Tsali Recreation Area
This is how it should work.
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there
In the agency’s own words
Tsali Recreation Area: Open year round Tsali Campground: Open April 15 - October 31 Enjoy mountain biking, horseback riding, fishing, motorized boating, kayaking or camping at Tsali Recreation Area, all located within steps of Fontana Lake. Follow the Trail. The Tsali (pronounced "SAH-lee") Keep reading
Recreation
Area's four-loop trail system has become a popular destination for mountain bikers and horseback riders. It is best known as a challenging mountain bike course. The Right Loop , rated moderately difficult, offers 13.9 miles of single track, with shorter 4- and 8-mile loops possible. The Left Loop , rated moderately difficult, is 11.9 miles of single track with views toward the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Fontana Lake. The Mouse Branch Trail , rated moderately difficult, is 8.7 miles of single track and includes old logging roads. The Thompson Loop , rated moderately difficult, is 7.3 miles of single track. Hikers may travel the trails on any day, but mountain bikers and equestrians-the primary users-are kept separated by alternating days on the trails. Be sure to follow the trail schedule: Jan./Feb./March/April/June/Sept./Nov./Dec. Right Loop and Left Loop: Horses - Tuesday , Thursday, & Saturday Mountain Bikes -Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday Mouse Branch and Thompson Loop: Horses - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, & Sunday Mountain Bikes - Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday May/July/August/October Right Loop and Left Loop: Horses - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, & Sunday Mountain Bikes - Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday Mouse Branch and Thompson Loop: Horses - Tuesday, Thursday, & Saturday Mountain Bikes - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, & Sunday There is a per-person day use fee for trail use. Fees can be paid at either the Tsali Bike or Horse Trailheads. Sleep under the Stars. Open early April through October, Tsali Campground offers 42 campsites on a first-come, first-served basis. Many sites accommodate small RVs, but no hookups are available. Each campsite has a picnic table, fire ring and lantern post. Accessible flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are available. Campers pay fees at the campground fee station. Get in the Water. Fontana Lake offers flatwater paddling and motor boating. One boat launch is located at Tsali, while another is located nearby on FR 2553 at Lemmons Branch. Ample parking is available at either launch. Fishing is permitted year-round, and anglers will find some of the best fishing for walleye in the state. Anglers can also catch black bass, crappie, catfish and white bass. Check out the brochure.
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…fire ring and lantern post. Accessible flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are available.…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “Accessible flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are available.”
- Drinking water
- Yes
- “…flush toilets, hot showers and drinking water are available. Campers pay fees at the campground…”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Fall color · reported 4 days ago, 24 km away
- Peak color
Nothing to book, just show up
One of 1,623 federal campgrounds where the site still goes to whoever pulls in first. Get there before noon on a summer weekend.
recreation.gov publishes no availability for a campground you can’t reserve, so there’s no thirty-night reading to draw here. The season bar above is what the agency does publish.
Every line of the receipt · 4
What you actually pay
How we know this receipt · 4
record Aug 24, 2026 · How we know all this
Getting there
the map and the coordinate
Where it is
Deep Creek Picnic PavilionGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 9.8 mi
Deep Creek Campground (NC)Great Smoky Mountains National Park · 10 mi
Deep Creek Group CampGreat Smoky Mountains National Park · 10 mi
Cheoah Point Cabin 112 mi
Cheoah Point Cabin 212 miAppletree Group CampgroundNantahala National Forest · 12 miThe 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
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Tsali Recreation Area 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 →