Douglas Headwater Campground

A nice little campground friendly staff very clean electrical and water hookups fire pit cement picnic tables
Only draw back is limited space for tents you may have to sleep on gravel

I had booked a couple nights at a more expensive RV resort on friends' recommendations. While touring the area, I saw a sign for the TVA Douglas Dam and then I saw the campground. I stopped and talked with the composts, and they were most welcoming. I would have preferred this campground to the resort I stayed at. The price was more agreeable and the sites seemed nicer - unless you are looking for a concrete pad to park on. Since it was smaller, it was quite than the resort. This place is definitely on my "Next Time" list.

Stayed here just before Fourth of July and really like the campground, but a warning to people who find themselves lucky enough to get a waterfront campsite: some of these sites are rather difficult to get into and out of. I should have known when I made my reservations less than a month ago why I got lucky enough to get a waterfront site. Site number 35 is the most challenging site I have ever backed into. Cut into the side of a hill with railroad ties, the site is L-shaped from the main road, and those two factors made it extremely challenging to back into. (And I only have a 21-ft tow trailer.) Whenever I got my trailer in position to turn, my truck was about to go off the ledge—and vice-versa. Add to that challenge the fact that you cannot pull all the way forward just right now because there is another site right there where a vehicle may be parked, in addition to a tree stump and ditches on both sides of the road. I managed to do it after almost 30 minutes of navigating. I have already decided that if someone has their vehicle across from my site when I check out, I’m going to ask them to move it. ;)

Another comment on the sites: even though most of them looked nicely level, and all had very nice gravel pads, some of the driveways were quite steep with some challenging trees that impeded your turning options for big rigs, and I overheard mention that some people could not easily pull their trailers up and out of their sites when they got ready to leave.

That being said, this campground is one of the prettiest I have stayed in. Although the waterfront sites don’t offer easy access to the water because of the steep, rocky shoreline, there are ways to get around and find paths into the water if you have the right shoes. I just drove less than a quarter-mile to the nice boat launch and swimming area to put in my paddleboard. The views are spectacular everywhere, and you can see the great Smoky Mountains in the distance from most sites. Good electrical hook-ups and water, and solid picnic tables and fire pits at most sites—if not all. I noticed some sites even had grills. Even most of the sites not on the water still have great views!

I never checked out the bathrooms because I have my own in my trailer but they had plentiful garbage dumpsters and it looks like a decent dump station for one vehicle at a time on the drive out. There’s also a nice little gift shop that sells trinkets and soft-serve ice cream and waffle cones. It’s very quiet here—other than the incessant barking of dogs that always seems to ruin the quiet of a campsite retreat— and it was lovely to hear the water at night with the occasional fishing boat. The only other negative is the never-ending lawn mowing, weed-whacking, and leaf-blowing conducted by the staff during the weekdays. I’m sure this quiets down for the weekend, but it would be nice if they restricted it to only mornings from 9 to 12, for example.

I also work remotely so cell signal is very important to me, and I had anywhere from 2 to 4 bars on my Verizon connection. I was able to work without any hiccups during my four days here.

All in all, a very beautiful campground, private sites, amazing views, and a beautiful lake to enjoy while you’re here. Just check out your site location thoroughly before booking.

We chose this campground for its location to Great Smokey Mountains NP and the price and it is now one of top 5 favorite! We booked a waterfront site for the 5 days we originally planned to visit but got lucky as it was still available for an additional 4 nights so we extended through the office onsite! Lots of trees, green grass, views of the lake and amenities (bathhouse, easy access to lake for kayaking, camp store with ice cream, walking trail across the way). Some sites are sloped getting in but usually level out for RV placement. All sites are gravel w/water and electric, fire pits, and tables. Lots of space between most sites with pull-throughs up top a little closer together. Back-ins on the outer loop overlooking the water (sites 34-37) can be trickier for larger rigs as they are more sloped. Very quiet at night, birds chirping in the morning, and lots of friendly folks. Free boat ramp can be busy, especially on weekends, but all in all, a wonderful stay! Good Verizon for working.

Good location outside of Sevierville, not too far from Pigeon Forge. About an hour from Great Smokey Mountains National Park, if you leave early in the morning. We went and hiked several times and did not mind the drive.

Quiet campground, even with the public boat launch at the bottom of the hill. Hosts are great - pleasant, helpful and they enforce the rules with a smile. Our site #2 was difficult to get level, we needed boards under the front tires. But worth it for the view. Only 30 amp and no sewer, so with 90+ temperatures it was tough to cool down our Class A. On the busy weekends, campground power was challenged and we actually dropped to 104 volts at one point and had to shut down our power.

There is a 1 mile wooded walking path that was nice for strolls in the evening. Public beach was never too crowded, we liked it. Campfire ring, charcoal grill and picnic tables were all top notch. Bathhouses are clean, but small and stuffy / humid inside. Great campground store here, in case you forget something.

All in all, we think it is a really nice campground for families with 30 amp trailers and tents, esp for the price. The pros definitely outweighed any cons for us, and we would stay here again.

Douglas Headwaters is one of our favorite campgrounds due to its big sites and access to the water! Connie, who manages the campground, is efficient and kind. Campsites stay well maintained and clean.
If you need use of the bath house they can get pretty warm in the summer months since they don’t have the best ventilation. Double check the amp for the site you are looking at. Some sites only have 50amp, others have only 30 amp, and others have both. No sewer hook-ups but they do offer honey wagon service for $20. You do have to ask for the wagon a day in advance. Of course they also have a dump station.
The public boat ramp stays very busy all season, but the lake never feels crowded.

We stayed at Douglas Headwater Campground on our way to TX for 2 days. Upon arrival the camp staff was incredibly helpful and friendly. We were directed to our site, Site #48 and began to set up. Immediately we noticed the site was absolutely massive (probably could have fit 2 of our rig in it. We got parked and settled in for the evening. Site 48 was right next to the water which made for some relaxing evenings around the fire ring pit listening to the waves. All their site are W/E only so there is none with sewer hookups. There is a courtesy dump station at the entrance, which we easily made use of on our way out.

This location is about 40 minutes from Gatlinburg, TN, which we did make the trip to one day with the kids.

The roads leading to the park can be a little tight at times but is passable without an issue. There is a weight limit sign on the final road heading into the park with weight limit 10 tons however, by the time we could see the sign there was no turning back so we went in without issue.

Internet connectivity for AT&T was excellent but our T-mobile could not connect to the internet reliably by this location.

There is NO alcohol allowed in the park at all so no beers allowed around the campfire but otherwise it was pretty low key and relaxing.

Overall my wife and I really did enjoy our brief stay there and are planning to return again in the future.

We stayed 5 nites here and found it very enjoyable. The sites are very well spaced, lots of grass and room in between. Most of the sites have gravel pad with also a small paved area. We were in site 2 which was not water front but had an amazing view of the lake (most do, waterfront or not). Staff was friendly, they have a great , well stocked camp store which serves creemes, there is a one mile hiking trail, and was fun to see the boats coming and going from boat launch. No WIFI but Cell service was perfect so we could use hit spot.

The sites here range from semi-level to really not level. We were originally in site 8 and asked to move due to 8 being steeply sloped, more than I could accommodate with leveling blocks for our camper van. The site we moved to has a huge oak tree providing shade, which is nice. Cell service is present, but weak. Starlink is mostly not usable due to the many trees.

T-Mobile on phone alternated between 1 bar of LTE and 2 bars of 5G. Definitely on the fringe here. Verizon varied between usable and barely usable, never very fast. For those working while traveling, this isn’t necessarily the best campground choice.

We stayed here for a relaxing 3 day weekend. So much to love about this place! We had awesome camp hosts! Friendly, helpful, and on top of taking care of things that needed to be done.

The sites are very well maintained. I wish we would have brought our dog, because the sites were gravel, no dirt or sand at all on the sites. I think it was the cleanest camp site we have encountered! Nice little grills, picnic table as well as a fire pit.

We had a great view of the lake. We found wonderful picnic sites near the lake too. The office has everything you probably forgot or ran out of. Ice, wood, food items, beach toys, souvenirs etc …

It’s not far from Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg or Kodak. But there is a a lot to do right at the campground, especially if you have a boat.

The thing for us that knocked off a star was how old the bathrooms are, and how few of them there are. 1 shower per gender in the entire campground. 2 toilet stalls in the ladies room, 1 stall in the men’s. I think there are 40 some campsites, and then there are people that come just for day to go to the beach or picnic. The staff works hard to keep it clean, but they are so OLD and worn out looking.

The other thing that contributed to knocking one star off is the dump station. It’s basically set up so that it causes a traffic jam when there is a line. Once you are finished dumping, you can’t leave, you are now in the back of the line of people dumping. Not well designed.