Hello,
I plan on taking a trip to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee sometime this summer with my travel trailer. I plan on camping for a week. Any thoughts about the various campgrounds in the area and whether I should camp in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg? Any help would be appreciated.

Thank You

Hi We went to Pigeon Forge a couple of years ago in July. We stayed at Creekside RV Park and it was clean and was about a mile or so from the main street in PF. They have full hookups w/cable. Others will tell you to stay outside either town but we liked wheree were at also the trolley came thru the park and we rode that in stead of driving. Gaitlinburg is a good town not sure on the rv parks but you'll find driving to be bumper to bumper with a hard time finding a parking spot Claggbaugh's was near creekside and seemed to be clean but the sites were tight. You maybe able to search for reveiws on this as I think people have asked about it before or try rv.net as I know it's been asked there also....Good Luck & Happy Trails

Our favorite is Riverbend Campground in Pigeon Forge. We have been there once this year and plan on staying there for a week over July 4th and again for Labor Day weekend.

The park is about 2 blocks off of the main drag so it is convenient while still being quiet. You can walk a block and catch the trolley which will take you anywhere in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg (with a couple of trolley changes). The river runs right by the park.

Sites are easy to maneuver and the owners are always driving the park making sure everything is OK. They do not have a pool which could be a drawback if you have kids.

Another place we would recommend is River Plantation in Pigeon Forge. It is a little further out of town but nice and has 2 pools.

Have not stayed at the campground in Gatlinburg. We spoke with some people last weekend who had stayed there. Nice campground but seems to have a problem with bears making surprise visits during the night.

I have stayed at most all of the campgrounds in the Pigeon Forge area. My favorite of all is Claboughs located on Wears Vallley Road. This campgrounds has everything you could possibly need. Gas, Grocery Store, Deli, pools, etc.

They are located in the center of Pigeon Forge you can be anywhere in a matter of minutes. The tolley also stops at this campground.

The management team there is outstanding.

I have stayed at all the C/Gs mentioned in this thread. All are very nice, so I suppose the only other factor is price.

No one mentioned Outdoor Resorts on the outskirts of Gatlinburg. Also very nice with mini golf, a small lake, club house, and large pool. Will require driving to the tourist attractions tho.

You didn't ask, but I have some suggestions on things to do. The Aquarium in Gatlinburg, a minor league baseball game in Townsend, and Cades Cove.

We just returned from The River Plantation RV park just outside of Pigeon Forge. You can read the reviews here for it. It was a clean, quiet, and friendly campground. Regarding the traffic by the end of the week I had discovered the "backroads" to eliminate most of the congestion. There is a super Wal-Mart less than 2 miles away. It only took us about 10 to 15 minutes to reach Dollywood and Splash Country. The trip to Gatlinberg was a slow process as they are paving the road between Pigeon Forge and there.

Pigeon Forge Twin Mountain is a nice clean campground that is off the main drag but within walking distance(2 blocks). Trolley comes right thru campground to pickyou up. As for gatlinburg most of them is out from the city limits a ways. Twin creek is the closest to Gatlinburg and appears to be nice.We just got back from Yogi Bear for the 4th of July. It was about 12-15 miles from Gatlinburg but the road was fairly straight. Smokey bear is about 2 miles before Yogi coming from Gatlinburg. I did see Camping on the Smokies close to town but it wasn't even half full the week of the fouth. I remembered some reviews and figured that was the cause. You just need take in consideration how close to the action yopu want to be with your choice in campgrounds in this area?