At Oconaluftee the elk come down into the fields at dusk, heads in the grass while the last light sits on the North Carolina ridges. Newfound Gap Road keeps climbing through spruce and fir until the lookout tower at Kuwohi, formerly Clingmans Dome, is above the trees. Across the same park a bull answers from Cataloochee, the bugle carrying over the old farms in a ring of mountains. The rut runs early September through late October.
Kuwohi Road to the tower closes in winter for snow and ice. Newfound Gap Road, the pass connecting the North Carolina and Tennessee sides, stays open when weather allows.
The Oconaluftee valley is the southern way into the park, next to Cherokee and the Qualla Boundary. Smokemont is the first night, the campground closest to the visitor center and those dusk fields. Reserve the Smokemont pad first if that is your first night, then match the van to the site you actually got.
Deep Creek is the Bryson City overnight, the campground next to the creek. Streams and waterfalls start from camp, Juney Whank Falls among them. The tubing run is the town trade outside the park boundary.
You sleep at Cataloochee among the old farms in that ringed valley, and at Balsam Mountain on a spruce-fir pad where July nights still take a sleeping bag.
A parking tag is required for any vehicle parked longer than 15 minutes, and as of September 2026 the daily tag is $5. Frontcountry campers parked at their own reserved site are exempt.
Balsam Mountain closes from mid-October through mid-May and caps RVs and trailers at 24 feet. If you need more sleeping space than a van, look at RV rentals near Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which sleep at Smokemont or Deep Creek.
Cades Cove, Gatlinburg, and Elkmont are the Tennessee side of the same park, a Tennessee campervan trip. From Oconaluftee the Blue Ridge Parkway is an Asheville trip, and Sylva, Franklin, and Waynesville are towns you pass.
Bryson City and Nantahala Gorge
Rafts drop into Nantahala Gorge whitewater from the Nantahala Outdoor Center. The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad leaves Bryson City, runs alongside Fontana Lake and the Nantahala River, and crosses a trestle over the lake. The outdoor center doesn't take overnight campers. Deep Creek and Smokemont are the pads for a Bryson City day.
The Road to Nowhere runs out as Lakeview Drive along Fontana Lake and stops at an unlit tunnel. Fontana Lake and Dam mark the remote southwest edge of the park west of Bryson City.
Cherokee and Fire Mountain
Fire Mountain's singletrack switchbacks above the Oconaluftee valley, berms and rock gardens off a free trailhead that shares its lot with the village. Bikes, hikers, and runners share the trails, and they stay open every day.
Oconaluftee Indian Village rebuilds an eighteenth-century Cherokee town, and a canoe carver is still at work. The Cherokee Historical Association keeps it open late April through late October.
Maggie Valley
Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley is lift-served snow, skiing and tubing on a day-use lot. There is no RV overnight at the ski area.