Santeetlah Lake

There are 5 road side free camping spot, got here around noon in early April and there where 2 spots open. Our 22 foot Skoolie and Subaru Outback with bike rack fit with room to spare. The parking area is right up by the road so RVs/car campers will hear some road traffic (not a lot but some people do speed by). But fire ring, picnic table and tent pad are down a slight hill ~30 ft right on the edge of the lake. Cleaned up a little trash left by some less courteous campers but otherwise clean. We were able to go tubing and enjoy the crazy beautiful views. We came here counting on using the Cheoah campground (5 min down the road) for showers and water refill, unaware that it was gated and locked up until April15th (so take that into account if coming on the off season, there were no potable water fill stations in Robinsville either). All in all worth the drive in, make sure you hike yellow creek falls (super easy and gorgeous 10 min drive). Starlink was a little obstructed by trees, and verizon with booster ranged from 1-2 bars)

Stayed here three nights! We were a little confused with the reviews and photos thinking each spot were able to drive right up to the lake and camp. There are actually only about 2-3 spots where you can drive right up to the lake and camp, they were taken so we drove up the road a bit more. The other 5 spots you park right off the road and then walk down to the campsite, but not far. Site P3 is washed out so just be ware of that spot not being able to park or access the tent site. We set up our tent and had a nice time! If stay between sites P1-P5 you will hear some road noise from the main road and the lodging facility not far up the road. If tent camping lots of coons and other creatures scoping out our site every night b/w midnight and four am, but we kept all food packed up in the car at night as well as our trash can. Overall we had a nice time and even drove through the Smokey mountains one day. Another side note: the road we came in on (“dragon tail”)states nothing over 30ft or cars with trailers over 30ft which makes sense as it is very tight with very sharp curves as well as the sites on the side of the road don’t offer that much room for a bigger rig.
It is dry/primitive camping. There aren’t facilities so must pack in and pack out as well as no bathrooms or water.

Nice little pull of spot where you can walk down to the lake, which is beautiful! I have at&t and still had service although it was a bit slow. No one bothered me at all, only complaint is that theres quite a bit of traffic coming in and out through out the day (and the pull off is right beside the road), im assuming to go fishing and stuff, but good news is they stop coming around at about 8:30pm. Also there was quite a bit of trash at my site that i picked up, im not sure about the others although i seen reviews of others saying the same. There is a tent pad, fire pit, and picinic table down by the lake that you can use as well.

We tent camped at this campground for 11 days in August 2021. We arrived on Sunday and had to camp in one of the spots away from the lake for a few days, but early every morning we did a drive around and eventually were able to get a spot on the lake after another family left. Our spot was great, had a flat gravel tent pad, campfire ring, picnic table, and lantern pole. We were far enough away from the closest camper that we could barely make out their tent through the trees or hear them so that was a huge plus. The mountain views were amazing, water was warm, sunsets were phenomenal, and you could see every star at night! No bathrooms on site so this is 100% primitive camping. Make sure to bring your own firewood and water. The woods were completely picked over and no water is available on site. We were able to park our car only about 20 feet from our site which was great. You also are required to pack up all of your own trash, but receptacles are available just a short drive down the road. Highly, highly recommend this campground to anyone but do recommend arriving on early on a Monday morning or throughout the week if you want to actually find an available spot.

ONLY downfall to this place is that we did notice folks (assuming locals?) were pitching tents and leaving for the week, only to return for the weekend. When we tried to report this to local rangers it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Fantastic free camp site, I was right on the water. My specific spot was just a pull off along the road for my van and then I had a nice spot for tent camping, water access, and a picnic table. Was over 100m from anyone near but you’d get about 5 cars per day driving along the road and some people going by in motor boats throughout the day. So not completely isolated. But I’m already missing the beautiful views!

Beautiful lake in the mountains clearly a summer home destination for the wealthy. But this little slice is a fantastic stay in the off-season surprise. We got a spot here since there are really only three that can accommodate drive-in sprinters. The rest are roadside with tent camp along the body of water. Rode the E bikes around and checked out some beautiful homes. other than that not too much or too many people around. No bugs at all and beautiful views of the lake.

This spot is awesome. Mountain and lake views from my site and great cell signal on T-Mobile. There are only two or three sites that can accommodate an RV. You also better have some backing skills as they are not easy pull thru sites. I am in site 9 and was able to back in my 14 ft trailer. Some windy steep roads to get to this campground so be aware. Overall a great spot.

Very heavily used sites at a fantastic location. nothing beats camping on the water but every site I saw was pretty trashed, although I did camp around Christmas/New Years. Very easy access most spots any vehicle can find a way to fit along the road. campsites are very close to the road so that could be a positive or negative depending on what you're looking for. Great location right on the water. Can see and hear houses along the lake but noise gets a 4/5 because i didn't even hear any fireworks on New Years Eve, was pretty crazy! some service here and there but not much.

This spot is prime time pals, go on and get yourself there. We stayed at site P10 and it was perfect for our 25ft motorhome. There are 3 great sites for an RV: P9,P10,P11. There are more RV accessible sites down pine ridge road but you have to park on the shoulder and walk a short distance to the tent pad, fire pit, and picnic table. There is cell service and also vault toilets near site P9. All sites are along pine ridge road off of thunderbird mountain road. We came here from the south which was fine, lots of curves but we found it doable and not bad. BUT watch out if coming from Knoxville US129 is the tail of the dragon 300 curves in 11 miles no turn off, do your research and avoid this road. The bathroom is right when you turn into pine ridge road in a little beige building. There’s a marina that rents boats nearby but only open in the summer. Convenient to ingles about 10 mins away.