Townsend Great Smokies KOA Holiday - Townsend, Tennessee (August 2021)

If we had to create a list of favorite places to camp, the Florida Gulf Coast and the Smoky Mountains would be high on it. Both places are associated with very happy family memories. Maybe that is one of the reasons heading to the Smokies made sense when we postponed our WBCCI Southwest Adventure Caravan. 

Once we decided to head to the mountains, the next question was where to camp? We limited our choices to Maggie Valley, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Townsend. All of these places are on the Tennessee side of the mountains except Maggie Valley, which is in North Carolina. They are all special places to our family, but we ended up choosing Townsend. This is on what they call the quiet side of the Smokies. We felt fortunate to book a site on the river in the Townsend Great Smokies Campground on short notice. 

The sign at Townsend's KOA Campground

I was disappointed when we arrived at the park. There were several loops with sites along the river. I hoped our site was in the lower loop, which is closer to the water. We ended up in the other loop where the sites were on a hill. That meant we were farther from the river and the sounds of rushing water. We didn’t know it at the time, but our site assignment turned out to be fortunate for us. More about that in a minute. 

Rosie up a hill from the river

Becky enjoying the Little River behind Rosie

The Little River behind Rosie

In the category of firsts, we received a text from the campground telling us that a bear was in the park and everyone needed to be in a safe place. A few minutes later, a text was sent out saying the bear left the park. We didn’t know if we should be happy or sad that we missed seeing the bear. 

Bear warning text message

We discovered a hiking/biking trail across the street from the campground. We enjoyed taking Suzy, our dog, for walks along that trail. Since this campground was a family destination with lots of children and campfires, we enjoyed being able to walk without having to smell campfire smoke. The walkway has probably been there for years, but it was new to us.

On Townsend's hiking trail

Suzy enjoying the hiking trail

Townsend is close to Cades Cove in the National Park. Somehow we missed going there this time, but we enjoyed driving through the Smokies and visiting spots our family members loved. 

Sign at the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Smokies

The mountains

Newfound Gap in the Smokies

Another view of Newfound Gap

We did drive through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg one day. The busy traffic and crowded sidewalks screamed that we had made the best choice by camping on the quiet side of the Smokies. 

A diner in Pigeon Forge our children enjoyed when they were younger

Tubing was the noisiest activity around the campground. It was entertaining to watch large groups of people float down the river on inner tubes past Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 

Tubers on the river behind Rosie

Tubers on the Little River

While we were there, the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred passed through our area.  It rained and rained and rained. For nearly two days it rained ranging from downpours to steady rains. That would have been a miserable time if we were in a tent. Of course, it was nice and dry inside Rosie. 

Then we started watching the river. It grew from a lazy pace behind Rosie to a swiftly moving flood of water that would make an experienced white-water rafter fearful. We were surprised to see two men holding their beverage cans as they went zooming down the swollen river on inner tubes in the rain that afternoon. 

Two tubers during a tropical storm

Later that day, our amusement at watching the river rise turned into concern as we watched the campground start evacuating the lower loop sites along the river. Those trailers were being moved to open sites deeper inside the campground.  As “insurance,” we hitched Rosie up to the truck leaving only the power connected. If necessary, we wanted to be able to move quickly. 

Rosie hitched up in case we needed to evacuate during the tropical storm

Water rising on the river and flowing much faster

It was still raining as night approached. By the last light of the day, we saw that the river was flooding the low lying areas of the campground. We noticed that a campground staff person was driving his yellow golf cart every hour to a site near Rosie and checking the rising river. He wasn’t alone as multiple other concerned campers along with us were also frequently checking the river's rise. 

Checking the river from inside Rosie

The water rose beyond the swings and partly up the hill that night

Needless to say, we knew we were not going to sleep that night. The river was rising at an alarming rate and was at the base of the hill behind Rosie by 9 pm. 

I was able to talk to the park staffer as he made his 10 pm check. He stated he had never seen the river flood that high before and the water was still rising at an alarming rate. He also said that NOAA Weather Radio said the river would crest by 11 pm and that was good news. 

I waited until 11:15 to check the river’s level.  The water was still in flood stage, but had receded a significant amount. That meant we could finally go to sleep for the night. 

That was the second time we were in a flood situation while camping in Rosie. We had to flee the campground the first time. We were vigilant in watching the river this time and our site on the hill kept us away from the water. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was paved with gravel and we had to use leveling blocks to correct a side-to-side lean
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection
• There were several dumpsters around the park
• There was a bathhouse in the campground. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not check on its condition
• The park provided workable WiFi service 
• AT&T provided maybe one bar of unreliable 5Ge voice and data service over our campsites 
• We were not able to watch any TV stations using Rosie’s TV antenna.  The park provided cable TV service, which wasn’t working when we first arrived. A quick text to the office brought two staffers to our site and they quickly found the problem
• This was a pet friendly park 

As scheduled, we left that campground the next morning heading for our next Rosie adventure. We hope that it will not be as exciting as watching a flooded river behind Rosie.

The river after Tropical Storm Fred went through

Townsend/Great Smokies KOA - Tennessee (November 2018)

“Your timing is perfect,” said the Townsend/Great Smokies KOA campground staff person as she checked us in. “The leaves are turning late this year and are reaching peak colors this weekend.”

Townsend/Great Smokies KOA Campground

The KOA Office

Fall colors were simply a bonus when we booked this campground. We were trying to come up with something to replace our scheduled trip to Florida’s Gulf Coast after our reservations were canceled in the wake of Hurricane Michael. 

We wanted a river site, but the park was sold out for the weekend and we ended up with an interior site. We knew we would miss the sound of running water.

River behind the campground

Most KOA campgrounds have someone in a golf cart who escorts visitors to their sites. This person also attempts to help campers back into their sites. 

Our escort brought us to our site facing the wrong direction. After we discussed the perils of making a 130 degree turn while backing into a site, our escort led us on a tour of the campground to get us facing the proper way to back into our site. 

The campground sent reinforcements over to see what the problem was with us getting in our site. The other campground escort said that the person who attempted to help us was new and still learning how to park trailers. We would have been fine parking on our own.

Rosie in the campground

Once parked, we noticed an unpleasant smell and saw a sewage truck pumping out a septic tank. I asked one of the  park staffers about the smell and learned that Townsend doesn’t have a sewer system. That was one of the reasons the community hasn’t grown in relation to others near the Smokies. Every business and resident in Townsend must have septic systems. This was a decision made by the community help keep it from becoming another tourist town on the edges of th National Park. 

I asked how often we should expect to smell the sewage truck. His response was that the truck shows up monthly in season and every two or three months during the off season. I guess we were lucky to park there at the same time the sewage truck arrived.

Sign at the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

We think someone must have blabbed the news about the leaves being at peak colors because the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was full of people taking in the sights. It wasn’t too bad on Friday when we drove along the Little River Gorge Road. Things were very different on Saturday and Sunday when we toured Cade’s Cove and drove to Newfound Gap. Cars were bumper-to-bumper. We were surprised to see some snow on the side of the road as we drove up to Newfound Gap.

Snow along the road near Newfound Gap

The colors of fall

Smoky Mountains National Park

A tunnel

Peak color!

We were amazed at how fast the leaves changed colors then dropped. We were also amazed at how fast the campground cleared out on Sunday. We were the only trailer in our row on Monday morning. 

The reason people were abandoning the campground became clearer when the weather alarms on our iPhones woke us up around 4 a.m. the next morning. We were in a severe thunderstorm area, had a high wind advisory and under a tornado watch. We could hear the heavy rain pelt Rosie and we also heard the winds. 

The campground looked like a battlefield when we looked outside that morning with tree branches and leaves everywhere. As we were getting ready to leave, several KOA employees were picking up the branches and blowing the leaves away from the roads and sites. Chances are good that the park looked spic-n-span by the time the new visitors arrived that afternoon.

Rosie alone on our row

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• Our site was a back-in
• Our site was gravel and level
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service
• Our site had water connection 
• Our site had a sewer connection
• Our site had a cable TV connection that delivered 40+ analog signals. That was good because we couldn’t find any over-the-air TV signals 
• The park had Wi-Fi service. It worked better than the WiFi services at most campgrounds 
• AT&T placed a marginal one to two bars of 4G voice and data service over our site 
• The restrooms in this campground were clean and in good shape
• The showers in this campground lacked ventilation and heat. That was an issue since the weather dipped into the 30s during our visit there. 

This is one of the best KOA Campgrounds we have ever camped in. We emptied one of propane gas tanks while there and asked at the office where we could get it filled. They quickly sent one of their staffers to our site. He took our tank in his golf cart and returned it filled about 10 minutes later. There was no charge for pickup and delivery service.

Working with the LP gas tanks

The Smokies hold a special place in our hearts. This was a favorite vacation spot when our children were growing up and a family favorite when I was a child. Our drives through the Smokies were full of great memories of our children climbing the rocks along the creeks and taking hikes to the waterfalls, the Chimney Tops and Mount LaConte. I also could not help but think of my visits to the the Smokies with my parents.  

There is lots to love about the Smokies. This was our first late Fall visit and we enjoyed the mountains and this campground.

Rosie in the campground

In the Smokies

Bumper-to-bumper traffic in Cades Cove

The Smokies

The fall colors

Suzy acting as our scout

The state line

Fall in the Smokies

Breakfast!

Townsend / Great Smokies KOA - Townsend, Tennessee

Townsend is advertised as the quiet side of the Smokies. We know from our family vacations when our children were young that fewer people visited the Townsend side and this made it easier to spend more time enjoying the mountains instead of dealing with the Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge traffic.

We scouted last year while visiting the Smokies for a campground where we could stay in Townsend and decided to reserve a site in the KOA. When we called for reservations, the site next to the restroom was our only choice. We felt that wasn't the best site, but we booked it.

After we arrived and setup Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, Becky noticed a bad smell coming from the restroom. It was bad enough that we went to the office to see if we could move or check out.

There were a few cancellations and the office staff drove us around on one of their golf carts to see them. We quickly said we would pay the additional fees to get the shaded site along the river.

Rosie along the river

Rosie's site at the Townsend KOA

So, we found ourselves hitching up Rosie moments after setting up in the site next to the restroom and moving to our newly reserved site. The new site proved to be one of the most difficult sites to back Rosie in. It appeared that our site was added after the park was initially laid out and there wasn't enough room left to get into the site without pulling forward and backing in many times.

The effort required to occupy the site was well worth it. We had a beautiful site with a great view of the people floating down the Little River, which was immediately behind Rosie.

Of course, the real reason you camp in Townsend is to visit Cade's Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We drove the 11mile loop around the Cove three different evenings. Suzy, our seven month old Yorkie enjoyed barking at the deer along the road. We stopped when we saw a herd of horses and let Suzy see them up close. She didn't make a sound until she was safely back in the truck. That was when she bravely started to growl at the horses.

Cades Cove

The loop road in Cades Cove

Horses in Cades Cove

Speaking of Suzy, we were amazed at how quickly everyone seemed to learn her name. People passing us on walks would call Suzy by name and someone in a passing truck yelled out, "Hey Suzy!"

The mountains around Cades Cove

A deer in the Cove

A cabin in Cades Cove

We ventured into Gatlinburg one afternoon for lunch. The constant crowds and traffic problems reaffirmed that our decision to stay "on the quiet side of th Smokies" was best for us.

Here are some specifics about this park:

• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service.
• Our site had water and sewer connections.
• Our site had a cable TV connection that delivered 40+ analog signals.
• The park had Wi-Fi service. It was very slow and easily overwhelmed during the evenings.
• We were amazed at the size of the KOA staff working in the park. Any problems were quickly resolved by their staff. For example, we mentioned that we smelled a bad odor coming from the bathhouse. Plumbers were there the next day fixing the problem.
• There are multiple pricing tiers at this park. We paid a premium price for our site on the water. Having made that point, we plan to reserve our site again the next time we visit the Smokies.
• While it would be difficult to chisel in an additional site for campers in this park, we welcomed that there was some room between campsites and most sites had shrubs or some other feature separating them.

I have expressed my disappointment in several KOA campgrounds in the past. The Townsend / Great Smokies KOA is well worth visiting because it delivers on the idea of being an above average family-oriented campground. We enjoyed camping in this KOA park.

Suzy learning she can swim, but prefers not to.

Becky and Suzy outside Rosie

Suzy in the truck

Suzy in the Townsend KOA Campground