Cades Cove Campground

This is one of the best campgrounds there is in the United States the park Rangers are great. The weather’s great. The campsites are great. Can’t wait to come back.

We stayed in early September on site B70. The pros are that it's a spacious, corner site with no neighbors behind or to the right. The cons are that if you are car camping or have a small teardrop-style camper, the firepit of the neighbors to the left is quite close and smoke will most likely be coming inside your windows as it did ours and you might feel too close, as we did. If you are tent camping, this wouldn't be an issue for you as the tent pad sits far back in a nice wooded area that feels quite private. It also might not be as bad if you have a larger camper with lots of windows so that you can keep any windows directly by their fire closed, and also your camper would provide a 'block' from your neighbors as you sit at your picnic table. This site does have a long drive that would accommodate a larger camper. The drive is quite level. We car camped and did not need to use levelers. The site sits very near Abrams Creek, which offers a nice trail you can walk. This is both a pro and a con, as it's convenient to you, but you will also have lots of foot traffic from others who are utilizing the trail. We don't sit at our campsite much as we are out and about except at night so it didn't bother us. One more note, you are in the thick of bear activity which is why the campground must have strict food storage rules. However, unlike other national parks we've camped at with bear activity, Cades Cove campground has only one small food storage locker for the entire campground which makes it useless for 98% of the campers. This means if you ride a motorcycle and tent camp, you won't have anywhere to store your cooler/food. If you car camp you will be storing your cooler/food in your car where you are sleeping. I hope that the campground adds more food storage lockers, for the benefit of the campers' and bears' safety.

Friendly, easy, affordable

This campground was definitely off grid but had clean restrooms. It was perfect for a total get away from the world if you can tolerate being out of touch. No cell service, no wifi. Has a great store with hot food and lots of memorabilia. The Cades Cove Loop is awesome and Wednesday of each week set aside for hikers and bicycles no motor vehicles. It was incredible , fantastic views, wildlife, historic buildings and the old mill with another store. Campsites are big enough and not too close. B Loop is better for bigger campers/RV's and C Loop is perfect for tents. Very strict food/trash rules for high bear activity, however I only saw two and that was on the scenic loop. Also there are many great hiking trails! The town of Townsend was about 12 mi away with plenty of restaurants, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville also not too far. I will be back for a longer stay next year!

The campground itself is lovely and very well laid out. The tent sites are level with fine gravel and no rocks. The Cades Cove Loop is very close.

The one thing that surprised us and that everyone should know before they stay here is that the bathhouses are not bathhouses at all. There are no showers on site, so unless you have a shower in your RV, you are limited to sink baths with only cold water.

This is a beautiful well kept campground. We camped (tent) 2 nights with 3 kids (ages 13, 9 and 6. Rangers were knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. Bathrooms were clean. Store camp was very well stocked. We rented bikes and it was such a fun week! Would absolutely return!

This is a perfect location if you are new to the Smoky mountains. There is a ton to explore and great for families with the comfort of having a store. We saw a lot of wildlife, including 11 bears in one day but the rangers were always there to assist in keeping them out of the campground. The only downfall is that there are no showers and the bathrooms are a little dated.

Beautiful campground! Went on a Wednesday when the scenic loop was closed to motorist, so I could bike it. It was the best ride I’ve ever been on. Saw almost 20 black bears! The campground also has a wonderful gift shop with hot food & ice cream. I stayed at C5 & my only complaint is that it was directly across from the maintenance entrance. Before 7am you could hear them starting all their landscape equipment, the load thuds of the garbage pick up vehicles on trailers and staff driving in blaring their music.

We love the Cades Cove campground, especially on Wednesday nights after participating in bicycling the loop road when it is closed to vehicles. We also enjoy camping at Cades Cove and hiking on the many wonderful trails in the area. The campground is peaceful, well kept, and very pretty.

noticed not as many docents as in the past but no problems on our account.
also the park semed to have less deer