Grumpy Bear RV Park & Campground

Stayed at Grumpy Bear for three nights in mid-September. Excellent location for day trips to Great Smoky NP and surrounding area. Campground wi-fi worked well. Excellent showers/restrooms/laundry, fairly level sites with full hookups, riverside sites are very nice. Staff helped us park in one of those sites - they are very narrow. You will get to know your neighbors! Cherokee dancers on Saturday night at the incongruous tipis on site. Recommended!

Jerry the owner was very kind and helpful! The campsites were beautiful, we chose the ones right on the rivers edge. The showers we personal bathrooms, very clean, roomy and there were atleast 6 rooms available including a handicap accsecable room. It was very quiet and peaceful. You are very close to mountain top view and waterfalls with a short drive. We would absolutely stay here again.

We stayed two nights right on the river. If we were fishermen we would have left with a bunch of trout, but we’re not!
The bathroom showers are private and roomy. The owners are very helpful and generous.
We have Verizon cell service which was a bit iffy, if that’s important to you. We have a booster but I’m not sure we would have been able to stream TV so we watched what we had downloaded.
Overall, we recommend this camp.

I'll start with the only thing I didn't like since the list is so short. The sites are very tight together, so there is essentially zero privacy. Other than that, you can't beat the sites themselves. Almost perfectly level, right on the Tuckasegee River. Very well-kept grounds, with cabins, a very nice comfort station and a community room with laundry, arcade machines and a beautiful porch with chairs right on the river. The owner even came out to help me back my travel trailer into the site! 5 minute drive into downtown Bryson City. 20 minute drive to Nantahala Outdoors Center. And, if you're lucky, you might catch a great view of the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad's steam locomotive running right past the campground. We will be back!

Tricky but do-able driveway access. Level gravel sites, narrow. Essentially no over-the-air tv. Absolutely superior camp hosts, should give lessons to others on how to greet and assist campers. Convenient full hook-ups. Site Two backs up to the river, only feet away. Five minutes from downtown Bryson City. No road noise, just river rapid sounds. Convenient bath house and laundry facilities. Highly recommended.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at this small private campground. Half of the sites including ours are along the Tuckasegee River about 20 ft away. Watched several fly fishermen working the river. All sites have full hook ups. Entire area is newly graveled and clean. Looked like 3 cabins and 4 tepees for rent. Park owner greeted us by name when we arrived and was helpful. Bathhouse looked great with private rooms with shower, toilet, and dressing area. Also a couple of washer and dryers.
Negatives (to us) - While park is level the entrance from route 19 to Old River Rd was a very steep drop from route 19. Entering and leaving with RV in tow was challenging. Sites were very close together. Hookups especially for sewer were behind RV pad requiring us to purchase an extension for the sewer hose.

Stopped for one night in our way through. Owner/operator was incredibly friendly, helpful, and the place was fantastic. Sandwiched between a large river and a set of railroad tracks, it is exactly what you’d want nestled in the mountains. Bath house was amazing and was able to take our dog for a long walk along side the river. Just what we needed after 50+ straight days on the road. Access road can be tricky coming from the East if you are long (we are 30’ of motor home and 20’ of trailer) but we just went a few hundred yards past it and had plenty of room to turn around and come at it from a better angle. Will definitely be going back!