Campsite #25 at Cataloochee Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC

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$30

Campsite #25

8 reviews
Drive-In 6 people
38 ft Back-in
2 weak
25
5/27
5/30
Campsite #25 Features: Drive-In access, Back-in parking, 38ft driveway, RV Site, Tent Site, Trailer Site

Campsite Reviews (8)

5.0 out of 5

5 star
63%
4 star
13%
3 star
13%
2 star
13%
1 star
0%

@MarjiM2D17921D · Camped on Oct 15, 2023 at Campsite #25
The campground at Cataloochee is perfect. It is quiet, secluded, and, because it's so tricky to get to, not overly crowded. We arrived at night and backing into our reserved site was a bit tricky, but worth it. The rest rooms were clean. Get up early to see all the elk in the valley. Best to arrive early in the day and leave late in the afternoon because the narrow road to Cataloochee can be difficult to navigate if two large rigs meet.
@JamesD3491200 · Camped on Aug 18, 2023 at Campsite #25
Very well kept facilities, we enjoyed our stay and would recommend to anyone.
@MosieW41C6CA1D · Camped on May 15, 2023 at Campsite #25
This is a fabulous campground in an isolated area of the park. The campground host is excellent and quite helpful. Restrooms are clean, water pressure is great at the spigots, and everyone we chatted with was friendly. Highly recommend. We went in with a 26 foot trailer. Site 14 ROCKS!
@KELG4953672 · Camped on Oct 25, 2022 at Campsite #25
Great small little campground. Lots of elk and trails for hiking

@RT885 · Camped on Oct 14, 2021 at Campsite #25
If you think you're getting away from crowds here, you're mistaken. Beautiful area but very hard to photograph with teeming tourists crawling all over everything. There were near 100 cars in the valley and a steady stream of exits at sunset. Although the reservations online indicated there was no room in the campground there were no less than 8 vacant sites overnight. They were mostly the best larger sites that back against the forest. Generators are allowed and easily ruin the tranquility. Steady stream of entering traffic pre dawn gates open 6 am. Road in was well maintained but dangerous insofar as a great many drivers didn't feel it necessary to stay to their own side of the road. Bathrooms nice but smelly and shine a godforsaken bright light all night. Reservations only campground management is flawed and unethical.
@PatriciaD543 · Camped on Sep 12, 2021 at Campsite #25
We came for the bugling of the Elk. It's been 4 years since we enjoyed these beautiful mountains. Be aware that this is campground does not have water and electric at camping sites. We enjoy "boondocking" or being self-contained so we bring our water and have solar-panels. This is the perfect spot to bring kids and enjoy the hikes, streams and the quiet. The road going in to the park is twisty so you need to be careful especially if pulling a camper/trailer. BUT it is well worth it. Remember to be a responsible camper/visitor.
@NancyH408 · Camped on Jul 25, 2021 at Campsite #25
The campground was kept up and the toilets were clean, even though there were only two for each gender. The camp spots were close together and there wasn't anything between for privacy. That is just my personal preference. We don't hike so if you are a hiker it would be a nice place. The campground host was very nice and had a lot of information. There wasn't any firewood to purchase at the campsite, you had to purchase that somewhere in the town or you could pick up branches from the ground. Of coarse there wasn't enough to make even a small campfire. The thing that ruined it for us was the road getting there. It was the scariest road I had ever been on! It was about 10 miles of twisty turny hairpin curves. About half of it was gravel and just about wide enough for 1 and half cars. The side of the road had no guardrails and if you went off it was a mile down. They would never know where you disappeared to. You had to crawl along and pray no one else was coming around the hairpin curve that you couldn't see and that if so they were crawling along also. Other than that road the campsite wasn't bad.
@RobertB581 · Camped on May 31, 2021 at Campsite #25
If you are going to be tent camping at the Cataloochee Campground, bring an air horn to chase away the elk that wander at times through campsites. An air horn is what the very helpful campground host uses to get them back into the woods.
Most of the campsites at Cataloochee are close to one another. There are lots of trees but no undergrowth like bushes to separate them and give a little privacy.
The single restroom was never crowded. It was clean and lit at night. It had flush toilets and a sink with hot and cold faucets, but no hot water. Don't look for a ranger station. The house is locked up and there is no ranger.
It's a shame that vandals have damaged or removed artifacts from the interesting history of the valleys.
When I was searching the internet for information, I found a site that suggested that there was a booklet for a guided auto tour of several of the homes in the Cataloochee valley. The campground host said that there was such a booklet in the past that was available at the campground; but that the asked-for $1 was rarely paid, and that the same type of folk that steals artifacts also steals money out of the fee box. You should find all the information you can on the internet, especially a map of where the houses and barns are located.
The campground is in the (Big) Cataloochee valley where several houses are located. The Woody house is one mile up a gated trail. As the original families grew, some of their children traveled along the Little Cataloochee creek over the Noland ridge to Little Cataloochee where there are many other homesteads. It's at least a five-mile hike that we might try another time.
We have been all over the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, but never in the Cataloochee valley. If you haven't already, you need to see it.
Download all you need from the internet before you get on the gravel road. There are no cell towers in the hills around Cataloochee.

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