Gatlinburg Vacation part 1: The campground

This post is the first in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is part 2.

When Husband and I decided to head to Gatlinburg for our family vacation this year, figuring out where we were staying and getting a reservation became my top priority.  My first place to look was the Great Smoky Mountains National Park website.  I quickly learned that most campsites in the park do not have electricity, and if they do have electricity it wouldn't be at the capacity to support our camper [cough: air conditioning].

Site 171

So, then I went to Google and searched.  I spent 2 full days scouring private campground websites.  I was mentally exhausted when I finally settled on Crazy Horse/Adventure Bound.  I liked the stream-side campsite opportunities, the full hook-up, the kids' activities, the feel that we were in the mountains.  You can book your campsite on the website, but I decided to call to make my reservation.  There's something about talking to a person when I wanted to do my best to get a bigger campsite of the options I was looking at.

I think my conversation worked well, we had a great campsite.  I think my days of searching did well, too.  It is a very nice campground.

Staff are friendly and helpful.  Happy to chat or be on their way if that's what you want.  And in a bit, you'll learn that they're safety oriented.

Our campsite was decently sized, it was far bigger than many sites we've had at private campgrounds.  Having the stream right behind our campsite was absolutely lovely, probably my favorite part of our campsite.  It drowned out all noise from our camping neighbors, the ambiance of the sound was incredibly relaxing.  The downside to our campsite was the rental cabin directly across the stream.  Thankfully, the cabin people didn't come outside much so it wasn't a big deal.

On our 2nd day, we hit the water slide and pool.  It was Youngest Kid's first time on a big water slide, and because of her shorter height, she and I rode together.  Hearing her giggle the whole way down the slide?  It was completely awesome.  It's a gentle but fun slide.  The little pool at the end of the slide was a great depth for Youngest Kid, but she just loved riding with Dad & Mom.  Then we headed to the swimming pool, which had varying depths for kids of all ages.

That night, a big storm rolled through the area.  I mean a BIG storm.  Campground staff came around early on and suggested that we put up our awning and utilize the campground bathrooms if we felt uncomfortable because of the weather.  A bit later, still before a drop of rain fell, campground staff came around again and strongly suggested that we head to the campground bathroom for safety.  We spent well over an hour in the Men's Bathroom with a lot of other campers.  This was a first-time experience for me, taking shelter in a campground bathroom.  An experience I hope to never have again.  All the people were friendly, it was kind of a bonding time, we continued to chat with our bathroom friends for the rest of our visit.  Thankfully, no tornado touched down near us, everyone and everything was safe.

Another highlight for our family at the campground was Jack Tales.  A play of sorts, storytelling really.  It involves Jack the Storyteller and campers - young and old - helping to act out the stories.  Costumes are required and provided.  This is right up Youngest Kid's alley, she dressed as a party animal and so did I.  Oldest kid loved watching the show with Daddy.  We went back for another show later in our stay and Youngest Kid was right in there again.

The location of the campground had us a bit outside of Gatlinburg, between the Greenbriar and Cosby entrances into Smoky Mountain National Park.  Being away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Gatlinburg was a good fit for our family because we wanted the mountain experience.

Crazy Horse/Adventure Bound was a good home base for us on our vacation.

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