Smokey mountains and Blue Ridge Pkwy

[AirZone]

Travelling to the Smokey mountains and then travelling to the Blue Ridge Pkwy in June.
Does one need to make reservations at campgrounds or are they pretty much open to first come, first served.
Travelling with a 27 foot trailer.

[Campinghoss]

Four Paws Kingdom near Chimney Rock affords you the luxury of traveling the parkway without your trailer in tow. There is a lot to see and do in and around the Asheville area. This park caters to adults and dogs if that interest you.

We always have a "home" base and travel in the toad.

[scrubjaysnest]

Just an update on the BRPW cg's; 7 of the 8 are on the reservation system. Crab Tree Falls was just re opened and is all first come first serve. Time limits are now max 30 days per year either at one CG or spread among the 8.

[Bumpyroad]

AirZone wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
figure out what section of the parkway you are going to travel, assuming you aren't going to torture yourself by driving the entire length. you can always jump off to stop in adjacent towns also.
bumpy

Why wouldn't we want to "torture" ourself, is there something I don't know. I've heard it was a beautiful drive.

Dick B and Terryallen pretty much summed it up. Is the BRP the main reason you are making this trip? or is it a route to your destination? after dragging a 27 ft TT along for 469 miles at 25 mph on twisty roads you will deserve a break today. I think you will get sick and tired of that "beautiful drive". folks here can advise you as to the most scenic areas with camping facilities. as I suggested, pick out a day or two travel area with good scenery and a campground to stay at to break it into two days.
but do visit and spend those Loonies.
bumpy

[Terryallan]

AirZone wrote:
Travelling to the Smokey mountains and travelling the Blue Ridge Pkwy in June.
Does one need to make reservations at campgrounds or are they pretty much open to first come, first served.
Travelling with a 27 foot trailer.

First, Very little of The Blue Ridge Parkway is in the Smoky Mountains. It starts in Virginia, travels 469 miles thru the Blue Ridge Mountains and ends in Cherokee. Only the Southern end is in the Smokey MT.

As to towing on the BRP. Yep. It is pretty easy, But it is slow. The max speed is 45 mph, dropping to 25 in many places. The road is prolly the best road thru the mountains. The roads leading to it are much more steep, and twisty.

As for camping. The National Park CGs all have "Some" first come first served. In June you should have no problems finding a site. FYI. They are all primitive campgrounds, No hookups. Do have water in the CG, and dump stations. Also. You must get off to find fuel. However that is no problem as many of the exits have fuel stations.

There are also a couple full hookups CGs along the BRP. Raccoone holler at Glendale Springs, and Bear Den at Little Switzerland.
Have fun.

BTW. Allow several days to travel the length.

[RGar974417]

It depends when you go. Summer,especially weekends will be harder than spring and fall. Most of the campgrounds on the parkways should be no problem during the week,especially if you get a site early.But some of the ones off the parkway like Sherando Lake,Goose Point or Davidson River are nicer and have hookups so they will be harder to get into during peak times in peak season. Usually, from Sunday through Thursdays,you can pretty much be assured of a site if you stop early enough.

[AirZone]

Bumpyroad wrote:
figure out what section of the parkway you are going to travel, assuming you aren't going to torture yourself by driving the entire length. you can always jump off to stop in adjacent towns also.
bumpy

Why wouldn't we want to "torture" ourself, is there something I don't know. I've heard it was a beautiful drive.

[naturist]

That is a rather big area, so I think your need for reservations is going to depend on where you are planning to camp. The NP campgrounds in my area here in central Virginia vary widely. At the Otter Creek campground, no reservations have been needed for some years, and none were possible anyway. This coming season, it will be possible to reserve a site, but I don't know that doing so would serve any purpose, unless you knew you wanted a particular site. On the other hand, Sherando Lake is extremely popular, and Thursday through Saturday nights, all the reservable sites are usually booked up weeks in advance. There are 25 first-come sites, but to get one, you pretty well need to be at the gate by 9 am or so Thursday morning, otherwise, you are at the mercy of someone having to leave unexpectedly. Sunday through Wednesday, however, no problem.

[huachuca]

When looking at camping options in that area, don't forget to check out the campgrounds in Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. They're often less crowded than their NP counterparts.

[scrubjaysnest]

Depends on the CG; most on the BRPW are 1st come 1st serve but others like the one at Linville Falls are by reservation. Your TT will be fine but some of the NPS CG's are limited on sites for RV's. Mt Pisgah, Peaks of Otter, and Doughton Park along with Julian Price should be ok. Last time we were at Julian Price some sites were reservable.

[Dick_B]

Are you sure you want to travel the Blue Ridge Parkway in an RV?

[happynow]

The area you refer to is rather large, it depends on where you want to be. Early in the month you might be ok to wing it. Later in the month, I would suggest reservations.

[Bumpyroad]

figure out what section of the parkway you are going to travel, assuming you aren't going to torture yourself by driving the entire length. you can always jump off to stop in adjacent towns also.
bumpy