View Full Version : Where to stay at Fontana
Kulliman
03-01-2018, 13:13
I'm planning my 2019 thru hike and will be doing some mail drops. I plan to pick up a mail drop at the Fontana Village front desk around the middle of march, but I do not want to stay at the village overnight. I have heard that there are often locals partying at the Fontana Hilton, so I was wondering if there were other camp sites or stealth camping possibilities near Fontana Village and the Dam
MuddyWaters
03-01-2018, 13:14
You free to backtrack up trail
There is pay campground below dam...too far to walk to
There's campsites at hilton though...if there early
Hike inn and tuskeegee inn inn work too if get ride. Hike inn used to pick up.
I stayed in tuskeegee inn once. To avoid Hilton scene. Hike inn was full.
Temp in room was high 30s, but it was a bed.
Its steep both ways...I remember my knees taking a beating coming down into Fontana Dam...I wouldn't have wanted to try to climb back out the same day. I was the only one in the bunk house the night I stayed there...everybody else stayed at the hotel. This would have been late March.
Slo-go'en
03-01-2018, 13:46
There's a post office at Fontana village. If your not staying at the lodge, I'm sure they would rather you send the package to the PO instead.
If you get there during the normal NOBO spring bubble, your not going to find any locals partying at the shelter. Maybe just a lot of thru hikers you just spent the last 2 and half weeks hiking with.
There are some campsite around the shelter and I saw one down by the edge of the lake if the water level isn't too high and you can get down the embankment. Other then that, good luck. Most likely if the weather is crap you will stay at the lodge and the hell with how much it costs, or you'll be in the shelter with everyone else.
Kulliman
03-01-2018, 15:56
Looks like I will just wing it. I did check about the PO earlier. The Post office has short hours whereas the Front desk would be open any time I would get there. They do charge $5, however to pick up there. The receptionist recommended I send package to the Front desk.
i think you could also go outta the village on yellowhammer trail and find a place to camp...........
it would be somewhat of a backtrack though...........and depending upon how far away a campsite is...
i havent been on that trail so i cannot attest but Tipi has and might be able to do a search on here and find info on where he has camped on yellowhammer...
here's some info on it...
http://bmtguide.com/errata.pdf
Harrison Bergeron
03-01-2018, 16:27
The lodge is fabulous and cheap. $70 when I was there three years ago. But I wouldn't shun the "hilton". Free, mouse-free, beautiful view, flush toilets, running water, and SHOWERS! After a month on the trail, you'll be ready for a party, anyway! By the way, there's a phone near the Hilton where you can call for a shuttle back to the Lodge or the Village.
By the way, there's a phone near the Hilton where you can call for a shuttle back to the Lodge or the Village.
yeah...
the phone is at the restrooms near the marina...........its just after one crosses the road and gets to marina parking lot....
i think it only calls the village...........
johnacraft
03-01-2018, 16:33
Looks like I will just wing it. I did check about the PO earlier. The Post office has short hours whereas the Front desk would be open any time I would get there. They do charge $5, however to pick up there. The receptionist recommended I send package to the Front desk.
Your original post is unclear about whether you want to overnight in Fontana, just not at the shelter, or whether you'd rather avoid overnighting in Fontana.
If overnighting in Fontana is not important to you, spend the previous night at Cable Gap shelter. Hike the ~7 miles to Fontana, pick up your package, then hike the ~6 miles to Birch Spring Gap (campsite 113).
Emerson Bigills
03-01-2018, 20:03
I had a maildrop sent to the FV front desk. Picked it up, paid the fee. Ate dinner there and charged up my electronics. Stayed at the Hilton. Can't beat the hot water and showers at the shelter. It is also a fantastic view of the lake. No problem sleeping there, really big shelter. Good crew of thru hikers and a couple hiking locals came by with some trail magic. Actually felt pretty refreshed when I headed over the dam and into the Smokies the next day.
Starchild
03-01-2018, 20:17
... Can't beat the hot water and showers at the shelter.....
The Fontana Dam visitors center just a bit further down the trail have much nicer showers, though if staying at the Hilton ... well it's location location location.
Slo-go'en
03-01-2018, 21:29
The Fontana Dam visitors center just a bit further down the trail have much nicer showers, though if staying at the Hilton ... well it's location location location.
The showers at the visitors center weren't open last time I passed through there in early April a few years back. I wish they had been (I checked) since the shower at the Hilton was pretty gross. I think they don't open up the visitor center showers until the visitor center opens in May.
By the time you hike in from Cable gap shelter, call for the ride into the village, get your package, eat a burger, drink a beer (if your 21+), maybe do some laundry, wander around the store for a bit and buy some snacks, most of the day will be gone. Your not going to want to go any farther that day. And that assumes it's a nice day.
If it has been raining and still raining when you get to Fontana, there will be a sizable bubble queuing up waiting for the rain to stop.
4eyedbuzzard
03-01-2018, 21:32
The lodge is fabulous and cheap. $70 when I was there three years ago. But I wouldn't shun the "hilton". Free, mouse-free, beautiful view, flush toilets, running water, and SHOWERS! After a month on the trail, you'll be ready for a party, anyway! By the way, there's a phone near the Hilton where you can call for a shuttle back to the Lodge or the Village.If it takes him a month to get to Fontana he's probably been partying way too much already. ;)
Elaikases
03-01-2018, 21:40
The lodge is fabulous and cheap. $70 when I was there three years ago. But I wouldn't shun the "hilton". Free, mouse-free, beautiful view, flush toilets, running water, and SHOWERS! After a month on the trail, you'll be ready for a party, anyway! By the way, there's a phone near the Hilton where you can call for a shuttle back to the Lodge or the Village.
!! Hot showers. Flush toilets. Laundry.
Kulliman
03-01-2018, 22:24
I actually have it planned out to be at Fontana on Day 16 from Amicalola Falls.
As I recall there was a fee to collect your package if you’re not a guest which may negate the savings of resupplying at the Fontana store.
The Hilton wasn’t really bad. I set my hammock up the hill and came back to the Hilton where i was then a few beers and told stories and such then went to bed.
They got pretty loud but it’s just one night.
Like others have said finding a place to stealth is never that difficult; just Backtrack a bit or move ahead and keep your eyes open for a flat spot
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I actually have it planned out to be at Fontana on Day 16 from Amicalola Falls.
Also, I’ll bet you 20 dollars your schedule falls apart within a week.
Why have you planned your miles out, if you don’t mind me asking?
Slo-go'en
03-02-2018, 10:25
The Hilton wasn’t really bad. I set my hammock up the hill and came back to the Hilton where i was then a few beers and told stories and such then went to bed. They got pretty loud but it’s just one night.
Be careful with alcohol at the "Hilton". I don't think the "NO ALCOHOL" on TVA property is strictly enforced, but you could be arrested and fined if they decide it's time to make an example of someone.
Kulliman
03-02-2018, 12:42
Mail drops because of a special diet.
Gambit McCrae
03-02-2018, 12:46
One of my favorite nights on trail was cowboy camping at Fontana Hilton. Beware of pad on that gravel tho, its a little pokey
Kulliman
03-02-2018, 12:47
Its really not the schedule so much that I'm planning, but the resupply locations.
Also, I’ll bet you 20 dollars your schedule falls apart within a week.
Why have you planned your miles out, if you don’t mind me asking?
I have Fontana templated out for day 17. I worked this out from Mapman's data when I didn't know anything about time and distance on the trail. Like Kulliman I did it to forecast where medical maildrops could be sent. While I agree that no plan survives contact with the trail (sorry, von Moltke), planning may make options and alternatives apparent.
I'm mailing my mail drop to the front desk, I've called to confirm that they will accept non guest maildrops (for a $5 charge).
I intend to stay at the Lodge, I may try to stack the 15% military discount on the thru hiker rate. Plus all of the good reasons (hot showers, etc) listed above.
As a hydraulic engineer I'm going to visit the visitor center and try to get a 50 cent tour of the dam from our TVA friends.
I've stayed at the lodge, the cabins, and the campground. All not worth the money paid. IF you MUST have civilization then, by all means, partake. There is a shower at the top of the dam, near the gift shop. Me, I would get my package, grab a shower at the dam, and get back on the trail.
I almost stealth camped at the parking lot of the marina but at the last minute we caught a hitch to the resort and just got a room. The hiker rate was 30 bucks more than what AWOL had claimed. But we were desperate and paid it.
I didn’t regret it; it was expensive but I soaked it in
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MuddyWaters
03-02-2018, 23:04
Honestly, id make a reservation at the hike inn. If they are still doing their hiker package since Jeff passed away.
Pickup, laundry, trip to robbinsville for dinner and ressuply. Return to fontana next morning. Mail resupply to them if like.
Two hikers sharing room $50 each. $75 solo.
Slow Trek
03-03-2018, 01:20
We paid 65 bucks to stay at the lodge,and after 3 days of rain it was well worth it.Very nice rooms compared to most of the other places we stopped,and the breakfast buffet was awesome....
Harrison Bergeron
03-03-2018, 20:54
If it takes him a month to get to Fontana he's probably been partying way too much already. ;)
Oh, quit yer braggin'!
It took me a month and half the kids I started with barely beat me there by a week. A few were still there. We're not all 20 miler athletes. Most folks are barely averaging 8 miles a day early on, and also take a zero at Neels, Hiawasee, Franklin, and the NOC.