This is a great campground. It's not for RV people who need their hookups and electricity. They have two sections, one allows generator use, the other does not. I stay in the non-generator section and it's very quiet. On weekends, people just driving through stop and make a mess of the restrooms, but the rest of the time they are clean. The best time to camp here is September through May. The summer is very crowded and you are more likely to experience noise, trash, dirty restrooms, etc. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

Wow. I look at the previous ratings and can tell some reviewers are letting the emotions get ahead of reality. Yes, Cades Cove is simply beautiful, the animals (bear, fox, owls, turkey, deer, etc.) are abundant and fascinating to observe. Everyone should visit this place at least once in their lives. But it's time to review the campground, and it was pitiful. The good news is that the bathrooms were clean, and there are three dump stations to accommodate traffic. Picnic tables were new. However, the roadways in the CG are in poor condition with potholes, disintegration, etc. Speeding on the outer loop of the non-generator area back to the group campsite is a serious problem. We easily estimated people driving 40 MPH at times, with children and pedestrians everwhere. Never saw a ranger patrol the area over two days. Park was far more concerned about confiscating ice chests from campsites (bear safety) than about high speed travel. Campsite was hemmed in by artificial concrete "logs", making it feel stuffy. Asphalt simply "ended" while backing into our site in an irregular, broken maze and off into gravel and crumbly asphalt we parked. Site was not level in any direction. No showers, (and with no hookups and lots of tenters, well, I'll let you imagine). Being Cades Cove, and being summer (the place was packed with people), one would expect evening campfire programs every night. There was only one, and it rained that night. Very disappointing. We were especially disappointed with Cades Cove when we visited Cosby CG at the other end of the park and compared it to Cades Cove CG. Cosby was totally renovated with perfect campsites. Enjoy the Cove, the horseback riding, hiking, and biking. But be prepared for a campground in need of modernization and speed enforcement. We would not camp here again. We camped here in a Travel Trailer.

We had family from Switzerland with us and had a large group of kids. This place was a blast! The younger kids were told about the Junior Park Ranger Program and we were on! Very educational ranger programs and lots of things to do! All the rangers were very helpful , knowledgeable and friendly! Can't wait to go back! We camped here in a Tent.

We arrived late one evening, got our site set up and drove into Gatlinburg to gather some supplies. Gatlinburg is kind of like a beach boardwalk, so it may or may not be what you enjoy. Even in the middle of July, the humidity was very high. It rained all 3 days we were there, so we never really felt dry. The campers beside us gave up and went to Knoxville. The river/stream is awesome. It has a good flow rate, and generates a nice sound when sleeping at night. We let the kids float part of the stream on some tubes. They loved it, but the water is cold, so have some nice big towels to bundle them up in when finished. The shade is very dense in the park due to the amount of very large shade trees. The restrooms were cleaned daily, but there are no showers in the park. I loved the park, but the damp/wet weather made our trip a bit difficult. If you had a few days of clear and dry skies, this might be an almost perfect place. We camped here in a Tent.

No hookups whatsoever are available. Clean restrooms with flush toilets and water is available throughout park. No showers but you can take a dip in the river which runs through the park. Don't use soap in the river! Portable showers are not allowed in the park either! Construction is taking place just outside of camping area but it is quiet at night. The construction appears that it will be completed before winter. Lots of improvements such as paving has been done this year throughout the GSM NP. We camped here in a Tent Trailer.