Where To Stay

Best Hotels, Cabins, Camping, and Dining in the Great Smoky Mountains

You can enjoy many types of campgrounds on your Great Smoky Mountains National Park vacation, but there is only one lodge and reservations start with a lottery in fall. However, in the gateway towns, there are many hotels, resorts, and cabin rentals with great views and convenient access to the park.

Rocking chairs outside of a vacation home

Stay in a cabin on the “peaceful side of the Smokies” in Townsend, Tenn., and surrounding towns in Blount County. Here are three of our favorites.

Tent lobby at Under Canvas near Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Short for “glamorous camping,” stay here to experience nature in tents equipped with the creature comforts of home.

Sign outside of Hot Springs, N.C. It was a health resort since 1800, changed its name from Warm Springs in 1886, and was an internment camp for German prisoners during WWI. Photo by Gloria Wadzinski

Don’t let your Smoky Mountain vacation sound just like your neighbors’. Set your trip apart by staying at unusual lodging options along the way.

Upper Flats Wilderness camping in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The park operates nine developed campgrounds. All have bathroom facilities with running water, but no showers or hookups.

LeConte Lodge on Mt. Le Conte in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Courtesy photo

LeConte Lodge is the only lodging in the park and is accessible only by hiking a 5-mile trail. A reservation lottery happens in fall.

Have a hot meal up on the mountain thanks to llamas that make the hike up to the lodge kitchen three times per week. Read about their reward at the top.

Barbobs sign beckons you to try an ice cream cone.

Drive up to a classic diner experience right outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Townsend, Tenn. Locals say it’s the best burger in the county.