I'm looking for a place in or near north carolina where I can:
1. Camp with little or no hiking involved
2. There is a freshwater stream/river that has fish in it
3. It is not a commercial camp site (like Koa, etc)

preferrably would like to be in the mountains

6/17/2007 10:55:18 AM

hanging rock state park

6/17/2007 11:06:54 AM

^does it get crowded? Is it somewhat isolated or will I hear any city/highway noises?

6/17/2007 11:25:29 AM

You dont want to hike, but you want to be isolated?

Thats a tall order.

6/17/2007 11:47:06 AM

a little hiking wouldn't be bad just don't have all the backpacking gear

[Edited on June 17, 2007 at 12:09 PM. Reason : left out reason]

6/17/2007 12:08:35 PM

Merchant's Mill Pond. Rent a canoe and paddle to a campsite.

6/17/2007 12:32:46 PM

Davidson river campground in Brevard. Its a federal campground and sits on the Davidson River, one of the best fly fishing rivers. You'll probably want to drive up or down river some to fish though because it tends to get a little over fished near the campground.

6/17/2007 1:51:46 PM

hanging rock state park does get crowded during peak times, but is plenty isolated. im not sure about how much fishing there is but theres probably something close by, there are plenty of streams and rivers. my favorite activity is tubing down the dan river, for a few dollars they drive you up river and give you an inner tube and you float down the river. You can even bring a cooler and some beers.

6/17/2007 2:32:56 PM

I suggest Grandfather Mountain. You can drive to a parking spot and then camp as far as you're willing to walk. We parked, walked maybe 20 minutes to a site on the river with fun slides and rocks and camped right there.

6/17/2007 5:59:04 PM

steels creek

Black mountain area

harpers creek

6/18/2007 8:28:30 AM

merchants millpond, i think ill second.

Ive never camped there, but have canoed, and it looks like it wouldn't get too crowded, plus no backpacking. and its really cheap to rent a canoe.

6/18/2007 8:31:16 AM

Black mountain is great, drive along the Blueridge and you can usually camp anywhere near public parking sites. If it's a national/state park you can usually camp anywhere as long as it's not a designated camping area (then you'd have to pay if there's a fee).

6/18/2007 8:55:40 AM

I think the rule for nat'l parks/forests is you can camp 50 ft. off the road, with no fire unless there is a designated fire area.

6/18/2007 9:20:08 AM

^ Where did you hear this? My belief was you could camp anywhere you want. It is a national/state forest btw. For example what about all the backpackers that hike the appalachian? For example i've been backpacking plenty of times in the NC mountains and you can pretty much camp anywhere you want, as long as you're not in a designated camp area where you'd have to pay, or in a restricted area where construction/Logging is going on.

http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/traveladvisories/generalrules.shtml

"Vehicles must be parked in designated areas only."
Other than that you can camp whereever you want.

[Edited on June 18, 2007 at 9:33 AM. Reason : .]

6/18/2007 9:27:47 AM

Quote :

"For example i've been backpacking plenty of times in the NC mountains and you can pretty much camp anywhere you want"

Have you ever camped within 50 ft of a road? I was camping in the black hills in SD (right on the backside of mt rushmore) and one of the rangers there told us of the 50 ft (it might even be a little more) rule when we couldn't find anywhere to camp....In NC, this would apply in the pisgah national forest, and I think the blue ridge parkway, along with any other national forest or preserve. It's not a big deal, as I wouldn't want to camp next to a road anyway, but not being able to have a fire sucks sometimes.

6/18/2007 9:42:11 AM

^ Oh i'm sorry dude, it's too early and i haven't had enough coffee yet. You mean you have to camp ATLEAST 50 feet away from a road. As far as fires, i think they're allowed depending on the location. When i camp i make the general assumption that being anywhere near a car is bad and should be avoided at all costs. My idea of camping is hiking into an area and setting up.

[Edited on June 18, 2007 at 9:47 AM. Reason : .]

6/18/2007 9:46:38 AM

yeah, its much better imo to strap on a pack and hike in a few miles......there are still many, many places around nc where you can hike a few miles and not see anyone else for a few days. but if you're traveling, its also nice to be able to pull off the road and quickly set up camp if you're just looking to catch a few hours sleep in between driving.

6/18/2007 10:04:15 AM

^ Yeah exactly. In regard to park-in camping, Mt. Mitchell is pretty nice. If you drive up to the summit there's 8-9 campsites and it's relatively close to the camp-site parking, and after dark it's pretty empty, not to mention you're on the tallest peak east of the Mississippi.

6/18/2007 10:18:55 AM

you get to look at all the diseased trees . It's nice up there b/c its always like 20 degrees cooler in the summer than anywhere down the mountain.

I'm hitting up the new river (WV) for a little camping/rafting/fishing/climbing trip during the 4th of july week, should be pretty fun.

6/18/2007 10:27:10 AM

^yeah sucks about the acid rain and the trees. Other than that it's cooler and a nice view.

New River is great for boating and biking. Been there quite a few times with the fam.

6/18/2007 10:43:44 AM

/message_search.aspx?type=topic§ion=1&searchstring=camping&username=&usertype=match&sortby=date&sortorder=descending&page=

PackHockey12, please read over the posting guidlines before you continue to use the forum and for the love of god....USE THE FUCKING SEARCH

6/18/2007 11:07:51 AM

^I thought it was a pretty good thread until you decided to troll....go back to chit chat, Thanks everyone for the great info

6/18/2007 12:22:11 PM