Norris Dam West Campground

The campsites are nicely paved with space between each site. All campsites offer electricity and water hookups. There is a dump station provided for each campsite loop. The bath house offered strong water pressure and hot showers.

This is a beautiful state park with laundry facilities and a huge swimming pool up near the Administration building.

There are countless hiking trails around this park, as well as ranger-led hikes. I took the wildflower hike and really enjoyed learning about flowers/trees of the area. The hike was informative, interesting and free. Norris Lake - and adjoining rivers - allow for boating (you can rent boats), swimming and fishing. We didn't go to the seasonal restaurant, but heard that it was pretty good.

There is also a very interesting museum at the park that discusses and showcases the history of Norris Dam and the Southern Appalachian region.

NOTE: The $21.85 includes the taxes on the $20.00/night fee.

I have a full review video here....
https://youtu.be/ZIvpIFg6yVw

Our water was messed up and not working. I was really impressed that when I called the office on Saturday morning that maintenance actually came out on a weekend and fixed it. Maintenance guy said he’s there every weekend.

As other reviews mention west site is up on a mountain and apparently people do have issues when they are maxed out on their towing capacity.

Easy to reserve through Tennessee State Parks. Location is easy to get to from Interstate 75. The park is clean, with minimal noise. There is a playground, clean showers/bathroom combos that are handicap accessible and plenty of hiking/walking trails around the area.

The place is nestled in the mountains and is very quiet. We were in a 40 foot motorhome which we were unable to get level as there was a 14 inch drop from one end of the site to the other. We almost needed a step ladder to get in the front step of the motorhome. With the park being nestled in the mountains the park road up to it had three tight switchbacks and steep grades. We had 50 amp and water. There is a nice newer playground in the Center of the loop. Maintenance is good. We were able to stream video of this campsite. We’ve been here three days so far and have never seen a campground host. There was a reservation slip on our site post when we arrived.

Camped at the West Campground in mid-Nov. Beware the road getting up to this place if you are in an under-powered tow vehicle or longer than 30 ft motor home. The road is tight and steep with mean switchback curves. The campground is perched on the top of a hill, playground in the middle of everything, bath house is next to it. The bathhouse has super bright lights on it that shine in your camper or your eyes all night. Not a very good thing if you're here to enjoy the peace, quiet, and campfire ambiance. Shower house has been upgraded to private bathroom/shower combo, but it was cold in there with a mini split heater not keeping up with the cold air. Water pressure was terrible! No shower curtain so the floor outside the shower stall gets all wet, everything that touches it gets wet. Very industrial feeling. I don't think we will come back.

We stayed 1 night in late December 2019. The water was still on and sites have electric, plus the dump station was open. Access from I75 was fairly easy, but I wouldn't want to take a huge rig back here, due to a few somewhat sharp switchbacks.

We were very excited to stay here, however we didn’t get to enjoy it. We booked site 26 on the west campground, since it said it was 45 feet and would fit our 34 foot 5th wheel. When we arrived, we knew it would not fit nor would we be able to even get it in. The site was on the back side of the loop. I would say the sites back there should not be for anything over 20ft, just because you can’t back anything in. We tried. They did let us stay at another site, which was perfect, but only one night was available. So we had to move to another campground the next day, which was hard to find. Can’t comment on much of the park as we didn’t get to see it. So if you have a larger rig, stay on the straight part of the campground, not the back part of the loop.

We had a great and easy arrival at the Norris Dam State Park West campground. This was the second night of our shakedown trip after picking up our trailer. We are already looking for a weekend to come back and stay longer. For smaller rigs, the climb and switchback are not difficult at all. We did see a large Class A RV up there so it can be done.

We stayed at site 27 which if you have a smaller camper is a must for sure. Your living area is stepped down and you are right next to the trailhead so you have greater space next to you. The site was fairly level, but is short, their booking website has all the lengths listed so make sure you know your rig's length. I was able to disconnect and park our tow vehicle perpendicular to the camper and not block off any of the road.

The camp hosts are friendly and help keep the sites clean. The only main complaint is the design of the dumping station. The drain is up on a curb so you will want to use either a support to elevate your sewer hose, or you will want to manually lift sections of your hose to ensure it fully empties.

We both have Verizon and saw speeds of 2.21 mbps down and 0.01 mbps up during the evening, but later that night saw speeds of 11.9 down and 1.00 up.

Our first impression was a disappointment. We are tent camping and there didn't seem to be anywhere to put our tent. The grassy area on this site (and most of the sites) wasn't level. The sites on the outer ring have short driveways. We ended up putting the tent on the asphalt. The camp host had some nails that he let us have so we could stake the tent down. We were just a little too close to the road to feel peaceful.
The inner ring sites had more room, but then you had to deal with the playground and the gigantic water tank in the middle. TN renovated their bathrooms in the State Campgrounds a few years ago. Now, there is a toilet and shower in each, and there are 4 total in this campground. It wasn't a problem until everyone decided to take a shower at the same time, so if you have to use the restroom you're pretty much out of luck. The bathrooms are well maintained and clean.
Each site has a fire pit, grill, and picnic table. There is electricity and water at each site. A dump site is close by. There is no internet, but our cell signal was good enough that we were able to use the hotspot and have a movie night one night.
A small canteen is available just in case you have forgotten anything.
If you camp here, make sure to check out the historical places in the area: the Norris Dam (the first dam built with FDR's New Deal), the CCC camp (the cabins are still in use), the grist mill & threshing barn, and the 2 museums.
Yes, we would camp here again, but it wouldn't be our first choice.

Sites are very small and uneven. RVs larger than 30 feet would not get into space. Trailers took all the space and towing vehicles had to park elsewhere.