Close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Sevierville caters to tourists with outdoor activities, shopping and restaurants. Tent camping is overshadowed by RV campgrounds, but can be found. The area has comfortable but humid summers and mild winters, yet tent campgrounds are seasonal. Dolly Parton grew up in Sevierville; Dollywood is just a few miles away in Pigeon Forge.
Douglas Dam Headwater Campground
Tent camping mingles with RV camping at Douglas Dam Headwater Campground on Douglas Lake. There are 65 sites; 61 have water and electrical hook-ups, and two of those are designated as handicapped-accessible. Tents can be set up in sites with hook-ups; the extra fee is negligible if you want to tent camp. Amenities include heated restrooms with showers and flush toilets, picnic tables and a beach for swimming. The campground is self-service, administered by the Tennessee Valley Authority, and open seasonally from mid-April to October.
Douglas Dam Tailwater Campground
The Tailwater Campground is also a self-service Tennessee Valley Authority campground. This one has 62 campsites and they all have water and electric hookups. Two sites are designated handicapped-accessible. Amenities include restrooms with heated showers and flush toilets, a children's playground, picnic tables and grills and a boat launch ramp. A fishing pier and a bait-and-tackle shop are close by. The Tailwater Campground is open seasonally from early April to late October.
Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg KOA Tent Camping
It is about six miles from Sevierville to Pigeon Forge. The privately owned KOA on the Little Pigeon River has tent camping. Open April to November, amenities include a pool and hot tub, hot showers, laundry facilities and Wi-Fi. Tent campers who want to get off the ground for a night can rent a Kamping Kabin. One-room units have air-conditioning, lights and electrical outlets. Linens are not provided; a Kamping Kabin is like tent camping with four walls.
Outdoor Activities near Sevierville
With 150 hiking trails and 2,115 miles of fishing streams, Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the number one outdoor attraction in Sevier County. Park campgrounds accept both tent and RVs on the Tennessee side. On Wednesday and Saturday mornings from May to September, no vehicular traffic is allowed on the Cades Cove Loop Road, an 11-mile one-way road perfect for bicycling. Trotter Bluff Small Wild Area, with 30 acres of mature hardwood trees, hiking trails and a view of the dam, is located close to the Douglas Dam Headwater Campground.
Considerations
Traffic can be very heavy during the summer on roads leading from Sevierville to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and the Smoky Mountains. Over 1,500 black bears roam the Smoky Mountains and some head into town to forage through trash. Never run from a black bear and do not turn your back on it. Make loud noises and act aggressively toward the animal. Cook as far from the tent as possible and leave scented items in hard-sided vehicles. If no vehicle is on-site, use rope to suspend food from a high tree branch.
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