Hi Everyone~
Our family will be making our first trip to the Smokies, and we are leaning towards Townsend, specifically Tuckaleechee Campground OR The Mountaineer. Anyone have any experience staying in either of these 2 sites? We like having some "elbow room" and more nature than concrete :-)

Any other advice is welcome. Thanks in advance!

We have stayed at The Mountaineer many times over the past few years, and always enjoy it. The sites are good, each has a picnic table, fire ring, and most have a small slab to set out chairs, etc on. The park is under a hugh canopy of trees and is located on the Little River. You can walk along the path by the river or sit on a bench and read if you want. The owners Bob & Barb Hurst are very family oriented and also love animals. They are some of the nicest people you will every meet. They do believe in quiet time, but most evenings there is a pit fire up front(when it's cool enough) and pickin' and singin'. They believe in a clean campground and the bathhouse is among th cleanest I've ever been in. The campground is located close to Cades Cove and Maryville is not too far in the other direction. There is tubing, horseback riding, biking and hiking. These are all within a mile or two of the CG. We have reservations for October this year with the 7 couples that we camp with every year. This will be our 2nd time as a group to stay at The Mountaineer and My DH & I were just there at Easter. Hope this helps, can't tell you about the other one you mentioned as we have never stayed there. Happy Camping! Anne

Thanks, Anne, for that review of The Mountaineer. We've decided to give them a shot, but we're still open to other campers who have enjoyed other campgrounds around the Great Smokies.

Thanks!!

Hi...we really enjoy Little River Village...very nice cg...I don't know if you have kids or not...they have a decent size pool...nice river access (meaning you don't have to repel down a cliff to get to it!!) kind of like a beach area... Very clean bathhouses, nice store, nice playground...bingo on weekends (they always play for free nights)... some of the sites are a little close together but I have seen much much worse!! We absolutley love this place...we are going for a week over the 4th and again in Sept. for labor day...they are strict w/ the rules which we like...I can't stand noisy cg's at night...when it is quiet time, I want quiet time...and they enforce that rule! I guess for some people it might not be as "rustic" as they would like...but in our opinion...this is the best campground in the smoky mtn. area...just our opinion though!!

jarrodsmom1