Campvue

Reviewed: Feb 2, 2026

5 out of 5

You can see the perhaps now familiar Campvue REI Base Camp 4 tent we use in the video segment above. The footage you see was capture during my overnight stay at this park. A couple notes off the bat so you don't get confused like I did when I first arrived. Smoky Mountain campground is not located in the iconic area of the park where the big rocks are. It's a couple miles down the road, in a separate spot. This is not a problem, but good to know so you don't get confused like I was initially. Smoky Mountain campground is clearly catering to mainly RV'ers in large rigs. Most, if not all the sites, seemed to have electric hook ups and water spigots. That's not to say it is unpleasant for tent campers like me, as you can see above the space worked well, but I did have to move the picnic table off to the side a bit to fit my tent on level ground. There clearly were options right behind this site where people set up tents amongst the juniper trees, but that ground was hilly and not level, so opted to set up next to the picnic table and fire ring. The driveway for this site is a large pull-through, whereas many of the others are back-in style, but they are all paved and huge... and I did see a lot of big rigs, with a couple being 40 footers in the campground during my stay. So the moral is, the design is more for RV's, but tent campers will not be disappointed except for maybe the cost of a night's stay. Out of all the campsites I booked for an extensive trip across the western US, this was the most expensive one, clocking in at over fifty bucks for one night. At first I was annoyed, but I think it's because you do get the electric hook up and what looked like a water hookup, so I think the cost is justifiable if you look at it that way. If that's too steep for you, I think you can camp near the big rocks in the main park, and also outside the park near City of Rocks, which is public land and likely free. One huge plus is they have a restroom with running water, and even showers, included with the price of admission. It seemed like a new facility, and even smelled of fresh paint when I stayed. Was very impressed by that. Another way to help justify cost. It's a remote region, so having these sorts of amenities does go a long way. There is a nearby small town that has a general store with a single gas pump, and a few small restaurants. Some appeared closed as it may have been outside of the main season, but assuming they still operate, another thing that makes roughing it in an otherwise remote region a little easier. As for privacy, Site 13 was excellent. It might be among the most spread out of all the sites. I neither could see nor hear any neighboring sites. I felt like I was all alone, which is how I like it. There are some trees, mainly pinyon pine and juniper, which are usually not that tall, but you do get some shade from them at certain times of the day, but the picnic table area does see a lot of direct sun. And it does get quite warm in the summer during the day, so good to know. But all in all, this was a great campground and campsite, and I can highly recommend site 13 and surmise it may be among the best of the bunch.