Camping in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge

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toowide - 12 Aug 2006 05:06 GMT

My wife really wants to visit Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge this fall. Neither of
us has ever been to east Tennessee other than to drive through on I-40.

We'll be travelling in a 40'+ motorcoach, so 50 amp service is essential and
pull-through is desirable. Would like to find a pretty campground that
doesn't feel like being in a parking lot, which is a comment I've heard
about campgrounds in that area.

Any suggestions?

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Steve - 12 Aug 2006 13:45 GMT

Our favorite is Twin Mountain on the south side of Pigeon Forge. It's not
the fanciest, but it does have full hookups, pull throughs, conveniently
located, yet right on a creek and plenty of trees.
http://twinmountainoutdoorresort.com

> My wife really wants to visit Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge this fall. Neither of
> us has ever been to east Tennessee other than to drive through on I-40.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Any suggestions?

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RonB - 12 Aug 2006 20:54 GMT

We were in the area about 1-1/2 years ago. Much of the Gatlinburg/Pigeon
Forge area is what we call an extereme tourist area. If you have been to
Branson Mo, they have out-Bransoned Branson. Many of the parks we saw in
town were of the parking lot variety. We even saw one that was so compact
it seemed to defy entry.

If you have a motorcoach you should have some capacity for running without
hookups (tanks, batteries and generator). In our humble opinion the
absolutely best camping is in the Smokey Mountain National Park Campgrounds.
We stayed in Cades Cove for five nights in our 31' fifth wheel. During
Early May the temperatures were in the 38 - 80 degree range and I would
think fall would be similar so you shouldn't need a/c. We did have to
charge the battery during the last couple of days; and entered the dump
station FULL (We bucketed the grey water a time or two). We were just ahead
of crowds and you would arrive behind them. During most of the time we were
there Cades was about 2/3-3/4 full. Lots of space between campers and quite
a few were running generators during afternoon hours. Cades is a very
pretty, peaceful spot. Also, the National Park itself is wonderful. You
will park among 100' pine trees. We barely went into town except to
provision and we did most of that on the outskirts. BTW the most expensive
gas was in Gatlinburg and it was cheaper on the outskirts and away from the
interstate.

During two trips and about 2+ weeks inside of Yellowstone/Teton parks we saw
two bears. During our first 24 hours in Smokey we saw eight and more later
(None were in the campgrounds).

RonB

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Terry Parsons - 13 Aug 2006 03:58 GMT

> My wife really wants to visit Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge this fall. Neither
> of us has ever been to east Tennessee other than to drive through on I-40.
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Any suggestions?

Based on our experience of several years ago, if you are going to be there
during the peak fall color season, make a reservation. We were arriving in
the area on Monday. By my brilliant deduction, since we were arriving on
Monday and would be missing the weekend crowds we wouldn't need a
reservation. Wrong. After pulling into 2 different campgrounds and
learning that they were full, we called 3 or 4 more with no luck finding a
campsite. So we headed back out toward I-40 to the KOA. They were not
full, but after paying for the site, and then seeing it, I went back to the
office and demanded a refund. Needless to say we didn't see the fall colors
that year. The next year when we did go back, we had a reservation. My
advice. If you are going to go in the fall, go during the peak color
season. And have a reserved campsite. Also, unless you specifically want
to stay in the Pigeon Forge area, consider Franklin, NC. And if you are in
the Franklin, NC area you will be just a few miles from Dillard, GA and the
Dillard House restaurant. Food don't get any better than what they serve.

Terry Parsons

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RonB - 13 Aug 2006 17:37 GMT

> Based on our experience of several years ago, if you are going to be there
> during the peak fall color season, make a reservation.

Good Point! I hadn't thought about that. I suspect their trees start the
process at about the same time as the Ozarks which would be in the Mid
October time frame.

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William Boyd - 14 Aug 2006 18:42 GMT

>My wife really wants to visit Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge this fall. Neither of
>us has ever been to east Tennessee other than to drive through on I-40.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
>

I would suggest you go to their web site and download a copy of the
trolley map,

http://www.gatlinburg-tennessee.com/why/around.html

You will see that they run a good distance around the whole area, not
just GB.
Where their are two colors / routs on the same road that will mean
naturally more trolleys as well as more frequently.
Some of the routs run from or by RV camp grounds, for a quoter you can
tour the whole rout.
You are not going there to stay in the RV, so why not obtain a site
where you have transportation because parking down town in a premium.

Signature

BILL P.
Just
Me
&
DOG

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Marsha - 21 Aug 2006 23:22 GMT

Just got back from Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge this Saturday. We stayed at Twin
Creek RV Resort (web site is: www.twincreekrvresort.com ) , from what I
could see is was the nicest one in Gatlinburg, didn't check out any in
Pigeon Forge. They do have a trolley stop at the campground, it was one of
the easiest ways to get around.

We had another family travel with us, altogether we had 3 teens, 3
twentysomethings, and 4 adults. The trolley system was great because the
younger crowd could go into town, and the adults could do auto tours/hiking
in Smoky Mountains. I would advise going into the visitor center for the
Smokys, they have several nice tour guide books available. We got a set for
about $20.00, was money well spent. They gave a nice overview of the drive
with descriptions as well.

About a block from the campground there was a Food City store, and a nice
little Italian restaurant in the same shopping area. We ate there our last
night in Gatlinburg and the service was fantastic. Both moms were tired of
cooking, food was great, service divine - we closed the place - of it was to
close at 10:00, they stayed open and didn't rush us just let us enjoy and
relax.

Enjoy your trip. Feel free to email me if you have any questions

Marsha

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Kevin - 26 Aug 2006 16:50 GMT

Our favorite stop we always use is Clabough Campground on Wears Valley Rd.
at light 3 in Pigeon Forge. We just got back from there last weekend. Quiet
campground, full hookups, they do have some pull-throughs. Lower cost of the
RV parks. Mostly nice shaded sites. Quick access to 441 and into Gatlinburg
or on up Wears Valley to get out into the mountains and rivers.

As someone else said, you're not there to have a fantastic large campsite.
You are generally there for Pigeon Forge and the mountains, etc. Oh yeah,
this was the first year we were able to just about time the lights right and
drive from Wears Valley all the way to the Gatlinburg split without stopping
for the lights!!! Auto traffic was VERY light, pedestrian traffic was even
lighter! Maybe it's the money pinch people are starting to feel? Maybe it
was some schools getting underway taking people from vacations? I suspect a
little of both. Even Gatlinburg was wide open on the strip. Hardly made the
bypass worth worrying about.

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