Established campgrounds that welcome vehicle-based travelers, from public campgrounds on the way to somewhere to private camps worth a stay of their own.
Rich Mountain Road, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
We’re working on adding the latest campgrounds in Tennessee here.
In the meantime, BLM campgrounds are already on the public land map, with the fees and stay limits the agency publishes and a link to each one.
More than any other state east of the Mississippi, and fourth most in the country
Camping on public land in Tennessee
Our build of the federal recreation database finds 64 campgrounds a vehicle can reach in Tennessee: 30 on the Cherokee National Forest, 18 on Corps of Engineers lakes and 16 in Park Service units, with 15 of them first come, first served. Add six Tennessee Valley Authority dam campgrounds, open March 15 to November 15, and 36 state park campgrounds.
Dispersed camping means national forest or undeveloped TVA land. The Cherokee allows 14 consecutive days, then a move of at least ten miles for seven days. TVA allows 14 days in any 30, then a move outside a 10-mile radius. The Natchez Trace Parkway allows none at all.
Developed campgrounds have numbered sites, toilets, often water, usually a fee and sometimes reservations. They are the easy night on the way to somewhere.
Dispersed camping means no facilities and no fee. It is allowed on much Bureau of Land Management and National Forest land, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether you can have a fire.
Private campgrounds and ranch stays add showers, laundry and hookups: the reset day in the middle of a long trip.
How to find a good one
The managing agency's own page is the only source for current status.
01Check the agency page for closures, fire restrictions and water before you drive in.
02Check the stay limit. Many public lands use fourteen days within a set period, but it varies by office.
03Check vehicle length limits and the condition of the access road.
04Arrive before dark, and have a second option.
Camp so it stays open
Most closures of dispersed areas follow the same pattern of trash, new fire rings and driving off the track.
01Use sites that already exist rather than making new ones.
02Pack out everything, including human waste where it is required.
03Have fires only where and when they are allowed, and drown them.
04Leave gates as you found them.
Questions people ask
Is dispersed camping legal?
On much BLM and National Forest land, yes, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether fires are allowed. Rules are set by the local office and change with conditions, so check before you go. The public land map shows who manages the ground.
How long can I stay?
Many public lands use a 14-day limit within a set period, but it varies by office and by area. The campground details on the public land map show the stay limit the BLM publishes for each site.
Do I need a reservation?
For popular developed campgrounds in season, often. Many public campgrounds are first come, first served. Recreation.gov handles reservations for most federal campgrounds that take them.
How high is Tennessee?
From Nashville at 555 feet to Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome) at 6,643.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,0004,0006,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
Mountain CityJohnson County seat in the far northeast on TN 91 and US 421, within a few miles of both Virginia and North Carolina.2,420 ft
CrossvilleOn I-40 at the top of the Cumberland Plateau, the halfway service stop between Nashville and Knoxville.1,857 ft
DucktownCopper Basin town on TN 68 at the east end of the Ocoee Scenic Byway, near the Georgia and North Carolina lines.1,740 ft
JamestownOn US 127 on the plateau, between Big South Fork and the Obey River country.1,714 ft
ErwinOn I-26 beside the Nolichucky. Start of the Unaka Mountain circle on TN 395 and gravel Forest Road 230.1,669 ft
ElizabethtonCarter County seat on the Watauga River. TN 143 climbs from here through Roan Mountain to Carvers Gap.1,527 ft
OneidaScott County town on US 27 and the eastern approach to Big South Fork and its Bandy Creek side.1,443 ft
WartburgMorgan County seat between the Obed Wild and Scenic River and Frozen Head, on the plateau north of I-40.1,380 ft
GatlinburgNorth gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Newfound Gap Road and the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail both start here.1,290 ft
LaFolletteCampbell County town on US 25W below the Cumberland Mountains, under the Sundquist Unit of the North Cumberland WMA.1,073 ft
TownsendThe Blount County entrance to the park. Cades Cove, Rich Mountain Road and Parson Branch Road are all reached from this side.1,070 ft
KnoxvilleWhere I-40 meets I-75. The last large city before the Smokies, the Cherokee National Forest and the Cumberland Mountains.899 ft
LawrenceburgOn US 43 in the middle of the Tennessee stretch of the Natchez Trace Parkway, and the last real service town for many miles of it.894 ft
Tellico PlainsWest end of the Cherohala Skyway and the turn onto Forest Road 210 up the Tellico River.875 ft
ChattanoogaWhere I-75 meets I-24 at the foot of the Cumberland Plateau. Nearest city to the Ocoee gorge and the Sequatchie Valley.676 ft
NashvilleState capital where I-40, I-65 and I-24 meet. The Natchez Trace Parkway ends just southwest of the city.555 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Kuwohi (Clingmans Dome)The highest point in Tennessee. A paved seasonal road runs to the parking area below the summit6,643 ft
KuwohiKuwohi Road: Newfound Gap Road to the Kuwohi visitor center and overlook6,643 ft
Mount Le ConteNo road to it. The Park Service says readings above 80 degrees up here are extremely rare6,593 ft
Roan High KnobCarter County, above Carvers Gap. Our own measurement at the USGS point, not an agency figure6,282 ft
Carvers GapTN 143 to Carvers Gap: Roan Mountain up through Roan Mountain State Park to the state line5,512 ft
Unaka Mountain Scenic Drive (Forest Road 230)A circle from Erwin on TN 395, Forest Road 230 and TN 1075,168 ft
Newfound Gap Road (US 441)Gatlinburg to Cherokee, North Carolina5,046 ft
Big Frog MountainPolk County, in the southern Cherokee National Forest. Our own measurement at the USGS point4,210 ft
Rich Mountain RoadCades Cove out to Tuckaleechee Cove and Townsend3,692 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
