Can anyone make a recommendation for a campground  on the Tennessee side of Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park? I don't think that I can stay in the park because of the length restrictions. What town is the best area for access to the park? We'd like to stay for ~week and am mostly interested in the park and park activities so I'd like to be close to park entry points.

Any recommendations for activities / places to go in the park?

Thanks!

It all depends if you want to be on the busy side or the quieter side.  If you want to be in the traffic stay in Galtinburg/Pigeon Forge.  If you want to be in less traffic stay in Townsend.  We stayed in Pigeon Forge a couple of weeks ago.  We stayed at Pine Mountain RV Park.  It has been open approx 2 yrs.  A bit on the high side but we liked it alot.  It took us 1 1/2 hrs to go 15 miles on a Saturday coming from I-40 to the campground.  We have never camped in Townsend but in looking at RV Review website Mountaineer Campground looks very nice.  I was told site 12 is the most popular.  We tried to stay there but were full the week we went.