Established Camping
Shinleaf — Falls Lake State Recreation Area
About
State Park
Located in Durham and Wake counties 15 miles east of downtown Durham, Falls Lake State Recreation Area provides seven access areas to the reservoir. More than 300 campsites offer a variety of overnight experiences. Trails include a portion of the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail, as well as one of the premier mountain bike trail systems in the Triangle area, located at Beaverdam access. During the spring and fall, migrating monarch butterflies add to the picturesque beauty of the lake.
Not every access has all the listed facilities. Please check the General Information page to view a table of the facilities at each access: https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/falls-lake-state-recreation-area/plan-your-visit
Location
Shinleaf — Falls Lake State Recreation Area is located in North Carolina
Coordinates
35.993353 N
78.653836 W
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
- Hike-InBackcountry sites.
Stay Connected
- WiFiUnknown
- VerizonUnknown
- AT&TUnknown
- T-MobileUnknown
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- Group
Features
For Campers
- Picnic Table
- Reservable
- Showers
- Drinking Water
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Pets
- Fires
TravelerNice 🔥
Great views by the lake and a great spot to camp
- (8) View All
ScoutAmazing
Had a great 2 nights here ! Can’t wait to come back!
GuideCool place to explore
We had a great weekend camping here with our cub scouts in the Shinleaf group camping area. We had about 40 people and had plenty of room to spread out over three camping sites, Osprey Nest, Blue Heron and Bootleg point. The bathrooms were within easy walking distance. Lots of shade to put tents up under. Plenty of picnic tables and fire rings. The Park Rangers came by a few times and we bought some firewood from them. They were very friendly and helpful.
The area is cool to explore, there are several points on the lake you can easily hike to. There are boaters who use the lake mostly during day, even a few at 6:30am!
We even found a cool Northern watersnake eating a fish on the shoreline.
GuideNice walk up campground
Falls Lake State Recreation area is an interesting area in that it is made up of a number of non-connecting areas. The camping is at Shinleaf and is walk up only. There is a nice bathhouse at the edge of the parking lot and some of the spaces are quite close. Which is nice if you are a car camper like me and have to make a couple trips.
The camping spots are familiar (table, fire ring, and pole to hang something from). They are well kept and well spaced (at least on the 1-7 road I was on).
Definitely a thumbs up for this campground.
