B | 033 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 133 ft | 115 ft | $20 | |
| B | 034 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 91 ft | 158 ft | $20 | |
| B | 035 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 91 ft | 210 ft | $20 | |
| B | 036 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 52 ft | 168 ft | $20 | |
| B | 037 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 31 ft | 116 ft | $20 | |
| B | 038 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 31 ft | 116 ft | $20 | |
| B | 039 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 49 ft | 65 ft | $20 | |
| B | 040 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 48 ft | 19 ft | $20 | |
| B | 041 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 24 ft | 28 ft | $20 | |
| B | 042 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | yes | 24 ft | 43 ft | $20 |
| B | 043 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 78 ft | 115 ft | $20 | |
| B | 044 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 78 ft | 152 ft | $20 | |
| B | 045 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 28 ft | 220 ft | $20 | |
| B | 046 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 28 ft | 193 ft | $20 | |
| B | 047 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 54 ft | 244 ft | $20 | |
| B | 048 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 56 ft | 243 ft | $20 | |
| B | 049 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 32 ft | 199 ft | $20 | |
| B | 050 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 32 ft | 214 ft | $20 | |
| B | 051 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 31 ft | 153 ft | $20 | |
| B | 052 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 31 ft | 180 ft | $20 | |
| C | 053 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 24 ft | 337 ft | $20 | |
| C | 054 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 24 ft | 335 ft | $20 | |
| C | 055 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 29 ft | 247 ft | $20 | |
| C | 056 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 29 ft | 239 ft | $20 | |
| C | 057 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 27 ft | 153 ft | $20 | |
| C | 058 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 27 ft | 156 ft | $20 | |
| C | 059 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 87 ft | under 10 ft | $20 | |
| C | 060 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 24 ft | 52 ft | $20 | |
| C | 061 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 24 ft | 69 ft | $20 | |
| C | 062 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 37 ft | 104 ft | $20 | |
| C | 063 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 62 ft | 145 ft | $20 | |
| C | 064 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 50 ft | 226 ft | $20 | |
| C | 065 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 27 ft | 323 ft | $20 | |
| C | 066 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 27 ft | 298 ft | $20 | |
| C | 067 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 57 ft | 365 ft | $20 | |
| C | 068 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 74 ft | 444 ft | $20 | |
| C | 069 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 411 ft | $20 | |
| C | 070 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 51 ft | 458 ft | $20 | |
| C | 071 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 77 ft | 442 ft | $20 | |
| C | 072 | type not stated | 26 ft | 30 amp | ||||
| D | 073 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | under 10 ft | $20 | |
| D | 074 | standard electric | 26 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 60 ft | $20 | |
| D | 075 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 48 ft | 194 ft | $20 | |
| D | 076 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 37 ft | 205 ft | $20 | |
| D | 077 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 37 ft | 239 ft | $20 | |
| D | 078 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 64 ft | 247 ft | $20 | |
| D | 079 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 64 ft | 242 ft | $20 | |
| D | 080 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 73 ft | 143 ft | $20 | |
| D | 081 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 73 ft | 216 ft | $20 | |
| D | 082 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 22 ft | 54 ft | $20 | |
| D | 083 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 22 ft | 40 ft | $20 | |
| D | 084 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 46 ft | under 10 ft | $20 | |
| D | 085 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 40 ft | 78 ft | $20 | |
| D | 086 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 40 ft | 39 ft | $20 | |
| D | 087 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 43 ft | 161 ft | $20 | |
| D | 088 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 42 ft | 203 ft | $20 | |
| D | 089 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 23 ft | 220 ft | $20 | |
| D | 090 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 23 ft | 242 ft | $20 | |
| D | 091 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | 64 ft | 288 ft | $20 |
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.
25 of 88 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
McNabb Creek GroupCherokee National Forest · 5.2 mi
Donley CabinCherokee National Forest · 5.7 miNorth River CampgroundCherokee National Forest · 5.9 miDam Creek Walk-In Campground and Picnic AreaCherokee National Forest · 6.4 mi
Swan Cabin Group Camp6.6 miFrom I-75 at Sweetwater, Tennessee, take State Route 68 to Tellico Plains.
From Highway 68 in Tellico Plains, take Highway 165 (Cherohala Skyway) east for 16 miles. Turn left onto Forest Development Road 345 and travel 2 miles to the entrance.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Tellico Plains, TN
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 70°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 28°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
Indian Boundary 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 Indian Boundary, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee
Dear Charles J. "Chuck" Fleischmann, I’m a constituent in Tennessee’s 3rd district. I tried to camp at Indian Boundary, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 86 of the 88 campsites the agency files at Indian Boundary, 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 83 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. Indian Boundary keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Indian Boundary. 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 Indian Boundary (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 Indian Boundary, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee
Dear Bill Hagerty, I’m a constituent in Tennessee. I tried to camp at Indian Boundary, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 86 of the 88 campsites the agency files at Indian Boundary, 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 83 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. Indian Boundary keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Indian Boundary. 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 Indian Boundary (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 Indian Boundary, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee
Dear Marsha Blackburn, I’m a constituent in Tennessee. I tried to camp at Indian Boundary, Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 86 of the 88 campsites the agency files at Indian Boundary, 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 83 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. Indian Boundary keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Indian Boundary. 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 Indian Boundary (Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee) via campanac.com