Chilhowee Campground

We throughly enjoyed our stay .it was great weather lots of wildlife if you know where to look .things i dont like the ocoee district is not managed as well or kept as well as the the tellico district never have understood that its all cherokee national forest .to much emphasis is put on the ocoee river and its rafting always has and im sure always will .now that that the whitewater center has burnt which the fisherman had to anity up for by way of having to pay to park on the side of the road just to fish i would say they tryin to figure out how to get all the people that hike fish or use the cherokee forest for any reason other than rafting to flip the bill again to pay to rebuild it .all said camp ground was great bathrooms could be cleaner .host was great .only concern was we seen people coming to campground to use the showers that were not campers and not necessarily the kind of people you would want to turn your back on i guess not leave anything loose that could be stold i dont think they need to be in there

The campsite was great. It was very level, only needed one block under each wheel on one side of the trailer and we were done leveling. The fall colors were spectacular and weather was cool and crisp. The scenery was outstanding. Most of the trails were easy to navigate. Some had not been kept up, maybe because it was the end of the season but there are a lot of trails. We enjoyed the trails the most.

My wife and I went here for our anniversary getaway. Campsites are well spaced and miles of hiking trails are interwoven into the campground, making it a nice family spot. Nothing too fancy and nothing lacking. It's a campground.

Was a wonderful week. The trail back to Benton Falls was as good as we remembered from 27 years ago.

The actual campsites and surrounding area were amazing! Completely secluded with beautiful scenery.

But the bathrooms were horrendous. They are not climate controlled, there were no lights over the showers, and there was no hand soap dispensers.

This campground is in a very beautiful spot and could be fabulous. Unfortunately, very little has been done to maintain it so it’s pretty basic and needs some loving repair. We talked with the long-time host and he said the NFS won’t budget any money for needed repairs and, despite his ability to do so, they won’t allow him to make the repairs, citing the need for NFS certified tradespeople. A sad situation. Several beautiful overlooks are covered with graffiti, again, because of a lack of funding for clean up and maintenance.

My wife and I camped at Chilhowee 9 times over this year. We love this National park/campground, it is our go to spot for camping (we have a trailer) hiking and swimming. Joe, the new camp host (area A&B) who came onboard this past season is informative, helpful and friendly. Couldn't ask for a better host.
That all said, there is one thing I would like to point out. Not sure what's happening with the website for reserving spaces, but I seen many times where the site shows just about every site (with Electric) as having been reserved, but when we are there over the weekend, many of these sites sit empty. Now, I get it that people cancel and the website doesn't get updated right away, but that does not explain why the sign at the entrance will say "no vacancy" for electric sites all weekend long, when there are indeed sites available. With the Ranger station not being manned most weekends, nobody is going to make that 7 mile pull up to the park towing their trailers to see if there are any sites available.

While this is a beautiful campground, it is in need of some repairs. Second time we were here and had issues with the dump station and water fill stations either being closed or broken. If you have a big rig, be prepared for low hanging branches. There is no water on the site but there are waterfill stations scattered throughout the campgrounds. Be aware that this campground gets noisy during the weekends. Campground host was very nice and helpful.

Great lots; lots of privacy while also having room to have our family in nearby lots sit around my site. Will plan another visit!

Great place! Sadly someone near us ran a gas generator until 11:00 pm, keeping us awake… But overall was a great experience!