Campsite #42 at Balsam Mountain Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC

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Campsite #42

7 reviews
Drive-In 6 people
24 ft Parallel
2 fair
42
5/15
Campsite #42 Features: Drive-In access, Parallel parking, 24-foot driveway, Fire ring, Picnic Table, RV Site, Tent Site, Trailer Site, Pets Allowed

Campsite Reviews (9)

5.0 out of 5

5 star
44%
4 star
22%
3 star
0%
2 star
0%
1 star
33%

@JJA19D68ADE93F · Camped on Oct 5, 2023 at Campsite #42
Nice campground, out of the way and over a mile high elevation. No showers, but very clean restrooms.
@ErinAA7ED260A3 · Camped on Sep 3, 2021 at Campsite #42
Because the campsite is so high up in the mountains, campers should pack extra long-sleeve clothing, jackets, boots and blankets. It feels colder than the weather reports because the mountain is enveloped in mist and cloud/water vapor much of the time. It is 10 - 20 degrees colder up there than Cherokee and Maggie Valley. Also, campsite #42 was private with lots of tree cover, but needs some stone steps to enter down into it. After it rained, the slope was slippery and muddy.
@ErinA358 · Camped on Sep 3, 2021 at Campsite #42
Because the campsite is so high up in the mountains, campers should pack extra long-sleeve clothing, jackets, boots and blankets. It feels colder than the weather reports because the mountain is enveloped in mist and cloud/water vapor much of the time. It is 10 - 20 degrees colder up there than Cherokee and Maggie Valley.
Also, campsite #42 was private with lots of tree cover, but needs some stone steps to enter down into it. After it rained, the slope was slippery and muddy.
@RachelZ355 · Camped on Aug 23, 2021 at Campsite #42
The camp hosts were friendly and informative. The sites were clean and well maintained.
@RachelZ28273E2 · Camped on Aug 23, 2021 at Campsite #42
The camp hosts were friendly and informative. The sites were clean and well maintained.
@stuartE6013386 · Camped on Aug 15, 2021 at Campsite #42
Camp Hosts are top notch. This is my second experience with having good support by the hosts. The experience at Balsam was "bad" due to the tropical storm that blew through, and NOT, the fault of the Park service. The Host and local Ranger informed me of the impending conditions so I elected to leave after one night. WISE move since there was significant damage in the mountains. Advice given was science based weather reports and up front on time. THANK YOUI'll go back another time.
@StuartE875 · Camped on Aug 15, 2021 at Campsite #42
Camp Hosts are top notch. This is my second experience with having good support by the hosts. The experience at Balsam was "bad" due to the tropical storm that blew through, and NOT, the fault of the Park service. The Host and local Ranger informed me of the impending conditions so I elected to leave after one night. WISE move since there was significant damage in the mountains. Advice given was science based weather reports and up front on time. THANK YOU

I'll go back another time.
@BradU96B062FA7 · Camped on Sep 27, 2019 at Campsite #42
Beautiful area, everything was clean and perfect for tent camping!!
@JohnL4419148 · Camped on Sep 14, 2019 at Campsite #42
Its a beautiful ride up to the campground, and its secluded. There are several nice camp sites there. Other than that I was disappointed. Lots of the sites are crammed together. Some like ours you practically park in the road beside your camp site. Larger campers barely got by without hitting our car. The pictures of the camp sites online are very misleading. I have a van with a awning I was planning on using because they were calling for rain but when we got there realized you could not use a awning because youre parking on the side of a hill and walk down to the campsite. Online it listed it suitable for campers and rvs and last time I checked most campers and rvs have awnings. They should have listed this on their site. Also you can use generators there but instead of having limited hours of operation say for an hr or so in the morning and then Manet an hr or 2 in the afternoon . You can run them almost all day. Not what I wanted to listen to at 9:00 in the morning sitting there trying to enjoy nature. Probably wont go back.

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