Great Smoky Mountains National Park · Tennessee
Elkmont Campground — how to get a site when it's sold out
Overview Located eight miles from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Elkmont Campground is the largest and busiest campground in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At an elevation of 2,150 feet, the area enjoys a moderate climate, characterized by mild winters and hot, humid summers. Recreation The Little River runs through the campground offering visitors the option to camp waterfront.
Booking Elkmont Campground
Sites at Elkmont Campground are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
Site facts
| Total sites | 217 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Standard, Tent only, Walk-to / hike-to |
| Location | Gatlinburg, TN |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
The cancellation play at Elkmont Campground
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
itOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Elkmont Campground around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
Other campgrounds in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
| Cades Cove Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Cosby Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Smokemont Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Deep Creek Campground (NC) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Look Rock Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Balsam Mountain Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Cataloochee Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Abram's Creek Campground | Cancellation alerts available |
| Big Creek Campground (Great Smoky Mountains National Park) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Cataloochee Horse Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Big Creek Horse Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Round Bottom Horse Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Cades Cove Group | Cancellation alerts available |
| Elkmont Group Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Anthony Creek Horse Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Cataloochee Group Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Cosby Group Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Deep Creek Group Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Smokemont Group Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Tow String Horse Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Collins Creek Picnic Pavilion | Cancellation alerts available |
| Cosby Picnic Pavilion | Cancellation alerts available |
| Deep Creek Picnic Pavilion | Cancellation alerts available |
| Greenbrier Picnic Pavilion | Cancellation alerts available |
| Metcalf Bottoms Picnic Pavilion | Cancellation alerts available |
| Appalachian Clubhouse | Cancellation alerts available |
| Big Creek Group Camp | Cancellation alerts available |
| Spence Cabin | Cancellation alerts available |
| Twin Creeks Picnic Pavilion | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Elkmont Campground; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.