Choose Your Base Camp
Hiking Near Cherokee, NC
Cherokee is the southern gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park — the least-crowded entrance to the most-visited park in the country, and the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Most Smokies traffic comes through Gatlinburg. Cherokee, on the North Carolina side, is quieter and puts you minutes from the Oconaluftee entrance, the elk fields, and trailheads for Kephart Prong, the Deep Creek waterfalls near Bryson City, and the climb to Clingmans Dome.
It's also the home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, with the Oconaluftee Indian Village and the Museum of the Cherokee People in town. Lodging is mostly hotels and the tribe's resort; for camping you head into the park.
Trails near Cherokee
Where to camp
Smokemont Campground
The park campground closest to Cherokee, on the Oconaluftee River six miles north of town, open year-round, with the Bradley Fork and Smokemont Loop trails from your site.
Balsam Mountain Campground
High and cool at 5,300 feet off the Parkway's Heintooga spur, seasonal, the quietest campground in the park.
Mingo Falls & tribal campgrounds
Private campgrounds on the Qualla Boundary put you a short walk from Mingo Falls, one of the tallest in the southern Appalachians.
Getting there & when to go
Getting there
On US-441 at the southern end of the park and the southern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway. About an hour west of Asheville on I-40 and US-19, 45 minutes from Waynesville. Nearest airport is Asheville (AVL).
Best season
Spring wildflowers along Oconaluftee and Kephart Prong are among the best in the park (late April). Fall color is spectacular and busy. Elk are most active at dawn and dusk in September and October during the rut.
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