Cataloochee Campground
A remote Smokies valley with a resident elk herd and standing homestead buildings — reached by a narrow gravel road.
- Haywood County, NC
- Nearest town: Maggie Valley
- 2,625 ft
Coordinates
- Lat
- 35.63145
- Lng
- -83.08533
Van camping
You can drive in and sleep in your van here.
At a glance
The basics
What to expect
National park
Reservable in season, no hookups, strict quiet hours and food storage.
- County
- Haywood County
- State
- North Carolina
- Nearest town
- Maggie Valley
- Elevation
- 2,625 ft
- Max vehicle length
- Not verified
The place
About Cataloochee Campground
Cataloochee is the most atmospheric valley in the park and the hardest to reach, which are not unrelated facts. A settlement of several hundred people farmed here before the park, and the church, school and two farmhouses still stand in the meadows. Elk were reintroduced to this valley and are now a fixture, grazing the open fields at first and last light in numbers that stop traffic on the single road through. The campground is small, set along Cataloochee Creek among big trees, and the sense of being a long way from anything is the entire point.
For van drivers
Getting a van in and out
Read this before you commit. The way in is Cove Creek Road, a winding gravel mountain road with steep sections, blind curves, minimal guardrail and very little room to pass or turn around. It is genuinely unsuitable for a long or low van, and towing anything in is a poor idea. Drive it in daylight, not after dark, and if you meet a vehicle expect to reverse. There is no cell signal in the valley and no services of any kind; Maggie Valley and Waynesville are the nearest towns. Bear rules are strict and enforced.
Written for a high-roof van, not a pickup. Surfaces and clearances change with the weather and with the season’s roadwork — the official page below is the last word.
On the ground
Facilities & fees
Not verified means nobody has confirmed it — treat it as unknown, never as a no. 8 of the 8 below are still unconfirmed.
- Restrooms
- Not verified
- Drinking water
- Not verified
- Showers
- Not verified
- Dump station
- Not verified
- Hookups
- Not verified
- Campfires
- Not verified
- Dogs allowed
- Not verified
- Reservations
- Not verified
- Max vehicle length
- Not verified — check with the park
- Season
- Not verified — check with the park
- Fees
- Not verified — check with the park
The last word on all of this is nps.gov(opens in a new tab).
Where it is
Coordinates & directions
Decimal degrees
- Latitude
- 35.631448
- Longitude
- -83.085334
35.6314° N · 83.0853° W
No map tiles here on purpose. Half of these places have no signal at the gate, so coordinates you can save offline beat a map that needs one. Drop them into your phone before you turn off the pavement.
Nearest gas and groceries: Maggie Valley
Before you go
Official sources
Fees, site counts, length limits and closures change season to season. Everything we have not confirmed ourselves is marked Not verified above rather than guessed at — and where we do have a number, the operator’s own page still wins.
Keep looking
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