This Land, Your Land

It's the most popular request users make, but showers aren't feasible at Great Smoky Mountains National Park's major campgrounds, park management tells the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

The three campgrounds - Smokemont near Cherokee and, on the Tennesse side of the park, Elkmont near Gatlinburg and Cades Cove near Townsend - have restrooms with flush toilets and running water, but the water supply and the drainage capacity are not enough to support showers. If the problem were to be fixed, camping fees would rise sharply.

"It's a top request, along with hookups for RVs," park management assistant Bob Miller tells the newspaper. "We've considered it. But it's a question of enough water and gray water (disposed from showers)."

The newspaper lists commercial campgrounds outside the park that let park campers shower for a fee.