Great Smoky Mountains Lodging Inside the Park

There is no lodging inside the park other than LeConte Lodge, which is located at the summit of Mount LeConte. The only way to get there is a long and steep hike. It is certainly not meant for the average hotel seeker, and reservations are needed far, far in advance.

Great Smoky Mountains Lodging Near the Park

The large majority of people stay in either Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge on the Tennessee side, or in Cherokee on the North Carolina side. Of course, most people also only focus on the main part of the park covered by the Newfound Gap Road (US-441). On a longer visit, it would be more sensible to stay in at least two different places, preferably one in each state. The much less visited areas of Balsam Mountain, Cataloochee Cove and Big Creek can be easily acccessed from Maggie Valley, NC. The very popular Deep Creek area is just outside Bryson City, NC. And of course, Townsend, TN is near the Townsend entrance, which is the closest access to the immensely popular Cades Cove area.

Since the number of lodging options is so large in this area, we have broken it down into six pages, ordered by the towns mentioned above. Click on the town name for complete lodging information.