Picnic area · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
A shady picnic break with a short creekside walk
Overview
Map
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 place
Collins Creek Picnic Area“Collins Creek Picnic Area is ahead, a shaded stop for a meal beside the creek. Bring your own food for the picnic tables and charcoal grills.”
Plays as you drive up to Collins Creek Picnic Area in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
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“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Collins Creek Picnic Area is a seasonal day-use picnic ground on the North Carolina side of U.S. 441, about eight miles north of Cherokee. Its 182 sites sit among mixed evergreen and deciduous woods along Collins Creek, with picnic tables on level gravel pads and charcoal grills; some sites look toward the creek. Come for a shaded meal and an easy break from the drive, not a mountain-view overlook.
Bring your own food. The main pavilion holds about 70 people and has 15 tables and four charcoal grills; it can be reserved, or used when it is unreserved. Restrooms are seasonal, and potable water is available at the restrooms rather than at the pavilion. A park parking tag is required when you leave a vehicle for more than 15 minutes, and wood fires are not allowed. The area operates seasonally, so check current access before building a stop around it.
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
ChallengingBradley Fork Trail14.6 mi · 9.5 hr · 1.5 mi awayA long creekside walk ends in a rocky climb to Hughes Ridge.
ModerateChasteen Creek Trail to Cascade3.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.5 mi awayA streamside walk ends at a modest cascade over smooth bedrock.
ModerateSmokemont Nature Trail0.6 mi · 45 min · 1.6 mi awayA short campground loop with creek crossings and a ridge view.
ChallengingDry Sluice Gap Trail16.4 mi · 10.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayA long Smokemont climb to the Appalachian Trail, then back.
ModerateCabin Flats Trail9.9 mi · 5.5 hr · 1.6 mi awayA 10-mile creekside walk ends at a Smokies backcountry camp.
ModerateSmokemont Loop Trail6.1 mi · 4 hr · 1.7 mi awayCreekside approach, steep ridge climb, and Smokemont history.
ModerateKephart Prong Trail4 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.7 mi awayFollow the stream to 1930s CCC remains and Kephart Shelter.
ChallengingNewton Bald Trail11 mi · 6.5 hr · 1.9 mi awayA steady forest climb to a wooded bald with few views.
Campground · 1.5 mi awaySmokemont CampgroundA wooded Smokies campground on the site of a logging town.
Sight · 1.9 mi awaySmokemont Baptist ChurchA hilltop church preserves Smokemont’s community story.
Sight · 2 mi awayChasteen Creek CascadeA 15-foot, quartz-streaked cascade beyond a wooded creek walk.
Sight · 2 mi awaySmokemont Riding StablesCross a river on horseback, or ride the Old Turnpike by wagon.
Campground · 3 mi awayTow String Horse CampThree wooded sites for campers bringing their own horses.
Sight · 3.7 mi awayMingus MillAn 1886 turbine mill with its flume beside Mingus Creek.
Scenic pullout · 4.1 mi awayCharles A. Webb OverlookA quick pull-off for layered ridges and a glimpse of Kuwohi.
Visitor center · 4.2 mi awayOconaluftee Visitor CenterHistory indoors, elk country and an easy river walk outside.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.
