Camping in Western NC

Looking for a nice quiet campground/RV park in the mountains of western NC. Any of you guys know of a good one. Looking for something on a small river or stream that is kid friendly. I will be towing a 35' camper up there so it would need to have spot large enough to get it into. There are a bunch of them online, but I trust your opinions more than the GP.

Thanks

I've stayed at the KOA outside of Cherokee twice. Nice place, clean and neat, has an indoor pool. http://www.koa.com/where/nc/33173/ The road going to it is real fun, too. Close to the Blue Ridge Parkway (you actually drive under it to get to the KOA).

Sorry, nothing useful to add, but my family enjoyed our trip to Boone, NC. We stayed at Chetola Resort, so it was hardly like camping. We even got to see Thomas the Tank Engine at Tweetsie Railroad. Beautiful part of the country!

All I can put forth is camping in the GSM National Park. But, it is probably not great for a 35' trailer. Hope you find someplace.

There's a campground at Fontana Village right on the Dragon's tail.

www.fontanavillage.com

It is right on the river at the base of Fontana Dam.

http://www.reserveamerica.com/campgroundDetails.do?subTabIndex=0&&contractCode=nrso&parkCode=davi

Stayed there. It's great. Excellent hiking nearby.. Great fishing in the Davidson..

http://www.blueridgefieldjournal.com/2010/02/moore-cove-falls-pisgah-national-forest/

The moore cove falls hike is super easy and kid friendly. Nice falls at the end, great picnic spot. I did it with my preggo wife and our friends with 3 year old.

Looking glass mountain is cool if you are more adventurous, but only suitable for older kids as it can get kinda steep.

I love WNC. I want to get a job there and live in the mountains with the hippies, rednecks, greennecks, mountain folk, and yuppie retirees..

If you're around Murphy-ish area, gimme a shout. Come down to Blue Ridge (GA,) and see me at the shop! We've got a "quaint" old-timey downtown area w/shopping, restaurants, Scenic Railroad, etc.

ignorant wrote: I love WNC. I want to get a job there and live in the mountains with the hippies, rednecks, greennecks, mountain folk, and yuppie retirees..

Sounds like Asheville

JeepinMatt wrote:

ignorant wrote: I love WNC. I want to get a job there and live in the mountains with the hippies, rednecks, greennecks, mountain folk, and yuppie retirees..

Sounds like Asheville

yeah been there many times.

Cherokee, Bryson City, Robbinsville, etc all would be great towns to investigate while camping. Make sure you do the Joyce Kilmer Forest to see real trees.

Thanks for the replies peeps. Some interesting stuff here keep the ideas coming. I haven't vacationed up here since I was a kid. Kind of looking forward to it.

Toyman01 wrote: Thanks for the replies peeps. Some interesting stuff here keep the ideas coming. I haven't vacationed up here since I was a kid. Kind of looking forward to it.

table rock state park in SC is also really nice and a few hours closer than NC. The hike up the mountain isn't kid friendly, but they have a nice paddling lake with a beach. I believe they rent canoes as well.

Dood, you don't need to go any further than the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the entrance is ~4 miles from the KOA I mentioned. Absolutely beautiful. Suggestion: get the wife and booger machines packed in the truck long before daylight, then drive up to Clingmans' Dome and get to the observation tower in time to watch the sun come up. You won't believe it.

Or get them packed in the truck on a cloudless moonless night, drive up onto the BRP, find an overlook, shut things down and wait 10 minutes or so for your eyes to get used to the dark. Then look straight up. frickin' amazing.

Cherohalla Skyway>>>45 miles of unbelievable views at 5000 ft along the spine of the mtns at the NC/Tn state line. The iron butt route is to leave Tn at Tellico Plains, do the Skyway to Robbinsville and then take the Dragon from Robbinsville back into Tn. If your car has any weakness, it will be revealed. Unfortunately you have missed the firefly season at Elkmont Campground. Synchronized flashing by thousands of fireflys. It should be watched with Dark Side of the Moon playing in the background and it will cause you to have flashbacks.

I always liked Smokemont campground near Cherokee. Its Federal, kind of primitive, but that's part of the charm. A small river runs through it. Hannahs casino is nearby if you want to gamble (I don't).

There is also a nice Federal campground outside Blowing Rock.

1988RedT2 wrote: Sorry, nothing useful to add, but my family enjoyed our trip to Boone, NC. We stayed at Chetola Resort, so it was hardly like camping. We even got to see Thomas the Tank Engine at Tweetsie Railroad. Beautiful part of the country!

I stayed last summer at a really nice campsite just outside of Boone. The place was called grandfather campground, at the base of grandfather mountain, which was a cool place. Its got two little creeks that run through it, too. The whole area is amazing, though, stay anywhere around WNC and you cant go wrong.

I grew up in the area (Ashe County, NC to be specific) and we used to camp each summer at that Grandfather Mountain campground. Great base for exploring from Asheville to VA/TN along the Parkway.

Bill