Sun Outdoors Pigeon Forge — Attraction in Sevierville

We stayed at Sun Outdoors Pigeon Forge in a 5th wheel for almost 5 weeks in May/June 2025. PROS: Very nice campground with lots of trees, very homey feel. The staff was quick to respond when we tried to back into our spot but branches were in the way. They have a huge bounce pad for kids and a Gaga ball area. They have one pickleball court and a basketball court and a small arcade (not much in there actually and the pool table didn't even have enough balls to play) I loved the lazy river and medium sized pool and the larger pool and hot tub. There are really nice, paved sites up against the river in the back. There were lots of food trucks and ice cream trucks and people riding through with trailers of fruit, etc. all the time. There is a car wash right at the entrance and this park is very, very close to restaurants and tons of attractions and not far from Lowe's, Publix and 1.5 miles to Tanger Outlet and Nascar Speedpark; one mile to Walmart and the movie theatre and near a lot to do in the area.

CONS: The gravel roads put dust all over your belongings all the time if you are not in the expensive concrete sites around the outer perimeter. Every vehicle that goes past your site kicks up the dust and we were wiping our stuff down every few days. The laundry rooms are outdated and machines are absolutely disgustingly filthy and full of Band-Aids and globs of soap and coins and dog hair, I even sent pics to the office staff. The first time we tried to do our laundry we went to all three locations in the park trying to find clean washers when we purposely stayed 2 spots over from one knowing we would be there for 5 weeks!!!! In my opinion there should NEVER be front loading machines with rubber liners in a public setting, it is a HUGE health concern. I asked for them to be cleaned every day the first week we were there with No result. Then someone finally cleaned them in week two so we could use them then they were disgusting again in the 3rd and 4th weeks and last days we were there; we had to clean them ourselves. Another con is they have no app or notifications of deliveries. You have to keep checking with the office constantly. MANY times when we walked into the office, the staff were sitting there with no one around so maybe they have time to CALL or TEXT people when they get a delivery (would be very helpful). Another HUGE con was when I had to call and change my dates before we arrived, the manager (AMBER) was VERY rude, very unprofessional. She literally said I was being UNETHICAL because I was canceling my 8 night reservation and rebooking for 4 nights (we had truck trouble and had to stay in Myrtle Beach). She said I would be charged 2 nights ($289 fee) so I asked how is that unethical then? I said you are charging me to change my reservation AND you can book the 4 nights, but somehow after she changed the booking I only got $76 returned?? We had planned 8 nights under one reservation and then an entire MONTH under a second reservation but we had to change the first 8 night reservation to four nights and she was VERY unhappy about it. She reluctantly made the change then ACTUALLY said to me “you saved a whopping $76 so there you go!!” I was completely shocked and amazed by her attitude and unprofessionalism. Did she actually think I wanted our truck to have issues? THEN, The second week we were there we went in to ask about monthly rates for 2026 and they brought a manager out to talk to me who was rude stating ” I don’t know How you got that rate this year, probably because of the hurricanes but you won’t get that again!” I am guessing this was the same manager!! She really should find a different line of work!! If I spoke to my clients/prospects that way, I wouldn’t have a business. All in all, we would stay at this park again IF we had a site that borders the outer paved road. The park is very nice, lots of shade, and they did have some activities but unless you check their Facebook page, you never know about them. No app. No texts like some other Sun...

I updated my review due to some issues arising while I was on site: Shasta was great in assisting me with reservations for work stay prior to arrival and during – very thankful for the flexibility they showed me since I was there for work. All contact with office was friendly and courteous. Easy check in and nice parking spaces for RV in front of office. Campground is well maintained, fishing in the river however as usual some people do not pick up after their pets. Arrived at site and had some obstacles to work around (big rock and lights) from full timers lots. Arrived on a Mon, connected cable, reception was very poor and 35 channels loaded, supposed to be 62 (see before and after pictures). Office closed before I could get back so called Tue morning and they were going to send someone out. When I returned Tue afternoon, still very bad reception. Called again Wed morning and they said they came out, signal was good and saw my antenna was up and I needed to turn off my booster to clear it up. I informed them, I raised the antenna Mon night and turned on the booster to watch local news/weather because the cable reception was so poor. The booster was not on when I initially tried it. Maintenance came back out Wed, this time I called back around 1200 and they said it was working. My wife checked, rescanned and loaded 59 channels with sporadic poor reception – lower channels were the worst. Called back, told them the booster was off and then the story changed. I was told some of the channels are not good because of weak signals and it is a known issue that they are working with Charter to correct. I left work early, brought work TV monitor to test and with 2 different coax cables plugged directly into cable box on power pole, channels were still snowy. By the time I had done my testing and called the office, maintenance had left for the day. I told them what I had done with the TV outside and I was told again to make sure my booster was off. I again said, I was plugged directly into the box on the pole, the camper is not in the equation. After getting off the phone, I took both coax cables, connected one to my camper and one to Lot 88. Upon touching the coax together (not long enough to reach) the tv had clear reception. I also saw an orange coax running from box on Lot 88 to box on Lot 87. I called back Thu morning, told them my findings and set up an appointment with maintenance for Sat morning at 0800 so maintenance could see the issues on my tv. I called Sat morning at 0830 when no one showed up. Asked if someone was coming and was told they were busy. I politely said I had made an appointment on their behalf and mine to not waste anyone’s time – I had things I wanted to do on the weekend. I was told they would be there as soon as possible. Showed up about 20 min later, connected an old tube tv and then took apart box, replaced splitter and my tv was clear. Mon afternoon about 200pm maintenance knocked on my door again and asked if I had called in a cable issue??? I told him it was taken care of on Sat and thanked him for coming. I felt like at first they were trying to say the issue was with me and or my camper, then when I did the testing, they changed the story to blaming the cable company. At least I know it was their equipment that was faulty. When I made the reservation, it was based primarily upon work but was looking forward to using their amenities listed per their website over the 2 weeks. I arrived, and when I drove by the pool area, I saw a large dumpster in front and people working on the pool – everything was closed and I was never told anything about it nor was anything about construction posted on their website. Internet works goods when you can connect to it. The repeater was about 15ft from camper with repeater pointed in opposite direction. The back bedroom (closet to repeater) would connect just fine, living room was hit and miss, front bedroom (30 ft from rear bed) was even less. If you do not like being woke up early...

I have stayed at this campground several times over the past 12 years or so and my parents began staying here in the 1980’s. My parents kept a camper on a year round site for 10 or more years before Sun Outdoors purchased this campground and began rapidly increasing yearly lot fees. This used to be a great affordable destination before Sun Outdoors purchased but now it’s become an overpriced money pit. Sun advertises on web page prices starting at 29 dollars per night but don’t be fooled. I’ve never been offered a rate even close to that figure. I used to stay here (including all fees and taxes) around 45-55 dollars per night military rate. This was before Sun came to town. Just recently, spent a week here at a cost of 694.01 for a seven night stay (military rate) for a standard pull thru site. (The standard gravel sites, not the premium ones.) This stay was 18 may thru 24 may 2024. Non holiday week, (week before memorial day weekend) departing Saturday morning, 25 May (memorial day weekend) Reviewing my receipt I see I was charged 77.61 for one night, 57.96 for three nights, 61.27 for one night, 79.03 for one night and 114.24 for one night, (friday night before memorial day weekend) They tell me at the office, Sun calls this, “Dynamic pricing” Now beware, the above mentioned prices does not include the 12.00 daily resort fee added to your bill and then there is the lodging and sales tax which must be added. When you call to make a reservation if you would like to select a specific site from what is available you will be charged an additional 35.00 “Lock site fee”. Although they charge 35.00 to select a site, they indicate in confirmation e-mail there is no guarantee you will be assigned the site you reserved. If they decide to give your site to someone else they indicate they will refund you the 35.00 “Lock site fee”, but don’t expect anything else if they don’t keep their promise. They indicate in confirmation email check out time is 11 am and check in time is 2 pm. This statement is nothing new, however, Don’t arrive early. I arrived at 1230 pm and a young lady in office informed me there would be an additional 30 dollar charge because we arrived before 2pm. Was told, Suns policy, No courtesy early check ins allowed. I declined paying the gouge fee and waited instead. Important note is the day I checked in our sites were empty when we arrived and campground overall was less than 50 percent occupied. There is no doubt, Sun has instructed their employees to implement enforcement of this policy in order to squeeze a few more dollars out of their customers. This is the first campground whom has ever attempted to charge “early check in fee” when site being assigned was vacant and I arrived an hour and half early. Whomever at corporate cooked this idea up is an idiot. This policy may make a few dollars in the short term but in long term will cost the business thousands in lost pissed off customers. Having been here many times, I was surprised at the 40- 50 percent vacancy rate I observed the week before Memorial Day Weekend. I bet their are other patrons whom are not happy how things have changed here for the worse. Yes, the campground did fill up memorial day weekend, but It would be interesting to know how their occupancy rate this camping season compares with past years before Suns price gouging began. I have received several emails over past few months indicating special reduced pricing but after staying this past week failed to see anything special as far as reduced pricing. Sun Outdoors pricing at this campground is a poster child for Corporate Greed at it’s finest. Yes, its a nice campground, but a resort it’s not. The value in camping here is gone. When camp pricing is raised to a level comparing to local hotel pricing it’s time to start camping elsewhere. Wake up Sun Outdoors. Want to know why your occupancy rate has significantly declined? Consider a few things...