Paint Creek Campground
1Heads up1 fire 44 mi away
- Right now
- Closedrecreation.gov lists every site closed this weekend, read 15:22 UTC
- A night
- $10When it reopens, per site
- Sites
- 21In the agency’s record
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Paint Creek Recreation Area (elevation 1760 feet) is located in Greene County in a mountain cove along Paint Creek. A majority of the widely-spaced campsites have streamside views and are screened by a variety of native plants, including rhododendron, hemlock and laurel. Be Bear Wise: Food storage compliance is strictly enforced. Store all food and trash in hard-sided containers and vehicles while not in use. Never have attractants in your tent. Violations of the food storage order are ticketable offenses and subject to fines. Food and trash left unattended will be impounded by campground staff. Keep reading
Recreation
Recreation opportunities abound along the Paint Creek corridor. Paint Creek is a popular stream for swimming, wading and fly fishing. TWRA stocks Paint Creek with Rainbow trout throughout the summer. Warm water fishing is a short drive away at Paint Creek Pond. Two hiking trails begin within walking distance of the campground: Paint Mountain Trail (#7) and Paint Creek Trail (#10). Bike riding along the Paint Creek corridor to Hot Springs, NC is becoming a favorite pastime. Several scenic auto loops can begin at Paint Creek campground.
Facilities
20 total campsites All single occupancy 3 sites (13, 14, and 16) are tent-only 2 vault toilets, one in each loop Drinking water available at the center of the campground Paint Creek Campground Map Natural Features Waterfalls: Kelly, Dudley and Ricker Falls can be seen from Forest Road 41 along Paint Creek. Cascades: 15 feet each. Paint Creek Pond: Among the cattails and other aquatic plants, watch for beavers and listen for frog calls. In the early morning, watch mist rise from the placid surface of the pond. The pond is an easy drive or bicycle ride from Paint Creek Campground. Contact Info Nearby Attractions French Broad River: Class I-III rapids. A popular commercial section runs 13 miles from Hot Springs, North Carolina, to Del Rio, Tennessee, with local rafting services. Scenic drives along Paint Creek Corridor with Hot Springs Loops - Meander along 5-mile Paint Creek Corridor to historic Paint Rock. Stop for a picnic, check out scenic waterfalls or splash in the ripples along the way. Extend your trip by travelling along French Broad River via River Road to the community of Hot Springs, North Carolina. Two overmountain routes will bring you back to Paint Creek: From Hot Springs, take US 25/70 west to TN 107 to Forest Road 54. Catch scenic mountain vistas along this winding gravel road that intersects Forest Road 41 near Paint Rock. From Hot Springs, take US 25/70 east to Forest Road 467 and wind through Pisgah National Forest to Hurricane Gap. Forest Road 31 brings you back to Paint Creek at Moses Turn trailhead. Take a side trip at Hurricane Gap to Pisgah National Forest’s Rich Mountain Firetower or catch the Appalachian National Scenic Trail #1.
What the agency tells you
It is your responsibility to read, know, understand, and follow all specific rules and regulations which are also posted at the campground.
Be Bear Wise: Food storage compliance is strictly enforced. Store all food and trash in hard-sided containers and vehicles while not in use. Never have attractants in your tent. Violations of the food storage order are ticketable offenses and subject to fines. Food and trash left unattended will be impounded by campground staff. A copy of the Food Storage Order can be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/nfs/files/r08/cherokee/publication/Food%20and%20Refuse%20Storage%20Requirements.pdf
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.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
The following items are expressly prohibited: o Firearms and fireworks o Alcohol and illegal drugs o Public nudity
Access road is narrow and steep with some sharp curves.
Use designated fire rings for all fires. Do not build additional fire rings. No burning plastic or other non-wood materials except local wood in fire pits and charcoal in grills.
Max of 2 vehicles per site. All vehicles must be parked within the driveway or designated parking area of the site and no part of the vehicle may extend onto the road or into the woods.
Max of 5 people per site, including infants and children. Max of 2 tents and 1 canopy.
All users' equipment must be contained within the site. Sites must be kept neat and orderly.
All animals must be crated or on a leash not longer than 6 feet.
Water spigots are shared between sites.
Check-out time is 12:00PM. Check-in time is 2:00PM. If you arrive earlier, you may have to wait for a campsite.
Forest Service Volunteer Campground Hosts help manage the area and can provide visitor information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 21 · 3 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- 15
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…3 sites (13, 14, and 16) are tent-only 2 vault toilets, one in each loop Drinking water available at the…”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…2 vault toilets, one in each loop Drinking water available at the center of the campground Paint…”
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 13 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Hot springs, Waterfall, River, Creek
- Backpacking
- Biking
- Birding
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Mountain biking
- Scenic drives
- Swimming
- Water access
- Wildlife viewing
Nothing to book until it reopensread 15:22 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 · 10
What you actually pay
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 Paint Creek Campground closed this Friday and Saturday night. The U.S. Forest 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.
- Carolina Hemlocks Rec AreaPisgah National Forest · 38 mi · 35 sites
- Briar Bottom Group CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 38 mi · 6 sites
- Black Mountain CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 38 mi · 41 sites
- Smokemont CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 39 mi · 142 sites
recreation.gov availability, read 15:22 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
21 sites
All 21 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. 17 of the 21 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| East | 1 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| East | 2 | standard nonelectric | $10 | ||
| East | 3 | standard nonelectric | $10 | ||
| East | 4 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| East | 5 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| East | 6 | type not stated | 30 amp | yes | |
| West | 10 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 11 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 12 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 13 | tent only nonelectric | |||
| West | 14 | tent only nonelectric | |||
| West | 15 | standard nonelectric | $10 | ||
| West | 16 | tent only nonelectric | |||
| West | 17 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 18 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 19 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 20 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 21 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 7 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 8 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 | |
| West | 9 | standard nonelectric | yes | $10 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Houston ValleyCherokee National Forest · 5.7 mi
Rocky Bluff CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 8.0 miRound Mountain CampgroundCherokee National Forest · 11 miOld Forge CampgroundCherokee National Forest · 12 miOld Forge Recreation AreaCherokee National Forest · 12 mi
Horse Creek Recreation AreaCherokee National Forest · 14 miFrom Greeneville, take TN 70 south for 11.2 miles, turn right on Rollins Chapel Road and then follow the signs to Paint Creek. Access road is narrow with some sharp curves.
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 47°F, day 72°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°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
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
Paint Creek Campground is in Tennessee’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Diana Harshbarger (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →