Campground · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Three reserved horse campsites with trail access near Cades Cove.
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Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Great Smoky Mountains audio tourRecorded for this area
Cades Cove Picnic Area“Ahead is Cades Cove Picnic Area, at the entrance to the one-way loop road. I'd use it for a lunch break under the trees, with tables between Abrams Creek and Green Branch Creek.”
Plays on the road 0.2 mi from Anthony Creek Horse Camp in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
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Guide
Anthony Creek Horse Camp is a small drive-in campground in the wooded back of the Cades Cove picnic area, beside Anthony Creek. It has just three sites, and you need a horse and a reservation to stay here. Choose it for a horse-camping base with immediate trail access; it is separate from the nearby family campground.
Each site has gravel parking, a tent pad, a picnic table and fire ring, plus four horse hitch racks. There are vault toilets, but no showers, hookups or drinking water, so bring your own. Water for horses is available in the camp or at a nearby stream. No accessible campsites are listed.
Anthony Creek Trail meets the campground and climbs about 3,000 feet toward Bote Mountain. Bote Mountain and Russell Field trails connect with Appalachian Trail routes, giving riders a way into the high country. Check the current horse-trail map before planning a longer ride.
From Townsend, follow TN 73 toward Cades Cove; the horse camp is behind the picnic area, through the gate onto Anthony Creek Trail. Turning and backing room can be tight for long horse trailers, so check the site layout before committing to a large rig. Each site allows up to four horses and six people, and every horse needs a negative Coggins test.
Wildlife
1,569 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
900 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
13 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 9 AMSighting map
142 sightingsTimber RattlesnakeMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
26 sightingsBobcatMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
42 sightingsRiver OtterMost seen around 7 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Great Smoky Mountains. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingRocky Top and Thunderhead Mountain Trail13.9 mi · 9.5 hr · 0.1 mi awayA steep day to Rocky Top and Thunderhead's quiet high point.ChallengingSpence Field and Russell Field Loop13.2 mi · 8 hr · 0.1 mi awayA strenuous loop from Anthony Creek to two high Smokies meadows.
ChallengingRussell Field Trail9.6 mi · 6.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA steep climb to a small meadow reclaimed by forest.
ModerateAnthony Creek Trail7 mi · 4.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA shaded creek climb to the Bote Mountain junction.
EasyCades Cove Nature Trail0.8 mi · 30 min · 0.4 mi awayA shaded sub-mile loop with a creek crossing.
EasyCades Cove Horse Trail2.3 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.5 mi awayA wooded point-to-point trail shared with horses.
ModerateRich Mountain Loop Trail8.5 mi · 5 hr · 0.6 mi awayAn 8.5-mile loop with a cove view and a waterfall finish
ChallengingCrooked Arm Ridge Trail4.3 mi · 3.5 hr · 0.9 mi awaySteep forest gives way to a late view into Cades Cove
Picnic area · 0.2 mi awayCades Cove Picnic AreaCreekside lunch tables and charcoal grills at the loop entrance.
Campground · 0.3 mi awayCades Cove CampgroundA woodland base for the cove's historic loop and wildlife.
Store · 0.4 mi awayCades Cove Campground StoreBike rentals, camp supplies and soft-serve before the loop.
Sight · 0.5 mi awayCades Cove Riding StablesA horse, carriage or hayride gives the cove a different pace.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayJohn Oliver CabinA short walk to Cades Cove’s oldest preserved cabin.
Sight · 2 mi awayCarter Shields CabinA last-loop homestead cabin with a stream just behind it.
Sight · 2.5 mi awayCades Cove Primitive Baptist ChurchA hand-built 1887 church beside the cove’s oldest cemetery.
Sight · 2.7 mi awayTipton PlaceA cabin, a clever barn and a farmstead’s working details.Parkwolf’s Great Smoky Mountains ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
