Under Canvas Great Smoky Mountains

Go somewhere else

To say I was disappointed with our tent would be an understatement. We attended a wedding on the campsite, and as wedding guest the bride and groom were told that if the guests don't stay "on site" at the campsite, they were at risk of not being able to have their wedding there. So, reluctantly, I booked a tent. I paid almost $400 a night only to arrive and find that my tent was infested with mold. After reading through the reviews from previous guest, I read that not only was management aware of the mold problem, but that they were not very likely to do much except offer to move you to a different tent. The problem with that is that other guests from the wedding party also had mold in their tents, so I didn't feel like that moving to another tent would be a very good solution. I did not want to cause a scene during the wedding weekend, so we stuck it out for the two days we were there, although def a little worried for our health as I have asthma and the breathing in viable mold did make me slightly apprehensive. When we checked out on Sunday morning, I immediately emailed the manager, with pictures attached, asking if someone could please respond to discuss the matter at hand. I sent a follow up email a week later as no one got back to me. Shortly after my follow up email, somebody did get back to me, but they called the wrong phone number. I gave them the correct phone number to call, and an email that they can follow up with me at, and never heard from anybody again. After reading through the previous reviews, it seems as though management wouldn't have done much anyway; but for almost $400 a night to camp at these campsites (which is a FAR stretch from the "glamping" they advertise themselves as), I would think that the tents should at the very least not be infested with mold. I do not recommend this campsite for anybody. There are plenty of other beautiful places you can stay in the area to actually get what you pay for and enjoy your stay. And although this next comment is completely off topic, if you're thinking of camping here because you'll see beautiful views of the mountains, don't. I have better views of mountains in my backyard in the Pennsylvania Poconos (yes, I traveled all the way from PA to be this disappointed) than they do at this campsite.

Disappointing

This is our third Under Canvas as we’ve been to the locations at Arches and Acadia. Since those were great experiences, our bar was set high going into this one. It’s located about 15 minutes from Pigeon Forge. Unfortunately, our experience wasn’t that great. With the other two, we had wonderful views of things like the Arches National Park itself, or for Acadia it was alongside a river. Here, it’s just surrounded by some trees so nothing scenic or memorable at all. Also, each park had some other nice touches such as one had some hammocks to relax, and both had games like cornhole. This one had neither and it just seemed to have the minimum setup such as the restaurant and fire pits for smores. They also had a book of trails of the national park I was hoping to leverage but it was from 2003 so that’s laughable that they couldn’t get a more recent guide. It was a hot day and within the main tent/building, they did actually have air conditioning, but it was only in the check-in desk and in the kitchen area. However, the rest of the tent was pretty warm and thankfully since it wasn’t crowded, we were able to get a box fan and put it next to our table or it would have been miserable. For dinner, we looked at the menu in advance on the website and were looking forward to the Bison Chili since it’s a unique item. And of course, once we got a menu, it was crossed out. The servers were still very nice and the food was fine, but if we were staying more than one night we would have gone into Pigeon Forge for any other meals as the menu wasn’t that large. One thing I didn’t like was that unlike the other two camps, we couldn’t even get one bar of cell reception. I then asked the front desk person if they had wireless as I wanted to send some text messages and they said they no and you shouldn’t need it anyway as you should just enjoy the area. Sorry, I disagree. Yes, I agree that the point of the area is to relax and I wasn’t trying to download movies. However, the fact I can’t even send basic text messages to other family members is a possible safety issue. Even worse, after I left her, I checked and there indeed was a wireless network, but it was for staff only, so she wasn’t being honest. Since there is no electricity in the tents (and we had a deluxe one), we were assuming trying to sleep with the heat it would be miserable. Thankfully, it cooled down a little and surprisingly, the two small USB powered fans lasted through the night so that was a pleasant surprise. While nothing really went wrong, overall, we all agreed this was easily the worst of the three locations we have been to, and if we were ever back in the area we wouldn’t come back here.

Unhealthy Mold and Mildew!

We stayed in Tent 20, a deluxe king tent with a private bathroom. This was our first time staying with Under Canvas and was very disappointed! The tent canvas was covered with mildew and mold. The sink had mold all around the drain. Management wouldn't refund our money for the unstayed night even though they weren't fully booked. We were only refunded half of the unstayed night. The manager said they were aware of the mold condition. This is such an unhealthy environment staying in a tent covered in mildew and mold spores. I would move recommend Under Canvas, TN.

Underwhelming.

Remote location.

Did not live up to expectations from videos and reviews for the price.

Peaceful getaway!

My adult daughter and I spent 3 nights here while visiting Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The staff was great. They had a delicious vegan bowl and avocado toast with plant based sausage for breakfast. We stayed in the back part of the park in tent 11. We enjoyed being in the trees. There was plenty of parking. The walk to our tent wasn't far and the path was well lit. They offered to use the golf cart to help us but we planned to bring bags to carry rather than a big suitcase to roll. We had no problems at all. Daughter really enjoyed managing the fire and kept us warm. They provided lots of firewood, kindling, starters and matches. The bed was very comfortable. Nice to have our own shower and toilet in our tent. Music that Saturday night (4/25) was enjoyable, not too loud that you could have a conversation. Nightly s'mores were a real treat. We enjoyed sitting by the wood fire on the hill and talking with other guests, sharing stories and relaxing. If you want to stay closer to the main tent you can make s'mores on the propane fire pits. There was a very loud bird each night which I was told was a whippoorwill. One night it rained and we enjoyed sleeping in our nice warm dry tent while listening to the rain. We brought a cooler and kept it on our porch which was very useful. I use a CPAP and they provided a battery adequate to run it each night, swapped it out with a recharged on before we returned from hiking. You want to make sure and read the Welcome Handbook they'll send you. Very important in formation. We knew there was no electricity in the tents or internet so came prepared with books and games. It was wonderful to sit at night all toasty warm in the tent while reading my book. I finished one and started another! No nightly scrolling on devices. A wonderful opportunity to disconnect! It was about 20 minutes to the park or 35 minutes to Newfound Gap or 1.5 hours to Cherokee. It was lovely to return home to our text after a day of sightseeing. We met some lovely guests while roasting s'mores and the staff was the best! Johnny in the kitchen, I think it was Kaitlyn (from FL) at the concierge desk and many more that took care of us. This was a different type of stay, no unlimited hot water or a thermostat to manage but a wonderful experience Glamping. We want to try Under the Canvas in other locations too! Highly recommend.