Pet Friendly

Cold Springs at Little Pond Mountain Campground

5 RV Sites

High in the Blue Ridge highlands of Johnson County, where Tennessee reaches its northeastern corner against the borders of Virginia and North Carolina, Cold Springs at Little Pond Mountain Campground occupies some of the most remote and scenically compelling terrain in the state. Mountain City serves as the county seat and gateway community for a landscape of high ridges, cold-water streams, and forested hollows that flow into the headwaters of the South Fork Holston River—country that rewards slow driving, deliberate hiking, and the kind of unhurried camping that this purpose-built campground is designed to support. Full hookup sites with electric, water, and sewer connections ensure comfortable stays even at this elevation, and the pet-friendly policy welcomes four-legged travel companions throughout the grounds. Full utility service with reliable electric, water, and sewer hookups and internet access keeps guests connected despite the remote mountain address, and the intimate scale of the facility ensures that guests are treated as individuals rather than site numbers. The surrounding terrain of Little Pond Mountain provides a natural buffer that delivers genuine quiet after dark in a region where light pollution is among the lowest in the Eastern United States. The cold spring water characteristic of this high-elevation watershed gives the campground its name and its signature character—a refreshing reminder that this corner of Tennessee sits in one of the Southern Appalachians' most unspoiled drainages. Watauga Lake, one of TVA's most spectacular man-made reservoirs and a genuinely well-kept secret compared to Tennessee's crowded central plateau lakes, lies within easy reach and provides exceptional fishing for rainbow and brown trout, smallmouth bass, and walleye in water of unusual clarity and depth. The Cherokee National Forest blankets the surrounding ridge country with hundreds of miles of hiking and backpacking trails, including sections of the Appalachian Trail that traverse the high ridges just north of Mountain City near the Virginia state line. Backbone Rock, where Tennessee Highway 133 passes through a bluff in a 20-foot hand-carved tunnel—the shortest tunnel on any US highway—provides one of the trail corridor's most photogenic and unusual encounters. The Virginia Creeper Trail, one of the most celebrated rail-trail paths in the Southern Appalachians, begins in Abingdon, Virginia, just 30 miles north—a renowned downhill cruise through mountain farmland and historic trestle bridges that attracts cyclists from across the region. Boone, North Carolina, anchors the outdoor recreation and college-town culture of the High Country about 45 minutes south, with hiking access to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Grandfather Mountain, and Elk Knob State Natural Area. The New River, one of North America's oldest rivers, flows through nearby Ashe County and provides scenic floating, tubing, and fishing on the same cold water that has occupied this valley since before the Appalachians were mountains. Johnson County's high elevation delivers cool summer temperatures that make this a favored retreat for lowland campers escaping the July and August heat of Tennessee's cities and flatlands. Fall brings spectacular foliage to the surrounding ridges in mid-October, drawing leaf-peeping visitors who find the Blue Ridge highlands at their most dramatic and the campground at its most atmospheric. Check current availability before planning your high-country Tennessee escape, and reserve ahead for peak fall foliage weekends when accommodations throughout the entire tri-state corner of Appalachia fill ahead of schedule.

Roan Creek Campground by Doe Mountain

Roan Creek Campground by Doe Mountain in Butler, Tennessee, offers spacious full-hookup RV sites with water, sewer, and electric, alongside tent camping and rustic cabins on Roan Creek in northeast Tennessee. Fire pits, picnic tables, and site WiFi serve guests using the property as a base for the region's outdoor recreation. Full-hookup back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric with fire pits and picnic tables. Rustic cabins provide enclosed lodging, and tent sites cover simpler camping. A dump station, restrooms, showers, and WiFi handle the practical side. Pets are welcome. The creek is the setting. Walking trails run the property, with fishing, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, hiking, picnicking, and birding all available from camp. The mountain terrain surrounds the campground on every side, and the water is the reason most guests book. Doe Mountain Recreation Area is the headline draw — 8,700 acres of trails and adventure terrain, and one of the more substantial riding and hiking areas in the region. Beyond it, northeast Tennessee's high country opens up in every direction, with the Appalachian corridor's lakes, rivers, and ridgelines all within reach. The campground works equally well for a quiet getaway and an active outdoor trip, which is much of its appeal — guests can ride Doe Mountain all day or spend it beside the creek without leaving the property. The campground serves the northeast Tennessee mountain season. Summer water recreation and October foliage drive the heaviest demand, with riding season on Doe Mountain extending through the shoulder months. Reserve ahead for fall color weekends.

from $20/night

Phoenix Mountain Campground

9 RV Sites

Phoenix Mountain Campground in Lansing, North Carolina, offers nine full-hookup RV sites with water, sewer, and electric service on 30 and 50-amp, taking rigs up to 60 feet, steps from the New River in Ashe County. Site WiFi reaches the campground. At nine sites, this is a deliberately small operation in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina's northwestern corner. Nine full-hookup sites offer 30 and 50-amp service with water and sewer, accommodating rigs to 60 feet in back-in configurations. WiFi reaches the sites. The small site count is the point: guests get river frontage and quiet rather than a programmed resort, and the campground fills accordingly. The New River is the property's defining feature. Sites sit adjacent to its clear, rocky-bottom flow, putting guests within walking distance for morning fishing, afternoon paddling, and evening time by the water. Fishing, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boats, and boating all run from the property, and picnicking areas serve daytime use. The surrounding hills and river corridor make for exceptional birding — warblers and vireos in the canopy, waterthrushes along the stream edges, raptors on the ridgeline thermals. Pets are welcome. The New River is a National Wild and Scenic River and among the oldest rivers on Earth, an ancient drainage that predates the Appalachians and still runs north and west against them. Lansing's revitalized downtown is walkable and close by, with Pie on the Mountain, Old Orchard Creek General Store, and Molley Chomper Cidery among the local draws. The campground runs through the Ashe County mountain season, with summer river recreation and October foliage driving demand. With only nine sites, weekends book out well in advance — reserve early for any summer or fall stay.

from $65/night

Blue Bear Mountain Camp

13 RV Sites, 1 Cabin, 29 Tent Sites

Blue Bear Mountain Camp in Todd, North Carolina, offers 13 RV sites, a cabin, and 29 tent sites across 150 acres at 4,000 feet in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with 30 and 50-amp electric service and rigs accepted to 40 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout. Stargazer dome glamping, a hand-painted tepee, and hike-in backcountry sites make the accommodation mix unusually varied. Thirteen sites carry electric service on 30 and 50-amp in back-in and pull-through configurations, sized to 40 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables — note there are no water or sewer hookups at the sites, though a dump station is available, so plan tank capacity. Twenty-nine tent sites include hike-in backcountry positions, and a cabin, a 22-foot hand-painted tepee, and stargazer dome glamping units round out the range. Laundry, restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. The 150 acres carry the experience. Walking trails run the property for hiking and biking, with fishing available and the 4,000-foot elevation delivering mild summer temperatures and cool mountain air that the valleys below cannot match. The dome glamping units are built for the night sky, which at this elevation is worth the trip on its own. Pets are welcome. Todd sits eight miles north of Boone in Watauga County, where the New River's ancient headwaters drain one of the most geologically significant valleys in the Appalachians — the New is among the oldest rivers in North America. The Blue Ridge Parkway, the Appalachian Trail corridor, and Boone's university-town infrastructure are all close. October foliage is the peak in the High Country. Reserve well ahead.

from $30/night

Fish Springs at Little Pond Mountain Campground

19 RV Sites

Fish Springs at Little Pond Mountain Campground in Hampton, Tennessee, offers 19 full-hookup RV sites with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, sized for rigs to 45 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout, at the base of Roan Mountain in the upper Doe River valley. An outdoor pool and ball field sit on a property built as a base for southern Appalachian mountain recreation. Nineteen back-in sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp, sized to 45 feet, with picnic tables and site WiFi. A dump station, laundry, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. One vehicle is allowed per site, with an extra vehicle fee of $1 per night on arrival — among the more modest such charges in this batch. An outdoor pool anchors the summer, with a ball field and basketball on the grounds. Boating, swimming, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, and biking all run from the area, with off-roading and a golf course nearby. The cold, clear mountain streams around Roan Mountain hold some of the finest wild trout water in the East, which is why many guests book. Pets are welcome. Hampton sits in Carter County where the Cherokee National Forest's spruce-fir summits, the Appalachian Trail's high-elevation traverse, and Watauga Lake's shoreline converge — one of the most recreation-rich environments in the southern Appalachians. The campground serves the mountain season. The June rhododendron bloom on Roan Mountain and October foliage are the two peak windows, with summer lake and trout traffic between them. With 19 sites, reserve well ahead for any of the three.

from $20/night

Black Bear Resort

Black Bear Resort in Hampton, Tennessee, offers cottages, cabins, a bunkhouse, tent sites, and RV camping four-tenths of a mile from the Dennis Cove Trailhead, with a breakfast cafe, laundry, and shuttle service to Appalachian Trail access points. It is an Appalachian Trail Passport stamp location, and the section-hiker infrastructure is what the resort has built its identity around. Accommodations span the range. Cottages and cabins provide enclosed lodging, a bunkhouse offers hostel-style dormitory space for thru-hikers and groups, and tent sites and RV sites cover the rest. Laundry and restrooms serve guests coming off multi-day sections, and the on-site dining room handles meals — the breakfast cafe in particular is a fixture for hikers heading out. Pets are welcome. Walking trails run from the property, and the resort's shuttle service to multiple AT trailheads is the practical amenity that sets it apart in this corridor. Hiking, fishing, boating, canoeing, kayaking, and biking are all accessible from camp, and a playground serves families. Firewood is available on site. The Dennis Cove Trailhead, four-tenths of a mile away, enters the Appalachian Trail near Laurel Fork waterfall. Watauga Lake's 6,430 acres provide warmwater and tailwater fishing across the Big Creek inlet, the Laurel Creek embayment, and the Watauga River below the dam. The Roan Highlands' rhododendron balds bloom in June, visible for miles from the surrounding ridges. The resort serves the Carter County mountain season. Thru-hiker traffic peaks in spring as northbound hikers come through, and the June rhododendron bloom and October foliage draw the general visitor market. Reserve ahead for all three.

The Barlow RV Elk Park

4 RV Sites

The Barlow RV Elk Park in Elk Park, North Carolina, is a boutique mountain RV park with just four full-hookup sites in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Avery County — an intimate, carefully curated camping experience near Banner Elk in the high-country corridor where Beech Mountain, Sugar Mountain, and Grandfather Mountain sustain the most concentrated alpine and ski resort environment in the southern Appalachians, giving guests the specific high-elevation mountain character and the dramatic Blue Ridge scenery that this northwestern North Carolina corner delivers at a density unmatched anywhere else in the eastern United States south of the White Mountains. The four-site scale gives the Barlow its boutique identity and its guests the genuine privacy and quietude that larger campgrounds structurally cannot provide. Four full-hookup RV sites give the campground its defining intimate character — a camping experience defined by the mountain setting and the proximity to the Avery County high-country attractions rather than by on-site amenity density, reflecting the specific appeal of a small, well-positioned boutique property where the surrounding landscape is the primary attraction and the campground infrastructure is the comfortable base from which to access it. The Elk Park location in Avery County's high valley gives guests the 3,000-foot-plus base elevation that distinguishes the Banner Elk corridor's summer climate from the piedmont heat below. Pets are welcome. Beech Mountain, five miles north of Elk Park at 5,506 feet, is the highest elevation incorporated town east of the Rocky Mountains — a ski resort community whose Beech Mountain Resort ski area sustains winter skiing and snowboarding, whose summer mountain biking trails on the ski slopes and the Beech Mountain Parks and Recreation trail network give the resort its four-season outdoor recreation character. The mountain's elevation gives it measurable temperature advantages over the valley communities below, and the Blue Ridge Parkway access via the Linville area and the parkway's high-country corridor near Beech Mountain provides the summit ridge driving and hiking experience that parkway travelers specifically seek in the Avery County section. Grandfather Mountain, 12 miles southeast of Elk Park via U.S. 221, is one of the most ecologically significant mountains in the southern Appalachians — a 5,946-foot summit in the Blue Ridge Mountains privately managed as a nature preserve and state park hybrid, whose Mile-High Swinging Bridge suspension footbridge, museum of natural history, and native wildlife habitats housing black bears, white-tailed deer, bald eagles, and river otters give it the character of a natural attraction of extraordinary quality. The mountain's eight distinct ecological communities from cove hardwood to boreal spruce-fir forest represent the most compressed elevation-driven ecological succession gradient in the eastern United States. The Barlow RV Elk Park serves guests through the Avery County mountain seasons — summer from June through August delivering the high-country cool and outdoor recreation, the fall foliage season from mid-October through early November bringing the most dramatic color display in the high-elevation spruce-fir and hardwood forest, and the winter ski season from December through March serving the Beech Mountain ski market that specifically values the walking-distance or short-drive proximity to the resort lifts. Sugar Mountain Resort, adjacent to Beech Mountain, extends the ski and snowboarding options with its own terrain and lifts. Reserve sites well ahead for the fall foliage peak and ski season weekends, when Avery County's limited boutique campground inventory fills against strong demand from the Charlotte, Raleigh, and Triad markets.

from $110/night

Lakeview RV Resort

87 RV Sites

Lakeview RV Resort in Bluff City, Tennessee, offers 87 full-hookup RV sites overlooking Boone Lake with 20, 30, and 50-amp service, cable TV, and rigs accepted to 50 feet, open all year. Standard, cable-equipped, and wide back-in categories join a storm shelter, fishing pier, boat docks, and outdoor pool. Eighty-seven back-in sites run in standard, with-cable, and wide with-cable categories, all carrying water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp, sized to 50 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. The wide category is worth requesting for larger rigs or guests who want elbow room. Cabins round out the lodging. A general store, laundry, propane fills, restrooms, and firewood handle the practical side, with a storm shelter on site — a genuine safety feature in the Tennessee Valley. Site rates vary by category and date. An outdoor pool anchors the warm months, with a lake, pond, fishing pier, boat docks, and boat rentals giving direct water access for fishing, boating, canoeing, and kayaking. A recreation center, playground, pavilion, dog park, horseshoes, corn hole, biking, and on-site dining fill the rest, with planned activities through the season. Pets are welcome. The elevated viewshed over Boone Lake against the Blue Ridge is the resort's signature. Bluff City sits on US-11E between Johnson City and Kingsport, with the lake's bass and walleye fishery and the South Holston River tailwater close by. Year-round operation makes this viable across seasons. Summer and October foliage are the peaks — reserve ahead.

from $55/night

Doe River Landing

5 RV Sites, 1 Cabin, 1 Onsite RV/Trailer

Doe River Landing in Roan Mountain, Tennessee, offers six RV sites with water and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp service, plus a cabin and a travel trailer rental, in the Doe River gorge of Carter County. Sites take rigs to 45 feet with fire pits and picnic tables, and site WiFi reaches the property. At six sites this is a small, modern operation minutes from Roan Mountain State Park. Six back-in sites carry water and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp, in premium and standard configurations sized to 45 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. A cabin and a travel trailer rental serve guests without a rig. A dump station is on site for guests without sewer connections, and a general store, firewood, laundry, restrooms, and showers cover the practical side. The property makes good use of its river frontage and mountain setting. Walking trails run the grounds past a community fire pit and a pavilion, with a dog park and playground for families and pets. Fishing, swimming, hiking, volleyball, horseshoes, corn hole, and picnicking all run from the property, and the mountain and creek terrain makes for good birding. A barn on site doubles as a wedding venue. Pets are welcome. Roan Mountain State Park and the Appalachian Trail's Roan Highlands balds are minutes away. Bristol Motor Speedway, Grandfather Mountain, and Sugar Mountain Ski Resort are all within day-drive range, and skiing and snowboarding are nearby in season. Office hours run 9am to 6pm Monday through Thursday and Sunday, and 9am to 8pm Friday and Saturday, seasonally. The June rhododendron bloom on Roan Mountain and October foliage are the two peak windows — with six sites, book as far ahead as you can.

from $57/night

Sugar Hollow RV Park and Campground LLC

11 RV Sites

Sugar Hollow RV Park and Campground on Roan Mountain, Tennessee, provides a scenic and well-positioned base in the Roan Highlands of Carter County, placing guests within reach of one of the most extraordinary alpine landscapes in the eastern United States and a stretch of the Appalachian Trail that ranks among the most celebrated and visually dramatic sections of the entire 2,190-mile footpath. Set in the valley below the Roan Massif where the Tennessee-North Carolina border cuts across the highest ridges in the southern Appalachians outside of the Great Smoky Mountains, the campground serves hikers, nature photographers, and outdoor enthusiasts drawn to the highland environment's botanical and scenic riches. The park offers full hookup sites with water, electric, and sewer connections, accommodating self-contained RVs in a mountain valley setting where the surrounding terrain provides immediate visual reward from any campsite position. The park's location in Roan Mountain State Park's gateway community means guests benefit from proximity to both the state park's maintained trail system and the surrounding Pisgah National Forest and Cherokee National Forest lands that together protect the broader highland ecosystem of the Roan Highlands. Roan Mountain State Park's defining natural feature is the Catawba rhododendron bloom that transforms the bald ridges of the Roan Massif into a spectacular floral display each June, when up to 600 acres of high-elevation heath balds—maintained by a combination of elevation, climate, and wildlife grazing—burst into pink and purple blooms visible from viewpoints accessible via the park's trail system. The Roan Highlands are also home to one of the finest examples of Southern Appalachian grassy balds—treeless ridgecrest meadows maintained by unclear ecological processes that have puzzled botanists for generations—offering panoramic 360-degree views across multiple states when visibility permits. The Appalachian Trail crosses the Roan Highlands along a ridge walk through heath balds and spruce-fir forest that is widely considered one of the most beautiful multi-day hiking sections in the mid-Atlantic and southern Appalachians, with the traverse from Carvers Gap to Hughes Ridge offering views and botanical diversity that attract both thru-hikers and section hikers specifically to this area. Watauga Lake, an 8,900-acre TVA reservoir in the adjacent Cherokee National Forest, provides boating, fishing, and swimming access within a short drive of the campground. Johnson City, Tennessee, approximately 30 miles west via US-19E, offers full urban services, dining, and the East Tennessee State University campus. Sugar Hollow RV Park operates from spring through fall, with June's rhododendron bloom representing the single most sought-after visitation window—a period when the campground fills to capacity as bloom-season visitors time their arrival to the Roan Highlands' famous floral peak. Fall foliage in the high-elevation spruce-fir forests creates a second surge of demand in October, when the combination of hardwood color and the grassy balds' open views makes the hiking season's final weeks among its most rewarding. Reservations for bloom season and fall foliage weekends should be secured months in advance, as the campground's prime location generates demand well beyond its capacity during these peak windows.

from $50/night

Mountain View RV Park - Roan Mountain

24 RV Sites

Mountain View RV Park in Roan Mountain, Tennessee, sits in Carter County's high-elevation Appalachian terrain where the Doe River flows through a valley that opens toward the broad summit meadows and spruce-fir forest of Roan Mountain — one of the most botanically significant and most visually spectacular mountain masses in the southern Appalachians, known particularly for the Catawba rhododendron gardens that bloom across the high balds in June and for the Appalachian Trail's crossing of the Roan Highland's open grassy balds above 6,000 feet. The campground's 24 sites with water, sewer, electric, and Wi-Fi serve self-contained units in a full-service, closely attended facility that combines the infrastructure of a modern hookup campground with the natural setting of one of the most rewarding mountain valleys in the southern Blue Ridge. Each of the 24 sites offers 50-amp electrical service, water, sewer connections, and Wi-Fi alongside individual fire pits and picnic tables, creating a comprehensive hookup package appropriate for motorhomes and travel trailers that need the full utility suite for comfortable multi-night mountain stays. Back-in site configurations are standard, and the pet-friendly policy allows guests to bring dogs to one of the most trail-rich dog-walking environments accessible from any Tennessee RV park. The overall campground character is quiet, personal, and attentive — consistent with a small-capacity facility whose management takes each guest's stay individually rather than managing volume. Roan Mountain State Park, within the immediate Roan Mountain community, provides the lodging, camping, and trail access infrastructure that anchors the valley's outdoor recreation, including the swimming pool, interpretive programs, and the paved park road ascending toward the higher Roan Mountain terrain. The state park's facilities complement the Mountain View RV Park's hookup infrastructure by providing the day-use activities — swimming, tennis, interpretive programming — that expand the in-park options beyond what the campground's 24-site format can independently support. The Rhododendron Gardens atop Roan Mountain, managed by the Forest Service within Cherokee National Forest, bloom with Catawba rhododendron across the high bald terrain every June in a display that draws visitors specifically targeting the bloom window from across the southern Appalachians — the combination of the high-elevation setting, the open bald landscape, and the density of the rhododendron coverage creates an alpine flower display of genuine rarity in the eastern United States. The Appalachian Trail crosses the Roan Highland's grassy balds above 6,000 feet at one of the most celebrated sections of the entire 2,190-mile trail — the open summit terrain, the long views into Virginia and North Carolina, and the physical accessibility of this specific section make it a must-hike for any guest with the footwear and conditioning for a moderate mountain day. Mountain View RV Park operates through the Tennessee mountain camping season with peak demand in June during rhododendron bloom and in October during the high-elevation fall foliage season, when the Roan Highland's hardwood-spruce-fir transition zone produces some of the most distinctive and most photographed autumn color in the southern Appalachians. Reserve sites well in advance for rhododendron peak weekend dates in June and for the October foliage peak, when Carter County's mountain campground inventory is exceptionally competitive against a visitor demand that specifically targets these seasonal events.

from $50/night

Roaring River Vineyards

7 RV Sites

from $25/night