This Land, Your Land

Campers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park will be required to reserve sites at Cataloochee Campground beginning with the season that opens March 11.

Reservations are available up to six months ahead of time through the federal government's Recreation.gov website, or at 877-444-6777. The camping fee will be $20 per night, which includes the contract costs for the reservation system and is the same as several other campgrounds in the park with similar amenities, a news release says.

The reservation page for Cataloochee Campground became operative February 9. The campground has 27 sites.

The park already requires reservations for the large frontcountry campgrounds at Smokemont, Elkmont and Cades Cove, a smaller outlying campground at Cosby, and at all drive-to horse camps, group camps, and picnic pavilions.

"Cataloochee Campground is one of the park’s most sought-after camping experiences, particularly since elk arrived in the valley in 2001," park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson says in the news release. "During peak season and off-season weekends, the campground often fills to capacity. Frequently campers would arrive after driving a long distance along a very narrow, gravel road to find no campsites available. We feel that the reservation system will provide a more efficient process to secure an overnight stay at Cataloochee and will eliminate unnecessary travel time and effort to try and obtain a site.”