Cherokee Rock Village — Hotel in Gadsden

Unfortunately I cannot let natures beauty mask the oversight of management for the campground. My review is strictly based on travel trailer/camper experience and all points made are most likely irrelevant for tent campers.

Too long, didn't read: The campsite appears to be only geared towards tent campers and actively tries to push campers/travel trailers out as they allow tent campers to fill the camper labeled area first and they keep the dump station locked making it unusable.

Star 1: I will reserve this star as an easy star for management to get back if they respond meaningfully to this review and acknowledge changes suggested as I believe they are very simple changes that would make this a 5 star camping destination for all (I hope to revisit this review after my next visit)

Star 2: We visited right after Thanksgiving 2024 when the campground was virtually empty (we were actually the only people in the campground on our last night). This is important to understand because when we arrived, the tent camping area was close to empty because all the tent campers were using the RV/trailer trailer pads for parking and camping. I would hate to drive over 4 hours to come here and not be able to park our travel trailer in a spot labeled for campers/travel trailers because management allows tent campers to take over those areas just because they want the bigger area (because it's meant for campers/travel trailers). Perhaps management cared less because this was during the off season when there was plenty of space but judging by other reviews that are stating the same thing, I find this hard to believe. I understand the first come/first serve idea of this place, but don't specify tent camping areas and camper camping areas if you aren't going to enforce it and cause some people to have to leave due to lack of space after having driven hours to come there.

Star 3: The dump station was locked along with the men's bathroom (the bathroom was not a huge deal for me with a travel trailer but I was curious to see what it looked like). They advertise having a dump station but then they don't let you use it. We left before the office was open so I had no way of dumping before we left after we paid to use the campground and what I believed had included all amenities. If they are worried about vandalism or something with their dumpstation, they should have an electronic lock box with a code given to guests to use that had the key inside of it. Instead we had to pay a fee somewhere else after leaving to dump our tanks. I've never seen a dump station locked regardless of time of day or day of week and there was no mention of this at check-in or on the website.

Overall, the park is beautiful. The trails are awesome (they are working on them with regards to mapping but they are still well marked in person). The camper pads are not very level but we do a lot of boondocking which involves a lot of un-level lots so that wasn't really an issue for us nor...

Went to a rock climbing class here and camped. Great place to climb. Loads of camp sites (Primitive sites. For real camping - in tents, not RVs. I think they have some RV spots behind the bathhouse but I'm really not sure; there weren't any RVs there when we went, and I wouldn't really want to drive anything that big up there anyway.) Staff was very accommodating and friendly. Check-in was very easy. It's not cheap but that's kind of a good thing. Keeps some of the rabble out. Not all, but some. There's a shop in the entrance building with a pretty good selection of basic supplies, souvenirs and snacks.

I'm not a serious rock climber so I can't really comment on how good the climbing is. For the class we took - beginner basics of outdoor climbing - it seemed perfect. We used 3 or 4 routes which were moderately challenging even for people in our class with previous climbing experience. Maybe 75' to the top? That was just one small area. There were several other rocks and it wasn't crowded. We had fun.

The weather was really bad the Friday and Saturday before our class so we couldn't really see which sites we were on. It's pitch black up there at night and no street lights. We just wanted to be pretty close to the bathhouse. Fairly clean bath facility but I'm not sure the water heaters were working. Showers never got very warm. Saturday morning we realized we had a great view of the valley. Couldn't see the lake until Sunday when the fog burned off but it was a beautiful view. The sites have fire pits and picnic tables (they also sell firewood at the entrance). Ground is pretty good, not many rocks or pine cones to deal with before we put up the tents.

There's a large pavilion at the bathhouse with a dozen or more picnic tables. Seemed pretty clean although there were a couple of bullet holes in the vending machine which was mildly concerning. (No idea how long the holes had been there; I've read that they used to have some trouble with rowdy locals before the county took over the place and made it a park, so hopefully those problems are in the past.) They had some sort of church service in the pavilion on Sunday morning. I think it was a native American thing. Only a handful of people there. No idea if that's a regular event or what.

It's miles to stores so be sure you have what you need. Otherwise, plan on driving up and down the mountain road and into town to get stuff. There is a pretty good restaurant near the bottom of the mountain but that's still a bit of a drive, especially in the dark and fog. Other than that restaurant and the store at the park entrance, there's nothing between here and the nearest towns, Leesburg or Center.

Overall, and not counting the weather, we had a good time camping and...

This park is an attraction to hikers and rock climbers according to the lady at the camp store. The views are absolutely spectacular! To register for the night you will need cash unless there's someone in the store. Best I can tell, there are more day visitors than campers. I stayed in the tent area, but there appeared to be quite a few places to park a small RV. I chose the tent area because it seemed a bit better for level parking. It was also closer to the restroom. Note there are lots of signs stating no parallel parking in the tent area, so I guess the way the space is laid out if you are towing a trailer you couldn't park there. The tent sites are scattered along half the loop through the park, but there are no specific sites with numbers. Instead there are lots of picnic tables and fire rings and it seems you just pick an open spot. Absent are any tent pads, so you just put out your tent under the trees. There is a restroom building that includes showers, but the showers are those single button things you have to keep pressing. The restroom was reasonably clean given there were a few groups of kids there during the day. Overall this is a pretty good place to camp for the night. The staff was friendly and the park well maintained. I slept in my truck quite comfortably and had a peaceful night. It's June as I visit, and the full rate is $19 to camp. They gave me a...