GSMNP Boat-Accessible Campsite Info

“Greetings. Would anyone have any first-hand information regarding any of the GSMNP Boat-Accessible Campsites?

I was just wondering how they compared.. Pictures? Descriptions? Funny Stories? Rankings?”

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“email toph. He did a trip last fall that used a boat shuttle and canoed back I think. There is a thread on TT about it.”

“CS#98, CS#90, CS#87, (CS#81, if I remember correctly.)

Plus the previous CS# (I need a map.)

There is also the first campsite above CS#98; also reached from the Road To Nowhere. And the three other campsites reached by water only.
last edited: 8/27/09 10:30:08 AM”

“We did not use a shuttle...3 of us put in with a canoe and a kayak at the marina and paddled across to campsite 90 where we stashed our boats and then did a 2 night backpack up the Eagle Creek trail across the AT and back down Lost Cove. Spent nights at 97 and Mollies Ridge then around the bend from 90 before paddling back the following morning. We intended to stay the last night at 87 but the water was so low it was pretty much inaccessible.

Trip Pics
last edited: 8/27/09 11:25:05 AM”

“What's a good link for boating regulations on Fontana?”

“You could start here.

http://www.ncwaterways.com/boating/regulations.htm”

“Thanks, but I was looking for regulations on Fontana Lake in particular.

Can you take like a boat/canoe with an small outboard and pull it up to one of the camps in the GSMNP to camp, by permit?
last edited: 8/27/09 12:32:07 PM”

“Yes, Stovie you can.. which is why I was asking the question..






.. but I was hoping more of how the boat-in campsites rank compared to woodland sites..

OBVIOUSLY NOT THIS..



POSSIBLY THIS..


AND PROBABLY NOT THIS EITHER..


That's all I am asking.. some real pictures and/or stories of what these boat-in campsites are like..


last edited: 8/27/09 1:49:46 PM”

““CS#98, CS#90, CS#87, (CS#81, if I remember correctly.)

Plus the previous CS# (I need a map.)
The unofficial site is above the water near CS#77.

There is also the first campsite above CS#98; also reached from the Road To Nowhere. And the three other campsites reached by water only.
The campsite, nearby, is CS#74. It used to be next to the water. Lots of fishermen bring their boats and pontoons here and walk upstream to their favorite fishing places.”

“Thanks guys. My right arm is still very weak, so I don't know if I could paddle clear across Fontana.”

“Stovie, I've been to some of the campsites along Fontana and have seen folks who motor boated in to camp. They had backcountry permits. So I think you are fine to do that if you want.”

“Not sure what NC regulations are. I know in TN you must register your boat if it is under motor power (even trolling motor) Not sure how this applies to out of state boaters....they may be exempt if the state they come from does not require registration.


I stayed at Campsite 90 on a loop hike several years ago. Couldn't figure out how the other guy camping there got a huge tent and Coleman stove there, until he told me later that his canoe was stashed around the corner. That is the same year that I purchased a canoe, but have yet to make it back there.
last edited: 8/29/09 10:38:21 AM”

“Check with the park service.
They may have a list of boat landing sites.

Or ask them for a list of cemetary locations. Most locations will have boat landing places for when they bring people to the cemetaries. They, also, transport vehicles like buses to move the people from the water's edge to as close as they can get to the cemetaries.”

“Thanks, NS. That's a good idea.”

“The campsite area at Jerry's Hollow is quite a climb from the water. Pack light and make 1 trip. The campsite is small. Best idea is to hammock because if the site is taken, there is no telling where you'll need to camp. With leaves on the trees there is no view. Really very little charm to the place. YMMV.

Proctor, even as crowded as it sometimes is, is my favorite paddle.”

“there was a NPS jeep cheerokee at the hazel creek boat launch, and a bus behind the Calhoun house. The road up to bone valley is better than most roads I've seen in downtown Atlanta.

I saw a family at the sawdust pile campground with a 4 wheeled diamondplate "chuckwagon" I guess they pushed or pulled it.”

“Yeah they pushed it in (or a horse pulled it). It was a little over the size of the max of the new park service regulation but I didn't say anything. They were the ones that told us about the boat drop off.”

“i scouted the area, they didn't have any stock.”

“I noticed that they didn't have a horse also. What some do is hire a team from Fontana to bring up the wagon. The horses return to the dam and return again to haul it back. That is four trips which must be a pretty penny. Read about it here:http://home.earthlink.net/~tnhiker/lifeafter50onemansperspective/id93.html”

“thats the same box as in his pic. I'm gonna contact the Rangers and voice my concern, and the fact that they are still in there.”

“Most of those folks camp at CS#84. I have never seen the carts used at Forney or Noland Creek, nor have I seen horses used to pull the carts.

Sounds like you folks hit a good one. Sorry if it spoiled any of your trip.

I have just made a list of 12 ocassions, when I violated the camping site rules. None of my violations were planned. I almost always had a reason for my actions, such as the weather or dangerously high water in a creek.

And that does not include the times that I stayed at the wrong sites or overstayed my number of days on the reservation form.”

“I peed 99 feet away from camp and a water source!!!”

“We actually didn't follow the rules either, that is why I didn't say anything. The chuchwagon in tghe pic is different. The people at 83 this weekend had a fancy diamind plate one. We weren't supposed to stay at 85 on Friday night and those people were friendly to us.”

“is 85 reservation? and it states that if you have hardships/problems you can camp where ever within reasons”

“Yeah we had a problem, we were bushed and it was getting dark.”