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Chilhowee Campground

Beauty: Privacy: Spaciousness: Quiet: Security: Cleanliness:

KEY INFORMATION

CONTACT: 423-338-3300, www.fs.usda.gov/cherokee; reservations: 877-444-6777, recreation.gov

OPEN: April–November; limited sites open year-round

SITES: 61

EACH SITE HAS: Picnic table, grill, lantern post

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Some sites

ASSIGNMENT: First-come, first-served and by reservation

REGISTRATION: Self-register on-site

FACILITIES: Flush toilets, warm showers, drinking water

PARKING: At campsites and walk-in parking area only

FEES: $12/night nonelectric sites, $15–$20/night electric sites

ELEVATION: 2,600'

RESTRICTIONS:

PETS: On leash only

QUIET HOURS: 10 p.m.–6 a.m.

FIRES: In fire grates only

ALCOHOL: Prohibited

VEHICLES: No overnight parking in day-use lot

OTHER: Maximum 5 people/site; 14-day stay limit

This mountaintop campground offers plenty to keep campers busy and happy.

A scenic trail heads southeast from the campground to Benton Falls.

The Chilhowee experience starts on the road to the campground. Forest Service Road 77 is a U.S. Forest Service–designated scenic byway that climbs 7 miles to the campground. Don’t rush the trip—pull off at one of the cleared overlooks, and enjoy the view of Parksville Lake below and the mountains and valleys undulating in the distance. Once you’ve made the pull to the top and seen the campground, it’s the nearby activities that will keep you up there for a while.

This mountaintop campground is a cool retreat on hot summer days. Popular with families, many of whom return year after year, Chilhowee fills up on weekends and holidays. Although there are 25 sites with electric hookups, tent camping is the norm here; the steep drive up the mountain discourages most RVs and trailers. The campground itself is spread across three distinct areas. Loops A and B are the oldest and highest, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, but have been retrofitted with electrical hookups. They are nestled beneath a hardwood forest in a dip on the mountain. Water spigots are well placed and accessible to all campers. Two comfort stations with flush toilets are available for each sex, but only Loop B has showers. A campground host keeps the area clean, safe, and secure. Loops C, D, E, and F are newer and more spacious. They are placed according to the mountainous terrain and have more ground cover for privacy beneath the piney woods. Two comfort stations serve the four loops, but only Loop F has showers. Loop E has electrical hookups. Water is easily accessible in these loops.

The third area, for overflow camping, is in an open, grassy field ringed by woods. It has one comfort station, but no shower, for the 23 overflow sites. There is one water source here. Too close together, the sites are neither spacious nor private, but campers make the most of it because of the numerous recreational opportunities nearby.

Want to take a hike? You won’t have to go far from camp. The Azalea Trail begins in Loop F, climbing the ridge above the campground then making a 2-mile loop back. Or keep going on the Clear Creek Trail to the northern rim of the Rock Creek Gorge Scenic Area. Benton Falls Trail starts near McKamy Lake and travels 1.6 miles to end at the 65-foot falls. Be careful: it gets steep at the very end. Bicyclists can stretch their legs too. Pedal the Red Leaf Trail to Benton Falls or ride the Arbutus Trail or additional mountain biking trails.

If all that exercise gets you steamed up, take a dip in 3-acre McKamy Lake. At the swimming beach on the northern end, sunbathers lie in the sun then cool off in the water. Anglers may try to catch bream and bass from the shore or toss a line from a small nonmotorized boat. Visible from the mountain along US 64 is the famed Ocoee River. For years, the water was diverted from the streambed into an old wooden flume to generate power. When the flume began to leak, the water was again let loose into the Ocoee riverbed. Paddling enthusiasts realized that the long-lost rapids would be a wonderful challenge in a canoe, kayak, or raft, and the new recreational opportunity has been an economic boon to the area ever since, with paddlers coming from all over the world to test the waters. A bevy of outfitters will guide you down the crashing whitewater on a hair-raising raft ride.

GETTING THERE

From I-75 near Cleveland, take Exit 25 (Cleveland/Dayton). Turn onto TN 60 South, and drive about 4.2 miles; then use the right lane to merge onto US 64 East (Ocoee). Drive 15.1 miles; then turn left onto Oswald Road/Forest Service Road 77 (just past the Ocoee District Ranger Station). Drive about 7.3 miles; Chilhowee Campground will be on your right.

GPS COORDINATES N35° 09.004' W84° 36.267'