Great Smoky Mountain NP

I'm suprised that there is only a token mention of this National Park seeing as the Trailmanor factory is just down the road!

The TM is made for dry camping that is manditory in this NP. I don't know about other parks around the country, but the Smokies are primitive camping. We usually stay in the Elkmont campground that is just inside the park from Gatlinburg. There is a trolley that comes to the campground about 6 times daily for those who don't want to bother trying to park. Cades Cove is good too. We stayed there for a week after we traveled through Georgia and East Tennessee trying to by a TM! Its a little warmer, but still very nice even in July. We stayed at Smokemont this fall. It was the 1st time I had been there in about 16 years. It is not as up-to-date as the other 2 but still very national parklike.

There are no hookups in the Smokies and no showers. Cades Cove and Smokemont have a dump station. Elkmont, while being the most desirable of the 3, does not have a dump station - the closest being at the Sugarlands Visitor Center just outside Gatlinburg - a 10 mile drive.

All 3 of these "main" campgrounds have a river running throught it. Elkmonts is the biggest-fastest-most water (read: tubbing). Most streams have fishing, but consider anything legally kept to be a trophy. No 10#ers here.

There are several other lesser campgrounds in the NP. I've only stayed at the main 3 and Cosby (@ 15 miles north of Gatlinburg). The main 3 require reservations while the others are first-come-first-served. Here is a website for details: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/index.htm

We went 4 times from August 2004 to January 2005, so the DW has me under restriction this year!