Chilhowee Campground

Campground is pleasant and there are some sites that have a fair amount of privacy. Trails are nice, especially the trail to Benton Falls, which is gorgeous. The cicadas were noisy (end of May) when we were there, which added to the experience. The beach area and sandy-bottom lake were great.

Love this camp area and the day area. We enjoy the peace of being out there and were satisfied with the upkeep. Walked the loop one morning and it was nice.

This campsite at the top of the mountain was wonderful to stay and explore the area around Cleveland. It was the very end of the colder season so my Mr Heater came in handy. It was quiet during the week and not too crowded on weekends but visitors were very respectful and quiet. Very professional hosts who made sure to check on things often. I loved the hikes around the sites and we did make it to the falls and around the lake to the gazebo which was perfect for a brief hike. We enjoyed being able to drive down and pick up things in the local town and did laundry there a couple of times. Used their wifi to download books and movies and picked up ice and supplies while we were out and about.

We really enjoyed our stay at Chilhowee campground. Just be aware that the road up to the campground is very steep, narrow and winding. Locals also apparently use the road as a way to live out juvenile Fast and Furious fantasies as we witnessed several teenagers street racing up and down the road. Similarly, we noticed several locals just cruising the campground loops throughout the day in their pick up trucks, loud music playing and several teenage kids in the bed of each truck. We were thankful that this behavior did not continue after dark as we would have felt pretty unsafe. In the E-Loop we found the campsites to be very large and private with level camping pads. There is electricity at each campsite, but no water. Potable water is available from spigots throughout the campground. There are trash receptacles throughout the campground for easy disposal of waste. We enjoyed hiking the many trails throughout the area and enjoying the stunning overlooks. My wife particularly enjoyed hiking Azalea Trail as it had a section where the Azalea bushes essentially formed a tunnel that you had to walk through. We also did some fishing at the little lake that forms the centerpiece of this campground. Not hugely successful with the fishing, but did catch a couple catfish. Cell service varies dramatically within the campground. AT&T was mostly useless everywhere in the campground, while Verizon was largely useless in the E-Loop but worked fine around the lake area and while walking through the A-Loop of the campground. Cleaning of the restroom and shower facilities was suspect during our stay. Someone smashed a VERY large spider on the floor of the men's room on a Wednesday, and it was still there on Sunday, and the ceilings and light fixtures were wrapped in enough spider webbing to capture and immobilize a full grown black bear.

Always enjoy going to chilowee. Always beautiful and many trails. Absolutely in love with the beautiful views. Our new yearly destination for sure

A amazing place to stay. Beautiful scenery and great people. From just relaxing to hiking, swimming, kayaking and white water rafting the activities are endless.

Brought home bodies covered in chigger bites! We booked this location based off the recommendation from a staff worker. However, we were rafting on the upper pigeon River. We missed our starting time and had to rebook.

This is our absolute favorite place to camp! The most beautiful scenery, the kindest camp host, and just a wonderful place to get away to. Our favorite activity is to ride our tandem bicycle from camp (site 50 is my fave) down to Hwy 64 and back. We stop at the overlooks along the way and meet the nicest people. My husband grew up paddling the Ocoee, and this is our number one pick for camping. We came in our tent with our children, and now we come in our RV as empty nesters!! We will always be back!!

Wonderful campground. Very well taken care of.

As always the hosts were very helpful, but if we reported any rules violations the National Forest Rangers just ignored them and left warnings only. It seemed a waste of time when signs and rules were ignored!