Campground · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Seven sites for horse camping beside Cataloochee Creek.
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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
Beech Grove School“Beech Grove School is coming up, a two-room schoolhouse reached by a short walk across Palmer Creek. Cross the wooden footbridge near Pretty Hollow Gap, then follow the walkway to the building.”
Plays on the road 0.2 mi from Cataloochee Horse Camp in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
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Guide
Cataloochee Horse Camp is a seven-site equestrian campground in the wooded Cataloochee Valley, beside Cataloochee Creek. One of the park’s five drive-in horse camps, it’s a base for backcountry riding rather than an ordinary campground. You need a horse and a reservation to stay here; the nearby Cataloochee Campground is the separate option for campers without horses.
Each site has four horse stalls with hitching racks, a tent pad, picnic table, fire ring and designated parking. Vault toilets are available, but there’s no potable water, so bring drinking water. Use the stalls and racks rather than trees, clean the stalls before leaving, and bring current negative Coggins documentation.
From I-40 Exit 20, Cove Creek Road runs about 11 miles to camp, including three miles of gravel with narrow, blind curves. Motorhomes over 32 feet and trailers over 25 feet aren’t recommended. Site vehicle capacity varies, so check the reservation details, and confirm which trails are currently open to horses before riding.
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
ModeratePalmer Creek Trail9 mi · 6 hr · 0.1 mi awayA long creekside climb to the high mountain road
ChallengingLittle Cataloochee Trail12.1 mi · 6.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA long, rolling hike to cabins, a church, and mountain history
ChallengingPretty Hollow Gap Trail10.9 mi · 7.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayFollow a creek into a steep climb toward the Smokies ridge.
EasyCataloochee Horse Trail3.1 mi · 1.5 hr · 0.2 mi awayA creekside walk along the old road through Big Cataloochee.
ModerateBig Fork Ridge Loop Trail9.3 mi · 5.5 hr · 0.8 mi awayRugged 9.3-mile loop with creek crossings and a Balsam Mountain view.
EasyRough Fork Trail to Steve Woody House2 mi · 1.3 hr · 0.9 mi awayA gentle creekside walk to a historic Cataloochee homestead.
ModerateBoogerman Loop Trail7.5 mi · 5 hr · 1.5 mi awayCreek crossings, giant old-growth trees, and mountain homestead traces
ModerateCaldwell Fork Trail6.3 mi · 4 hr · 1.5 mi awayCreekside miles past old farm traces and a school site
Sight · 0.2 mi awayBeech Grove SchoolA 1901 schoolhouse with a local story about fire.
Sight · 0.3 mi awayPalmer ChapelA small valley church with a big role in Cataloochee's story.
Sight · 0.5 mi awayCaldwell PlaceOld newspaper still lines the walls of this mountain home.
Sight · 1.2 mi awayWill Messer BarnA quick stop for a piece of Little Cataloochee's history.Sight · 1.7 mi awaySteve Woody HouseA streamside walk ends at Cataloochee's historic farmstead.
Campground · 1.7 mi awayCataloochee CampgroundCamp in a remote valley of old homesteads and elk country.
Sight · 2.1 mi awayCook CabinA restored 1850s cabin rewards the walk through Little Cataloochee.
Sight · 2.1 mi awayJarvis Palmer HouseTwo log cabins under one roof became a Cataloochee homestead.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.
