Cosby Campground — Hotel in Big Cove Community

We stayed Oct 4th to Oct 7th Wed - Fri. The camp was only about 30% occupied (rough guess). We had reserved online but found that the reserved area was the most occupied so we moved to another section that was less crowded. Camp staff told me that it is rarely ever full outside of Labor day weekend.

I'll give you as much info as possible to give you as to what you'll get here as it would have been helpful to me to find that info before I went. Please keep in mind that if you're looking for a review on this or any other campsite remember that it is all relative. Someone might give low stars because they were looking for playgrounds, hot showers, and all the amenities and did not find them, but if you are looking for something more remote you may give it a higher grade. Also remember that some people might complain about rude staff, but that visitor may have been a jerk who was loud all night with a barking dog, and got upset when told to keep it down. I assume most people go to these places to get away, if you are looking for playgrounds, activities, pools, and other amenities, there are other campgrounds that would serve that purpose better. Each person is looking for something different so take these reviews with a grain of salt, especially those that are not very descriptive of the actual location and facilities.

Our objective was to keep it as primitive as possible, and to get away from people. The no water hookups, and no electric was a plus for us as we brought our own water, and did not want to connect to the outside world. There is no cellular service in this area. Camp staff did not bother us at all, and we asked nothing of them. There was plenty of dead wood in the surrounding area to pick up for firewood, and there was no need to bring in any from outside. Between the campfire and our Coleman stove we cooked all of our food. We did not use the toilets as we brought in our own bucket and emergency essentials toilet seat. Also keep in mind that the campsites are on a mountain side and therefore with exception of the gravel tent pads, the majority of the campsites do not offer a lot of even ground. The gravel tent sites were a plus, and made for easy set up and comfortable sleeping.

The place was very quiet during the day and night. A dog was slightly annoying for one night. The camp sites were big and left you with plenty of room to set up camp. We had two two man tents, a pop up tent to put over our picnic table with plenty of room to spare. There was not a lot of room between campsites but due to the lack of people it did not matter. Although we were not there during the weekend sat/sun so this may have changed.

The evenings were a cricket orchestra. Very loud nature sounds. This was a plus for us. We did not encounter a bear at any point, although we did run across what we believed were bear droppings. The campsites are very shaded so there isn't need to put up a tarp for shading purposes, although if it rained you may need one for that.

We tried two trails. The Low Gap and Snake Den. We started late and didn't complete Snake den. It was OK, but not a lot of views. Low Gap was much more difficult. It connects with the Appalachian trail. We did both trails with our children ages 9, 7, and 4. They all made it up and down. They are strong kids. We would have explored more had time provided. Another camper told us that there was another trail that was much better that passed one of the waterfalls.

We did not bother to check out any of the touristy spots in the neighboring area as this was not our goal.

Overall if you are looking for a quiet basic camping site with access to trails then this is a good place to go. This was our first experience in a national park, and it served our purpose. I give it a 4 because I have little to compare it to. Overall everyone in our family loved it, and we would go back if it were not for the fact that we'd like to explore...

This review is for the group camp (reserved via the Recreation.gov website). There are three separate group camp sites build into a hillside. We stayed in group camp number 1 in May. Site 3 was by far the nicest and roomiest. The sites all share one bathhouse with toilets but no showers.

PROS: It is a beautiful area with only a short walk to a wading creek and the amphitheater. There are many trees and tons of shade. The group camp sites are far enough from the regular campground that we were not bothered by them at all. Our site was very inexpensive (only around $30 per night).

CONS: All three group camp sites are very close together with no privacy barriers. You'd be better off reserving them all if you had a large group. The website states that you can have 20 people per site, but this is a stretch - it should be more like 12. The whole place is covered in poison ivy. We had to stay away from the base of all the trees, stay centered on the paths, and not let the kids run around because there were easily over 100 poison ivy plants within the group sites. Although the designated tent pads were flat, most of the area was on an incline. It did not rain while we were there, but I bet the hillside would drain straight into the tent locations. Since this is a bear habitat, you must lock your food/coolers in your car at night. This would not be a problem if the parking area was closer and not down a hill. Many of the cars that passed by our group camp were driving really fast - it would be nice if someone put in a speed bump to discourage that.

Overall, this wasn't a bad place. We had fun. If Cosby Group Camp is your only alternative, you'll be fine. If you have a choice, there are much nicer group camps in the Great...

This is a great place to stay... Except.... U got some of the staff so bent on rules they tend to assume things they think they know... Now I could go into great detail about " erosion " and how more of it is caused by nature and how it's apart of nature and how a lot of the beautiful sites we enjoy exist because of it... But being you used it as a sorry excuse for why we should move our second tent it's prolly safe to say I'll just confuse you... You could of just said... " We have a rule that all tents need to be on the gravel tent beds " being many of ur man-made amenities are causing worse erosion then me placing a tent for 3 days.. lol Next... Unless you physically seen me or my children pick flowers, destory or degrade nature... Please don't litter my camp site with your " courtsey notice " ... Because for all you know... The beautiful flowers could of been given to us by another hiker.. could of been picked from a private property... The point is you have no idea where the flowers came from, you just assume... If this was just a friendly reminder... Everyone should of got one... But my knowledge tells me that's not likely :) So please before you harass your guests who spend their money with you to come and enjoy a wonderful vacation with their family.. 1 educate urself about nature and know ur facts before you assume ....thanks! ( And if ur a Grammer person that's going to troll this review based on the Grammer... It's a review.. not a formal letter...get over urself ) thanks! PS it's not that I have an issue with rules... It's that there are way better ways to interact with people to gain a...