Campground · Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Three wooded sites for campers bringing their own horses.
Overview
Map
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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
The Miller Who Came Back“One of Mingus Mill's original builders lived long enough to help restore it for the national park. His name was Aden Carver.”
Plays on the road 0.4 mi from Tow String Horse Camp 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
Tow String Horse Camp is a three-site drive-in campground in the North Carolina side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, about four miles north of Cherokee. It is for people camping with their own horses and gives riders ready access to backcountry horse trails. You need a horse to reserve a site, so this is not a regular campground for visitors without horses. Each site allows up to six people and four horses; vehicle limits vary by site.
Expect simple woods camping: each site has a picnic table, lantern post and grill or fire ring. The campground has portable toilets, tent pads and designated parking, usually gravel. There is no potable water, electricity, shower or hookup, so bring drinking water. Horses can drink from a nearby stream. Tow String has no stalls or hitching posts; tie horses only to trailers, never trees.
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
ModerateTow String Horse Trail2.2 mi · 1.3 hr · 0.4 mi awayA quiet woodland link between Tow String Horse Camp and Bradley Fork.
ChallengingNewton Bald Trail11 mi · 6.5 hr · 1.2 mi awayA steady forest climb to a wooded bald with few views.
ModerateSmokemont Loop Trail6.1 mi · 4 hr · 1.4 mi awayCreekside approach, steep ridge climb, and Smokemont history.
ModerateMingus Creek Trail5.8 mi · 4 hr · 1.5 mi awayAn old creek roadbed ends in a steep climb to Deeplow Gap.
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 · 1.8 mi awayA long Smokemont climb to the Appalachian Trail, then back.
ModerateCabin Flats Trail9.9 mi · 5.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayA 10-mile creekside walk ends at a Smokies backcountry camp.
ModerateChasteen Creek Trail to Cascade3.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayA streamside walk ends at a modest cascade over smooth bedrock.
Sight · 1 mi awaySmokemont Riding StablesCross a river on horseback, or ride the Old Turnpike by wagon.
Sight · 1.2 mi awaySmokemont Baptist ChurchA hilltop church preserves Smokemont’s community story.
Sight · 1.5 mi awayMingus MillAn 1886 turbine mill with its flume beside Mingus Creek.
Campground · 1.7 mi awaySmokemont CampgroundA wooded Smokies campground on the site of a logging town.
Visitor center · 1.9 mi awayOconaluftee Visitor CenterHistory indoors, elk country and an easy river walk outside.
Sight · 1.9 mi awayMountain Farm MuseumA short walk through farm buildings gathered from across the Smokies.
Picnic area · 3 mi awayCollins Creek Picnic AreaA shady picnic break with a short creekside walk
Sight · 3.4 mi awayChasteen Creek CascadeA 15-foot, quartz-streaked cascade beyond a wooded creek walk.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.
