Balsam Mountain Campground

A nice, quiet, remote place to commune with nature. It is quite a ways into the park by car, taking more than an hour from the Tennessee border, but worth it if you have the time, as you will climb the mountain on an upward trajectory for about 30 minutes, to over one mile in elevation. There are many great hiking trails nearby, and it is not that far from whitewater rafting (one hour) and seeing the central part of the park to the west. The campsites are a bit close together, so you will be close to your neighbors. It gets quite cool at night, around 50 degrees in late Spring, warming up a bit in Summer. Daytime temps are about 68 in the same time frame. And there is lots of free firewood on the ground around the site!

A nice, quiet, remote place to commune with nature. It is quite a ways into the park by car, taking more than an hour from the Tennessee border, but worth it if you have the time, as you will climb the mountain on an upward trajectory for about 30 minutes, to over one mile in elevation. There are many great hiking trails nearby, and it is not that far from whitewater rafting (one hour) and seeing the central part of the park to the west. The campsites are a bit close together, so you will be close to your neighbors. It gets quite cool at night, around 50 degrees in late Spring, warming up a bit in Summer. Daytime temps are about 68 in the same time frame. And there is lots of free firewood on the ground around the site!

The hiking was amazing. We went to Hemphill Bald and hiked 5 mi. The nature, wildflowers on Balsam Mountain were beautiful.

The park and drive coming in to campground is so well kept up. We just love the scenery, the bathrooms are clean and the hiking path inside campground that leads you to overlook is awesome.

During our camp there was a couple of larger groups of very noisy young people. They had fun but kept us awake til the middle of the morning. The 'quiet after 10' idea was recognized by them.
Second the restroom facilities were pretty grubby.
Of all the great sites we have camped in I would rate our experience of this one as pretty low.

The hiking was amazing. We went to Hemphill Bald and hiked 5 mi. The nature, wildflowers on Balsam Mountain were beautiful.

The park and drive coming in to campground is so well kept up. We just love the scenery, the bathrooms are clean and the hiking path inside campground that leads you to overlook is awesome.

During our camp there was a couple of larger groups of very noisy young people. They had fun but kept us awake til the middle of the morning. The 'quiet after 10' idea was recognized by them.
Second the restroom facilities were pretty grubby.
Of all the great sites we have camped in I would rate our experience of this one as pretty low.

You know when you are around seasoned campers. And they hang out here. Awesome.

You know when you are around seasoned campers. And they hang out here. Awesome.

Awesome place to camp. the camp host was very nice and briefed us on things you should or shouldnt do (dont leave food outside..). the bathroom has running water and a motion activated solar light. no electricity. tent sites are somewhat close, but that didnt bother us primarily because our neighbor was in a RV.

no firewood available at the site, so buy from Cherokee or another nearby town.

Awesome place to camp. the camp host was very nice and briefed us on things you should or shouldnt do (dont leave food outside..). the bathroom has running water and a motion activated solar light. no electricity. tent sites are somewhat close, but that didnt bother us primarily because our neighbor was in a RV.

no firewood available at the site, so buy from Cherokee or another nearby town.