dog-friendly car-camping in east tennessee

May 25, 2008 8:12 PM

recommend a good dog-friendly car-camping spot in east tennessee, please. (or recommend a site that can help us find one)

the bf and i are hoping to meet some friends for a little camping halfway between our home in nashville, tn, and their home in asheville, nc. i'm thinking somewhere around gatlinburg or pigeon forge, or maybe big south fork, but i don't know anything about the camping around here, so i was hoping to avoid just throwing darts at a map by seeking a little hivemind input.

we have dogs, and we don't want to hike far with our gear. we don't need showers or facilities.

can anyone either recommend a place or a website where i can search for such parameters? thanks!

posted by thinkingwoman to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

Dunno what you mean by "dog-friendly," but if that includes keeping 'em on a leash, limit of 2, I can recommend the KOA Townsend, TN, although it was overrun with screaming kids the last time I was there (hey, it's been nice and peaceful on several other trips). dogfriendly.com for that area might be of interest, too.
posted by paulsc at 2:50 AM on May 26, 2008

Response by poster: only one, maybe 2 dogs. prefer to be able to let them off the leash, if possible, but not necessary.
posted by thinkingwoman at 5:57 AM on May 26, 2008

I know a lot of places closer to Asheville but not so much in TN. That said, what about the Bryson City/ Nantahala National Forest area? It's a lot further for you to drive than your friends but there are lots of places to camp. If I were you I'd look around there or in the Great Smokies - which is closer to halfway between y'all. What you want is usually called wilderness camping. Here's a list of Great Smokies campsites. Oh, wait. No Dogs. Boo. Go to Nantahala or Pisgah or Joyce Kilmer instead.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:08 AM on May 26, 2008