Tow String Horse Camp
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- A night
- $30From, per site
- Sites
- 3All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Saddle up your horses for a camping trip in the stunning Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Located in the North Carolina portion of the park, this campsite offers miles of horse trails with a breathtaking scenic backdrop. World-renowned for its diversity of plant and animal life, the beauty of its ancient mountains and the quality of its remnants of Southern Appalachian mountain culture, Great Smoky Mountains is America's most visited national park. You MUST have a HORSE to camp at Tow String Horse Camp! Keep reading
Recreation
With access to several of the Smokies' popular horseback riding trails, equestrians will never be bored. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is also a hiker's paradise, with over 800 miles (1287 km) of maintained trails ranging from short, leg-stretchers to strenuous treks, with a number of those trails easily accessible from Tow String Camp. But hiking is not the only reason for visiting the Smokies: Fishing, picnicking, wildlife viewing and auto touring are also popular activities. Campers can 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. Wildlife viewing is a popular pastime, and with around 1,500 bears living in the park, it's not uncommon for visitors to spot one. From the big animals like bears, deer, and elk, down to microscopic organisms, the Smokies have the most biological diversity of any area in the world's temperate zone. The park is a sanctuary for a magnificent array of animal and plant life, all of which is protected for future generations to enjoy. The park also 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.
Facilities
Tow String offers traditional woods camping, perfect for a getaway trip. You MUST have a HORSE to camp at Tow String Horse Camp! Tow String Horse Camp has no electricity or running water (horses can drink from a nearby stream). All campsites have a picnic table, lantern post, and a grill / fire ring. The campground has portable toilets. There are no horse stalls or hitches. Please tie horses to your trailer.
Natural Features
Tow String Horse Camp is surrounded by picturesque mountain ranges, with a moderate climate characterized by mild winters and hot, humid summers. Great Smoky Mountains National Park preserves a rich cultural history of Southern Appalachia. From the prehistoric Paleo Indians to early 19th century European settlers, the park strives to protect the historic structures, landscapes and artifacts that tell the stories of the people who once called these mountains home.
Nearby Attractions
The campsite is located just four miles (6.4 km) from Cherokee, North Carolina, which offers groceries and fuel.
What the agency tells you
Parking Tag Requirements. The park requires a valid Great Smoky Mountains National Park Parking Tag for any vehicle parking for more than 15 minutes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Frontcountry campers may park at their designated campsite without a parking tag, but will need one if you park elsewhere in the park. Please note that parking tags will be required for vehicles in excess of what is allowable for each campsite.
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.
Pets. 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.
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Garbage. Dispose of garbage promptly in bear-proof dumpsters. This rule is strictly enforced!
No Showers or Hookups. There are no showers or electric, water or sewer hook-ups in the park.
Campfires. Fires are allowed in fire rings only.
Quiet Hours. Quiet hours are in effect from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Generator use is restricted from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Firewood Restriction. Only heat-treated firewood bundled in its original packing and bearing a certification seal from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) or a state department of agriculture may be brought into the park. This rule is strictly enforced. Campers may also collect dead and down wood in the park for campfires.
Where to Buy Heat-treated Wood. Certified heat-treated firewood is packaged and clearly marked with a state or federal seal and is available from a growing list of private businesses in communities around the park. Concessioners at Cades Cove, Elkmont, and Smokemont sell heat-treated wood during their operating season. Please visit www.nature.org/firewoodmap for a list of available vendors near the park. For additional information visit the park's Frequently Asked Questions about Firewood Policies web page.
You MUST have a horse to camp in a horse camp. There is a maximum of 4 horses and 6 people per campsite. Stay limit is 14 consecutive days. All horses must have a current Coggins test. Campers are responsible for cleaning their stalls before departure and placing waste in a manure trailer. Fires are allowed in fire rings only. Important Information: Food storage regulations are strictly enforced. Horse feed is also covered by food storage regulations. Pets are allowed in the horse camp but must be on a leash at all times and not left unattended. Pets are not allowed on trails.
No Stalls or Hitching Posts. Stalls and hitching posts are not provided at the Tow String Horse Camp location. Please only tie horses to horse trailer(s) and NOT to trees.
No Potable Water. With the exception of Big Creek, horse camps do not have potable water.
Fishing. A Tennessee or North Carolina fishing license is required to fish in the park. Special regulations apply in the park.
Visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park website www.nps.gov/grsm or call the park at 865-436-1200 for more information.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 3 · 3 equestrian
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 35 ft
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Not allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Portable Toilets
- “…a grill / fire ring. The campground has portable toilets. There are no horse stalls or hitches. Please tie…”
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horseback riding
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 46th darkest of 84 in NC
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 9 days ago, 2.4 km away
- Minimal color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
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 · 17
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $30 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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
3 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 3 mapped sitesAll 3 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. 3 of the 3 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Smokemont CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.4 mi
Smokemont Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 1.7 mi
Collins Creek Picnic PavilionGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 2.8 mi
Round Bottom Horse CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.1 miBalsam Mt. CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.1 mi
Balsam Mountain CampgroundGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 7.1 miThere is no street address for the horse camp.
Tow String horse camp is located 4 miles north of Cherokee, NC off Newfound Gap Road (aka U.S. 441). Turn right at sign for Tow String. Turn left after crossing bridge.
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
Tow String Horse Camp 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 →