Smoky Mountains in July
I know the temps can vary, but on the average, how are temps in Places like Cades Cove in the month of July? Bearable without A/C? Would much rather have the A/C?
Forum Discussion
- Usually bearable, lots of shade on the campsites, cool creek to put your feet or more in. BUT, there are no guarantees. :) Elkmont is always cooler than Cade's Cove.
- Elkmont IS usually cooler, but we went to see the fireflies two years ago (2nd week of June) and we all were miserable. It was hot, but mostly, it was humid and the air was not moving at all. As long as we were in the river, we were fine, but inside the TT, it was unbearable, even with fans running. We killed out battery the first 2 days.
- We camp at ELKMONT alot on our travels to the SMOKY MTNs during the heat of the summer.
It is always a good 10-degrees coolr at ELKMONT. If you look up ELKMONT on GOOGLE SATELLITE you will see how how much SHADE is there. You will only see the camp road in a couple of places. Like said above there is a creek running right down thru the middle of the camp ground...
Our favorite place to camp in the area... NO HOOKUPs but has central located bath rooms with water you can tote to your camp site...
We always try to get site # F8...
ELKMONT CAMP MAP
You can view several camp site photos on the reservation page.
We always use TOWNSEND for getting our camping and food supplies - The GATLINBURG/PIGEON FORGE is much too congested...
You will also note that they have selected sites set aside for GENERATORs being allowed. We run all of our 120VAC items we want ON from Inverter and 12VDC items direct connected to the battery and then re-charge the battery bank back the next morning duriing breakfast with a three hour run of the generator using smart mode charging.
TV pretty good using OTA BATWING antenna but NO CELL PHONE service. Will have to drive back to a pull-out overlooking Gatlinburg for cell service. HAM RADIO is prefect there as they have a HAM REPEATOR site on the same mountain... Get to run around the trails with a portable handheld unit.
If it rains there you will find the tree cover will drip water for days after the rain storm. Alot of folks like to throw tarps over their whole trailer to sit under. We have done that as well...
We always see alot of DEER at the camp ground and have also seen wild pigs once and even a Bear trotting down the main road with his nose in the air one time.
CADES COVE also has tons of Deer, horses to greet you when you enter the grounds, and bears in the trees sometimes as well...
Roy Ken - The Temp variation can be quite wide in the summer. Been extremely hot during the day at times and have even been pretty chilly at night one June. I don't recall being uncomfortable at night but we might just be lucky. RoyB is correct, the shade makes a huge difference in the park campgrounds. Cades Cove, Elkmont and Smokemont all are about 2000 ft, so no real help from gaining altitude though.
- Even with the cooler temps up in Cades Cover/Elkmont, you are still looking at temps in low to mid 80's in July in East Tennessee. Along with a humidity level in the 50-60 percent range fairly often.
The shade and running water help, of course. When we are in the area camping, we can generally make it till 2:00 or so, then we head for the ac. - One's temp tolerance always factors on such questions due to personal preferences- one person's heaven is another's personal hell. That said: Relatively speaking GSMNP is much cooler than lower elevations and more southerly latitudes: as in a 15-20* difference. The heat indices also vary similarly by comparison.
- We have gone in June, July, and August. We have been when it is really comfortable but we have also been when really hot and humid with no wind. We use small fans at night and we find that to be enough that we keep going back. If you get some breeze then no problem.
- In other words - when you go, plan to sweat. If it is cooler, then congrats, you won the lottery.
We have a saying in East Tennessee - "Don't like the weather? Come back tomorrow. It will probably be different."
Case in Point: Yesterday, we were in low 70's. Today, we are in the high 30s. Friday back up to 60.
