Pigion Forge TN

I would stay in the CG's inside the park. Been there several times and was able to get a site each time without reservations. Camped right on a river in Elkmont CG. GK's floated the river on tubes. They had a lot of old buildings to explore. Kids fished and caught some trout. There is a wildlife loop in Cades Cove to explore also. I would take the tow car into Pigeon forge to go shopping or explore the town but would not camp there when there is such a nice Smokey Mtn NP to camp in.

Different strokes for different folks. The area offers everything from hiking to waterfalls in the National Park to go karts to interesting exhibits like the Titanic Museum to Ripley's offerings. It is diverse enough to appeal to everyone in one way or another. Dollywood is a great park. Splash Country is a great water park for the kids and adults alike. People like to go places and eat things and shop. Shopping is the #1 tourist activity anywhere they go.

I live outside the area but I love giong into the chaos and play tourist myself. There is so much to do, great restaurants everywhere, great campgrounds everywhere and if you can't find something to entertain you and enjoy you might have a different idea of entertainment and that's fine too. The dinner shows are wonderful entertainment. Driving through the park is beautiful. GSMNP has the most original structures of any National Park, the largest black bear population and lots of other wildlife and miles upon miles of hiking trails. It is the most visited National Park of all of them. There is a reason for that.

We all have our personal reasons for going to the places we go and the style of camping we enjoy. This is a vast country and there is more to see than one lifetime can accommodate. Make the most of it while you can because no one is guaranteed a tomorrow.

lazydays wrote:
Love the Smokies, as we average two trips a year. Will be there again in two weeks. We go for the tourist stuff. Could care less about the park as we rarely visit it when we go. Are two go to campgrounds is Archor Downs and River Plantation.

This is why they have different things for different people. We DO NOT enjoy the touristy stuff and these are our least favorite campgrounds.

I'm NOT a shopper, so the outlet malls are places I avoid like the plague. Our two teens enjoy the go-carts and all that, but we only do that one day, usually a day at Dollywood and then we head into Gatlinburg and walk the downtown streets for a few hours.

That's what makes life interesting....different outlooks on the same thing.

Love the Smokies, as we average two trips a year. Will be there again in two weeks. We go for the tourist stuff. Could care less about the park as we rarely visit it when we go. Are two go to campgrounds is Archor Downs and River Plantation.

We also love the Smokies & have been returning regularly since I was a child. The national park never disappoints. Probably why it is one of or maybe the most visited of our national parks. Traversing the main drag tests my medication but others love it. Many great RV parks to choose from;
Gatlinburg
Pigeon Forge
Sevierville
If you have never been or have children you probably need to experience the tourist trap aspect once & make up your own minds. We'll return regardless as the park is worth it to us.

I'm not complaining about the traffic, at least not too much. It's a real sign our economy is strong when that many people are traveling for fun.

As for the standing water, there was a lot of rain. Some pooling was to be expected. It's unfortunate that it pooled so heavily in the camp sites rather than draining away from them. A puddle here and there is one thing, but a 4" deep pond that's bigger than the truck and 1/3 of the trailer has to have some basis in poor grading. Especially when it happens on more than one site and the entire area isn't flooded. Maybe its a rare occurrence, but I've been in much heavier rains without flooded campsites. Anyway, we enjoyed the trip and it was a great Thanksgiving.

There is never an 'off' season here although there are weeks that are not as busy as other weeks. My rain gage showed 2 3/4 inches of rain the other night, it dumped so I am not surprised you had some standing water that morning, sucks but it happens.

Just got back from our annual trek. We stayed at River Plantation RV Resort again. We usually get a pull through, but they were all booked up when we made our reservation this time so we stayed in a back in. Last night was constant rain with intermittent deluges. We had to swim out to hook the truck up the trailer. Seriously there was at least 3-4" of standing water almost surrounding the trailer with the truck center of the pool in front. We've never experienced that at any of our previous stays, but several sites surrounding us were in a similar situation.

Otherwise, great Thanksgiving weekend. This was by far the busiest Thanksgiving weekend in the past 10 years. Traffic on the parkway was reminiscent of the old days, bumper to bumper slow moving going south. Lots of traffic on the interstates coming home as well.

fwiw, I despise tourist traps and that area is THE definition of one.
But everyone has his own tastes and I salute all of them!
+1 on the Dumplin Valley CG. We've been known to stay there when they have their bluegrass festival and its a good cg. Close to everything (mostly) without being where you cant move at certain times of the day.

If you are looking for price & don't need any of the 'resort' stuff or be in the center of all the hub ub, tucked away on the west side of the I40 exit is Dumplin Valley CG.

Seldom real busy. Lots of room for the dog to run. Quiet. No neon to be seen in any direction. It is an ex dairy farm & home to one of the best bluegrass festivals around in September.