We have been trying to take a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and it just hasn’t lined up with our schedules. We booked October reservations two years ago and were excited to visit there in the fall. However, we had to cancel due to a family obligation. We booked another one–this time for late spring–hoping our stay would enable us to see some wildflowers still in bloom.
I wanted to book three nights at one specific campsite in the extremely popular Elmont Campground near Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I set a reminder on my calendar to notify me when the reservation window opened, but unfortunately, I didn’t get the spot. In fact, most spots were somehow already booked the weekend we planned to go. After doing some more research, we ended up booking Cataloochee Campground. It’s on the North Carolina side of the park in a more remote area. The nearby hikes and historic structures looked interesting, but more importantly, the elk viewing area just down the road intrigued me. The Cataloochee Valley seems to have the highest elk population inside the park.
When we mapped our route, our Garmin somehow shot us down the Blue Ridge Parkway even though we have it set up for RV-friendly roads. Within the first five miles on the Parkway we heard the sound of trees hitting our roof, which made us nervous. Then we encountered our first tunnel. The clearance sign indicated it was just over 14 feet, but we stopped, got out, and inspected before driving through just to be sure. From there, we drove through at least two more tunnels, both decreasing in clearance height which made us nervous. However, the clearance indicated on the signs turned out to be the minimum, and the maximum was much higher so we easily passed through each tunnel. Unfortunately, when we parked our camper and set up we discovered that our WeBoost antenna had been knocked over and was broken.
There is one way into the Cataloochee Valley–down an approximate 11-mile windy, narrow dirt road with lots of blind curves. We had read mixed reviews on how hard it would be to drive our camper down that road. On the way in, we didn’t encounter many cars along the road, so it wasn’t too bad. Leaving was a different story, as we had to pull to the side or navigate around multiple cars, which stressed me out even though I wasn’t driving.
Once we made it safely to the campground and set up camp, we were already feeling disappointment set in. Our site, #20–while huge–was very close to three other campsites. We like our space when we’re camping. It was clear we would have less privacy for naps in our chairs and listening to music. We knew the national park campground wouldn’t have the level of privacy we prefer, but this was more intimate than we expected.
We relaxed for a bit, ate dinner, then walked down the Cataloochee Entrance Road close to sunset to find some of the trails and locate the elk field. Things started looking up when we arrived at the elk field, because four elk were grazing. One of the two goals for the trip was satisfied on the first night. We stood on the roadside among the cars watching the elk, feeling a little exposed. However, we used common sense and stayed back, knowing that elks are larger than bears.
The next morning we set out early to hike the Little Cataloochee Trail, a 10.2-mile trail at the end of the Cataloochee Entrance Road. We had no plans to hike the entire trail, but we did, ending the day with a total of 14 miles hiked. The trail was moderately challenging, with lots of muddy spots and horse poop to dodge. We only saw one person at the very beginning of the hike, and then for the next five hours, we didn’t see anyone else until we looped back around to the Palmer House. We stopped along the trail, explored the old cabins and church, and enjoyed the peaceful quiet.
Back at the campsite for dinner, we started debating our plans for the following day. We had booked three nights at Cataloochee Campground, but we were starting to consider leaving the next morning. It was supposed to rain the following day, and the idea of staring in the eyes of our neighbors all day while stuck at our camp spot was not appealing. Plus, the other campers were very loud, something else we were not enjoying during our stay there. Upon waking, we decided to drive over to Clingman’s Dome, not knowing that the parking lot would not be dually friendly. Nevertheless, the drive was pretty and it was nice to see another area of the park.
Not ready to go home, we started researching somewhere to stay for the night. We drove through Smokemont Campground because we noticed on recreation.gov that two sites were open. However, when we drove through, we got the same sites are too close together feeling, so we kept heading down the road toward home. Ultimately we ended up at a Harvest Hosts apple farm and had a lovely, quiet night.
Cataloochee Campground Review Summary
Sites: We stayed in site #20. The reviews we read before booking indicated that it was large and level. Nowhere did we read anyone say that it was located extremely close to the three other sites next to it. We recommend sites 3, 5, 7 or 8 if you like a little more privacy. These sites are also on the riverside.
Cell Service: None. We temporarily rigged up our broken WeBoost and managed to get 3 or 4 bars on Verizon so that we could text family.
Activities: There are some nearby hikes, lots of historic structures and the elk viewing field. We also saw many wild turkeys during our visit. We saw people fishing, so that’s an option as well.
Noise: When we researched the campground, we read reviews that since it’s such a remote area it was very quiet there. We experienced this quiet on our hike but not at the campground. Granted, it was Memorial Day weekend, and the campground was mostly filled with families. It’s not unusual to go camping and find many kids riding bikes around the campground. What was bothering us was the big wheel and the bicycle outfitted with a plastic bottle on the tire, both of which were very noisy.
Drive: There is only one way into Cataloochee Valley, and it made me anxious. Watch our video showing a portion of our drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway (which you can avoid) and on Cove Creek Road into the valley.
