Campground · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Wooded campsites with a short trail to the Look Rock tower.
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
Look Rock Tower“Look Rock Tower is coming up, a short uphill walk to views across the Smokies and the Tennessee Valley. Allow thirty to forty-five minutes for about a mile there and back; the path is paved, but steep.”
Plays as you drive up to Look Rock Campground in the Parkwolf Great Smoky Mountains Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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
Look Rock is a 68-site frontcountry campground at about 2,600 feet, in mixed woods along Foothills Parkway West between Walland and Chilhowee Lake. It works as an overnight base on the park’s west side. The observation tower is a separate nearby walk, not a view at every campsite.
Reservations are required. Ten sites have electric and water hookups, five are tent-only, and the others vary in layout. Each site has paved parking, a gravel tent pad, a picnic table and a fire ring. Check the individual site’s vehicle limit and slope before booking, especially if you’re bringing a larger rig or need level ground.
The wooded sites feel tucked away, but traffic on Foothills Parkway can carry into camp. Several recent campers mention motorcycle and sports-car noise, while others report quiet stays, so don’t book solely for silence. If you’re towing, double-check the route: campers report GPS can send RVs and trailers onto steep, narrow roads away from the parkway.
Look Rock drew visitors before the campground and tower. Guests of the nearby Montvale Springs Hotel once hiked about three miles to the viewpoint. The Walland–Look Rock stretch of parkway and the campground opened in 1965; the observation tower followed in 1967 as part of the Mission 66-era development of the park’s edges.
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
EasyLook Rock Tower Trail1 mi · 36 min · 0.5 mi awayA short, paved climb to a tower with Smoky Mountain views.
ModerateLittle Bottoms Trail2.3 mi · 1.3 hr · 1.4 mi awayA rough backcountry link from Cooper Road to Hatcher Mountain.
EasyGold Mine Trail2 mi · 1.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayAn old-road climb from Cooper Road toward Gold Mine Gap.
ModerateCane Creek Trail10.5 mi · 6 hr · 1.8 mi awayCreek crossings, reclaimed farmland, and a cemetery above the path.
ModerateCooper Road Trail10.9 mi · 7 hr · 1.8 mi awayA long old road linking Abrams Creek with Cades Cove.
ModerateRabbit Creek Trail7.7 mi · 5 hr · 2 mi awayCreek fords and a wooded ridge link two remote park ends.
ModerateHatcher Mountain Trail2.8 mi · 1.8 hr · 3.1 mi awayA pine-lined connector with May blooms and winter ridge glimpses.
Picnic area · 0.3 mi awayLook Rock Picnic AreaA 51-site picnic stop beneath the trees along Foothills Parkway West.
Sight · 0.5 mi awayLook Rock TowerA 1967 tower at a mountain lookout with 19th-century history.
Scenic pullout · 0.5 mi awayLook Rock Lower OverlookA quick mountain view from a stone platform off Foothills Parkway.
Campground · 1.8 mi awayAbrams Creek CampgroundA quiet creekside base for camping and longer trail days.
Sight · 3.7 mi awayAbrams FallsA 25-foot cascade makes the long Cades Cove hike pay off.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.
