Best RV Campgrounds & Parks (2026)

The best RV parks near the Smokies are private campgrounds just outside the national park, including the Townsend/Great Smokies KOA, the Cherokee/Great Smokies KOA, Little Arrow Outdoor Resort and Smoky Mountain Premier RV Resort, because the park's campgrounds have no hookups. Book three to six months ahead for summer and October, and confirm 50-amp service and rig length.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park drew 11.5 million visitors in 2025, which explains why campground reservations in this region are a logistics exercise, not an afterthought. Summer weekends and the three-week window around peak fall color (usually mid-October into early November) book out months in advance. If you're targeting specific dates, reserve early.

All twelve picks here are outside the national park boundary, where hookups are available; the park's own campgrounds have none. Several are within a few miles of major park entrances on both the Tennessee and North Carolina sides. When you drive into the park for day hikes, any vehicle parked more than 15 minutes needs GSMNP's Park It Forward tag ($5 a day, $15 a week or $40 a year). America the Beautiful and other federal passes are not accepted.

Most of this list clusters around Gatlinburg because that corridor has the densest concentration of private campground infrastructure near the park's northern entrances. The practical downside: US-441 through Gatlinburg runs slow on summer afternoons, and the commercial strip that surrounds it isn't everyone's version of mountain camping. Townsend, represented here by the Townsend/Great Smokies KOA, gives you the same park access with far less congestion and puts you close to the Cades Cove wildlife loop. Cherokee, on the North Carolina side, has the Cherokee/Great Smokies KOA as the one entry on this list anchoring the southern park entrance near Oconaluftee.

A few specifics worth confirming before you book: call ahead on 50-amp availability and maximum rig length, since site clearances vary even within large resorts. And regardless of where you stay, food storage discipline matters; black bear activity near Smokies campgrounds is routine, and most parks enforce firm rules about keeping food and scented items secured inside your vehicle or in provided bear-resistant containers.

More to plan with: the camping hub, the backcountry permit guide, bear safety, the parking tag explainer and the events calendar.