Cataloochee Campground — Hotel in Big Cove Community

This is a separate campground from the "regular" campground down the road but is in the same park. By far the most well maintained campground I have been to for a state/national park. There are 3 sites (minimum of 7 people to book). Two sites are right on the river but we got site 3 which is away from the river and provides extreme privacy. It felt like we were the only people in the campground! We found out that this also happens to be the handicap accessible site, which provided us with a very nice path to the bathrooms and made the campsite itself easy to use due to the well maintained flat gravel areas. The Site is surrounded by tall trees. And there is a large field in the middle of the three sites which can be used for just about anything. Even though we weren't right on the river, it was a short walk away and we could still hear it from our site. There is no electric hookup or running water provided. No showers, just vault toilets. It is a great spot to get away from it all! (There is running water available at the nearby "regular" campground which is about a 2-5 minute drive. The price is amazing. We took our church youth group for a 2 night weekend stay. Everyone loved it. A deer walked right by our site! The staff or volunteers (not sure which) from the park came by to check on us and see how we were enjoying it but other than that it is just a site to go out and enjoy the beautiful nature and get away from it all. You must bring everything you need or else you'll have to drive all the way back out to I-40. The road to the park is very well maintained in my opinion but if you are not used to curvy, gravel, mountain roads just know that is what you are in for. You have to take your time and watch for other vehicles but it is...

We just returned from finally camping here, this past weekend. Fact is, my wife and I drove over to Cataloochee back in April of 2016, and rode through the campground then. We decided that when and if we ever got to camp here, we definitely wanted Site #7. #5 would be a 2nd alternative, but #7 was the best. It is spacious, and right on the river. #5 is on the river and very nice, as well...but not as spacious as #7. ||||Well, upon returning home, I discovered that most everyone else agreed with me, that Site #7 was the one to get, as I was unable to book it for ANY weekend all that summer.||||So, this year, in 2018, I decided I'd book it early, and I did. And we loved it. ||||The Cataloochee Valley itself, is very nice and scenic, and the campground is very well kept. I opened up my camping cot and my wife got in her reclining anti-gravity chair, and we just laid by the river for well over 2 hours, napping and just listening to the sound of the rushing water. I cannot think of anything more peaceful, at the moment. ||||If I have one complaint, it would be the guy who was running the EXTREMELY noisy stump grinder for hours on end. Talk about putting a damper on the relaxation aspect of camping, that sure did. I get that things have to be done, but why did they choose the week of July 4th, to do it? And the week-end, on top of that? Why not wait until the following Monday, when most everyone is gone? Seems to me, that would have been the time to run the stump grinder...not on a holiday weekend. We literally had to go back to the river, just to hopefully drown out the noise of that thing.||||But other than that, there is nothing about this campground not to like. ...

We loved seeing all of the elk, turkeys, and one bear! What a great experience that was. However, the Camp Host was incredibly rude from the moment I pulled into the campground. It was very unexpected and I am not sure why she had such an attitude! The campsites are on top of each other. I like to have a little privacy when camping, but there is absolutely none here. Even though the campsites were extremely close, the campground was quiet. Also, beware you will need to bring your own wood in from a local NC store. I called the campground the day before my available and was told that there would be wood for me to purchase when I check in. So, when I checked in I was told that they never have any wood, and have no idea why someone would tell me that. So, of course, I had to drive back down the 10 mile dirt road to find some wood, which took me to 3 different stores before I could locate any. With the exception of the wildlife, this was probably the worst camping trip I have been on. Will not return...