Car camping recommendations in NW North Carolina?

August 17, 2008 6:33 PM

I’m looking for some help picking out a spot for a group camping trip in late September. Focused on NW NC because we haven’t camped there much. We’ve done lots around Mt Rogers in VA but looking for someplace new. Normally happy to explore on our own, but since I’m leading others along I would like pick a cool spot and have some prior sense of what we are getting into.

It’s a mix of couples and folks with small kids, all with some camping experience. Bonus if we could find a spot with some short local backpacking options. We are not interested in a group site, rather a grouping of individual sites.

So, any comments of the following spots, proximate enough for us to consider? Mainly interesting in your experiences and recommendations. Thanks!

Roan Mountain SP, TN

The rest are on the Parkway. I’ve only car camped along the Parkway once so I don’t have a good feel for what these might be like. Right area geographically though.
Julian Price Park
Linville Falls (too crowded in late September?)
Crabtree Meadows
Mt Pisgah

Any others we should consider? We’ve done Stone Mountain SP, which is also a possibility. Thanks folks...

posted by jethrographic to sports, hobbies, & recreation (6 comments total)

Joyce Kilmer National Forest - Very cool, tons of HUGE trees.
posted by schyler523 at 10:39 PM on August 17, 2008

A better site for Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock.
In my late teens i went on a two week backpacking trip through Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock and did trail maintenance along the way. It is extremely beautiful, and if i recall correctly there is a relatively nice campground near some good trails.
posted by schyler523 at 10:43 PM on August 17, 2008

Carolina Hemlocks is a Forest Service campground a little off the beaten path near Burnsville, along the South Toe River. Very nice little place. There's also the Mortimer FS campground near Linville Gorge. If you're feeling a little more adventurous, you can camp along the Kistler Memorial Highway (which is a gravel road) in Linville Gorge.

This NC National Forest site has some good resources, this map (PDF), in particular.
posted by lost_cause at 6:49 AM on August 18, 2008

And to actually answer your question, Roan Mtn and Linville Falls are both good. In late September, you won't yet have the full-on chaos of leaf-lookers, but business will certainly be picking up. I think you can make reservations at Roan Mtn, not sure about Linville Falls.
posted by lost_cause at 7:03 AM on August 18, 2008

@schyler523: thanks for the JK reminder. Definitely on our list, but too far for this trip...
posted by jethrographic at 12:21 PM on August 21, 2008

@lost_cause: thanks for the NF recommendations and really nice map. Will definitely check out some of those FS campgrounds when it's just me and family.


For this trip I think we'll do Linville Falls (can reserve some sites online now) or Crabtree Meadows. Closer to home and nearby to Mt Mitchell which we haven't explored yet.
posted by jethrographic at 12:31 PM on August 21, 2008