Smokemont Campground Review | Best Campsites in the Great Smoky Mountains | Cherokee North Carolina

Smokemont Campground is one of the best campgrounds in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Located on the Cherokee side of the Smokies, the campground has over 140 campsites and nestled by the Oconoluftee River and Bradley Fork. The campsites accommodate a mix of tents, trailers, RV's and van lifers. There is also a special section for only RV's and Trailers only. There is running water and flushable toilets at the restrooms, which were very clean. Probably the cleanest I have seen at a campground. Unfortunately, there are not any electric hookups, but there is a black water station at the park and there are grey water sinks, for cleaning your dishes, located at the restrooms.
There are riding stables near the campground, with a little store where you can purchase firewood. The Bradly Fork Creek runs adjacent to most of the campground and is nice place to sit, relax and soak your feet or a place for kids to play in the roughly knee to thigh high waters. However, I do not recall any sites, right next to the creek. The closest sites tent sites were probably about 30 - 40 yards from the creek, and you had to cross over the road, but it was not far to walk to the creek. Studying the map, I think a few of the RV only sites may be creek-side, but I am not 100% certain.
There is also the Bradley Fork hiking trail, near the campground, if you are looking for a nice little walk in the woods.
The campsites themselves are spaced nicely apart, and they are not on top of each other like some other GSMNP campsites. The only con we found was, if you are wanting to spend time in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, then you are on the other side of the mountain and you will have an hour or so drive to get to your destination. However, the nearby town of Cherokee is only about 10 minutes away from your campsite. We have found that this side of the Smokies is not nearly as crowded as the more touristy Gatlinburg area.
We highly recommend considering Smokemont campground as a camping destination in the Great Smoky Mountains.
To find out more about this campsite, visit the following webpage:
www.recreation.gov/camping/ca...
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[@MishapAmethystHikes]

Another great video!

[@BushesOnTheTrail]

Thank you very much. Should have our hike to Mt. LeConte coming out in the next couple weeks.

[@MrRyancangri]

Do they have bear boxes to store our food?

[@BushesOnTheTrail]

I did not see any, but we stored ours in sealed containers in our camper van. This is directly from the website:
• Caution: Bears and other wildlife frequent the area. All food and equipment used to prepare and store food must be kept in a sealed vehicle or camping unit of solid, non-pliable material AT ALL TIMES when not in use. All scented items, as well as all water containers MUST be stored. Dispose of garbage promptly in dumpsters provided. Unattended or improperly stored coolers, food and/or scented items may be impounded by campground staff. Violators are subject to fines.
• Dispose of garbage promptly in bear-proof dumpsters. This rule is strictly enforced!

[@MrRyancangri]

@@BushesOnTheTrail Thank you so much!

[@Frank-tb4ck]

Camped n Cades Cove, Elkmont and Cosby many time but never Smokemont. Driven thru a few times but it just never grabbed me nd made me want to camp there. No good reason other than it just never held on to my interest.

[@BushesOnTheTrail]

We liked it better than Cades Cove because it wasn’t as crowded, and the spaces were more spread apart. That is one of the great things about the Smokies, every site is a little different. Something for everyone’s preferences and styles of camping.