Smokey Mountains - November?

[Mattyd]

Friends- we are thinking of heading from Ohio to the Great Smokey's in November for a 4 day weekend. We are looking for recommendations of campgrounds as well as places to sight see, hike, and dine. We are not interested in getting tangled up in touristy shopping or big traffic jams, long lines and crowds. Recommendations? Thank you all kindly in advance.

[Mattyd]

Thanks everyone! We appreciate the info. Keep it comimg!

[bakerkids]

I prefer the Townsend side, and we stay at Big Meadows Family Campground.

[Bob___Ann]

Mattyd
If you are looking for a quiet campground in a rustic setting with full hook ups check out the following:

Anchors Down / Douglas Lake TN
River Valley Campground / Cherokee, NC
Treemont campground/ Townsend TN

Enjoy

[bgum]

No crouds in November unless it is game day in Knoxville. Traffic shd be much less also. Trees will mostly be leafless. Cold nights and cool days but not too bad. Great time of year.

[floridacamper]

Don't have to worry about crowds in November, I too suggest Smokemont but I like the North Carolina side better to begin with.

[Campfire_Time]

A couple of things I'd recommend looking into before the trip, get a day hiking book, check out this GSM hiking website, and get the National Geographic topographic trail map.

For hikes we enjoyed, there are several excellent ones along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail which is accessed from downtown Gatlinburg at stop light #8. The motor trail is in itself a great experience. Lots of places to stop but parking is at a premium. Best times are early morning.

Definitely spend some time not just driving, but stopping at the sites in Cades Cove. Lots of history there and several good hikes as well.

There is an excellent hiking shop called the Day Hiker in Gatlinburg in one of the "alleys". Prices are reasonable too, also the best T-shirts in the area.

I know you don't want touristy, but the free "moonshine" tasting is a hoot. There are at least 5 of these places in downtown Gatlinburg.

[tragusa3]

We live nearby and November is one of our favorite camping months. I've seen snow once in 15 years in Nov. I've worn shorts 5-6 of those years.

We like Smokmont for Thanksgiving. We've been one of 5-6 campers in the whole place. I keep wanting to try Element (which looks better in pictures).

[RoyB]

The SMOKY MTNS campgrounds have no hookups but do have access to water at several located bath room buildings. They have outside spigots for water for you to haul back back to your camp site. The Bath Room buildings do have a couple of electric outlets inside and it is not uncommon to see a battery sitting in the corner in the Bath Room building being charged up haha...

We use the ELKMONT camp site when we head out that way.

ALot of the business places in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge do close down for the winter months...

The ELKMONT site also has seasonal dates...

ELKMONT Season Dates
2016 season schedule:

Jan 1 - Mar 10, 2016: closed
Mar 11 – April 7, 2016: Loops A - D open as walk-in sites
April 8 – April 28, 2016: Loops A - F open as walk in sites
April 29 - May 14, 2016: Loops A - H open as walk in sites
May 15 - Oct 31, 2016: All sites available by reservation
Nov 1 - Nov 26, 2016: Loops A - F open as walk in sites
Nov 27 - Dec 31, 2016: Closed

These areas can be affected by heavy snow storms and roads icing up being in the mtn regions of TN/NC... ALot of the mtn roads get closed during these times making one do alot of longer roads to get through the area. Check the roads conditions before heading out.

September and October are our favorite times to be in the area when the schools all start up again...

Roy Ken

[Kentucky_Joe]

Go on Roaring Fork Drive. Preferably not Saturday or Sunday. We like to eat at Little Tokyo in Pigeon Forge. Go for the cooking demonstration. Ranger programs in park are great.

[Alabama_Jim]

The campgrounds in the NP are very nice, but no water and electricity. We are here now and staying at Creekside, full hook up and close to everything. We have stayed here before during November and it was great. You have a stop light to get you into the heavy traffic zone and the park is very pleasant. The only draw back, as is in may RV Parks, the wifi is extremely weak.

[agesilaus]

Elkmont in the park is a great CG, no hookups of course. I thought about going up there but I suspect the trees will be bare.