Free camping and cell signal in East Tennessee
Where dispersed camping is allowed in East Tennessee: Cherokee NF & the Smokies, which carrier will reach you to work or call for help, and what's on the road in. Free to use online. Offline use is paid: the Camp Map Pass saves the region to your phone for use with no signal.
Open East Tennessee in the mapCan you camp for free in East Tennessee?
On most national forest and Bureau of Land Management land, yes: dispersed camping is allowed outside developed sites, usually for up to 14 days, unless an area is posted closed. Tennessee wildlife management areas mostly limit camping to designated sites; the Cherokee National Forest and Land Between the Lakes are where to disperse-camp. National and state parks, wildlife refuges, tribal land and private timberland are not. In East Tennessee the map shows who manages every piece of public land, wilderness boundaries and the land with no public record, which you should treat as private.
Where will I have cell signal?
From the carriers' own coverage filings with the FCC, strong (in-vehicle) LTE covers about 48% of East Tennessee for AT&T, 33% of East Tennessee for Verizon, 29% of East Tennessee for T-Mobile, 0% of East Tennessee for appalachianwireless, 0% of East Tennessee for carolinawestwireless, 0% of East Tennessee for southernlinc, 0% of East Tennessee for cspirewireless. Carriers model their coverage optimistically in the mountains, so the map also collects speed tests from other campers. Canadian phones usually roam on AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon here: check which one your plan uses.
Remote spots with coverage in East Tennessee
Ranked by distance from town and signal. Tap one to open it on the map.
- Tumbling Creek Campground · rough road · 3 km from Grassy Creek · AT&T, Verizon
- W3 Campsite · paved road · 7.7 km from Sampson · AT&T, Verizon
- Collins East · unpaved track · 3 km from Collins · AT&T, Verizon
- Triple Creek Campground · unpaved track · 2.8 km from Padgett Mill · AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon
- Group Campsite 1 · gravel road · 6.1 km from Sampson · AT&T, Verizon
- Raccoon Mountain Campground · hike-in · 3.7 km from Tiftonia · AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon
- Roamstead Smoky Mountains Campground · unpaved track · 2 km from Rocky Grove · AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon
- Campsite near Diamond Creek · access unclear · 3.9 km from Rankin · AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon
- Public land near North Prong Little Rock Creek · gravel road · 7 km from Sharp Place · AT&T
- Backcountry Camp 2 · hike-in · 6.1 km from Phiferes · AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon
Road access and wildfires
The map shows which roads in East Tennessee are paved, gravel, rough or unpaved tracks, plus parking lots and trailheads, and live wildfire hotspots and perimeters while you're online.
Open East Tennessee in the mapCosmic's Camp Map puts all of this on one map with land status, cell coverage by carrier, recreation sites, wildfires, services and road reports, and, with the Camp Map Pass, saves it to your phone for use without signal. See everything the map does.