Best Camping in North Carolina

North Carolina camping is anchored by the Great Smoky Mountains (the most-visited national park in the US), the Blue Ridge Parkway campgrounds, and an excellent state park system.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Ten frontcountry campgrounds and dozens of backcountry shelters make the Smokies the largest camping complex in the eastern US. Elkmont Campground (near Gatlinburg, TN entrance) is the largest; Smokemont (near Cherokee, NC entrance) is more convenient for NC visitors. Backcountry permits are required for overnight hiking; the AT shelters require separate reservations. Late spring (firefly synchronization event) and fall foliage (mid-October) are the peak seasons.

Blue Ridge Parkway Campgrounds
Julian Price Campground (milepost 297) is the largest BRP campground in NC — 198 sites on Price Lake, with excellent fishing and canoe rentals. Crabtree Falls Campground (milepost 339) is a mountain meadow camp with easy access to the waterfall trail. Linville Falls Campground (milepost 316) puts campers near the gorge and falls.

Hanging Rock State Park (Stokes County)
A quartzite ridge in the Sauratown Mountains of the Piedmont — an outlier mountain range separated from the Blue Ridge by 50 miles. The campground has excellent sites; the trails lead to rock climbing areas, three waterfalls, and panoramic views. Hanging Rock is less crowded than the more famous mountain parks.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Beachfront camping on the Outer Banks — Cape Point Campground near Buxton is directly on the ocean and within walking distance of the famous surf fishing beaches. The National Seashore's Oregon Inlet Campground has views across Pamlico Sound.

Stone Mountain State Park (Alleghany County)
A granite dome monadnock in the foothills of the Blue Ridge, Stone Mountain State Park offers tent and RV camping near excellent rock climbing (the 600-foot smooth granite face is one of the finest traditional climbing venues in the Southeast) and waterfall trails.