South Mountains State Park Family Campground

Camp sites are nice, close bathrooms, nice facilities. Park boasts about lots to do but there is no road through the whole Park so more than half of the trails you are not easily able to get through. Drove around to other access point and its nothing but a fence and a field. Park is very pretty and the water is nice.

I stayed in beautiful weather in October. I recommend this campgrounds and park for is trails and beauty. Very good facilities as well.

Campsite 5 is a bit in the way of other campsites but still an amazing place

This is a great place to camp. It is somewhat close to Charlotte, but is little known. There are extensive hiking trails. The grade of the trails is from easy to hard. They have a 70 foot waterfall that has a stairway along the side of it. This has car camping, backpack camping, horse and bike camping. You can even fish there if you have a license.

I have going to this site BEFORE it was a state park.  They developed it has a tent camping and put in two outhouses (pit toilets).  It was easy to go camp without reservations anytime.   The they installed the nice bathrooms and two RV sites.  Good Luck making a reservation.  It stays booked.  The campground has a creek running beside it.  It is stocked with trout a few times each year.  You MUST have all of your NC Licenses.  Be sure to pay attention to what season it is and what bait you can use.  Hiking is great.  Beautiful waterfall.   NO PHONE reception.  My wife loves it.  There are 16 tent sites with no power and two RV sites with power.  We love it.

There are several dispersed camping sites at South mountain+ a car camping location (with,what appears to be 2 rv sites. We really like camping here with my dad. The car camping sites are REALLY difficult to get availability for on weekends since this is such a popular location with limited space. The dispersed sites are easier to find availability for and they all have areas near them where you can process water. The dispersed sites have put toilets, picnic tables,and fire ring amenities.

Be sure to check the trail rating as a lot of the hikes to camping sites are considered strenuous.

Family Campground

One nice thing is the size and separation of the sites. One bad thing is the road is busy.

This campground is one way and exits into a trailhead parking area. There was one site that was in the parking area, would not be my first choice. Shaded sites with picnic tables and fire rings. Nice shower house , well maintained.

Easy access to several trails and not far from the falls. The river runs the back of the campground.

Camped 9/25-9/27 in the family campground. Stayed at site 13. Super clean bathhouse which was very nice. Shower stall with doors instead of just curtains. There is a sink for dish washing in the back of the bathhouse. Dumpster is at the end of the large parking lot. The river is wonderful to listen to as you fall asleep. There is 0% service in the campground. No carriers had service so be aware.

Hiked to the top of Chestnut Knob and that was a very strenuous and beautiful hike. You will have service at the very top of the hill to call/text family and friends. You can start your hike right from the campground which is another bonus so you won’t need to drive to a trailhead.

Note: Bring firewood with you! Once the visitor center is closed there is none available and the campground has been picked clean of all available logs and sticks.

Overall I would definitely come back to camp and hike again. Beautiful state park!

I searched “best waterfalls in NC” and this park did not disappoint. We stayed for 3 nights- family campsite (sites 6-9 are beat IMO) was used as basecamp. We also had a primitive site that we backpacked to for a night. This was a great approach to the park. We feel like we got to experience so much more of the fun and experiential opportunities that park had to offer! Great trails. Great views. The nature trail area was a great way to start and end the day as we hiked back to “basecamp”. 10/10 would recommend!

Quiet, small, shady spots. Level tent pads. Obligatory fire ring and table. Small clean facilities. Hot showers. Beautiful but crowded trails. There are equestrian trails and camping facilities. Dogs welcome. Ice cold creeps and lovely waterfalls.

There are multiple campgrounds here. I stayed in the drive up campground for people without horses. There is also equestrian camping and campsites one can hike to. My experience was the campsites were a little close to each other and, since it's a small loop, they fill up fast. I prefer more space and privacy when camping. My tent pad was a little uneven as well. There is a lot of good hiking in the park and horse back riding for those with horses. I'd like to try the back country camping at some point.

Great park! Beautiful well marked trails for all skill levels. Large waterfall with access from two points depending on the difficulty you wish to hike. The river is awesome for cooling down by swimming or shallow enough to find some rocks and just relax. I stayed in the tent only sites which were quiet and had good space between camps unlike many state parks. Clean bathrooms with hot showers too.

Amazing camp sites. Beautiful trails and waterfall.

Tent camping can get cramped but you won't feel that way here! The set up here is great, pads are level and big, picnic tables aren't chained down so you can move them where you need them. The showers/bathrooms are brand new and CLEAN! You are going to feel spoiled because you are. Trails lead right off the camp grounds making it easy to get up and make the most out of every day you get to spend here. The only thing lacking is a camp host but rangers patrol at night and are happy to drop you some wood if you flag them down.

The Family campground has sites right along the river. Nice bathrooms. Trails right off of the camp ground.

This place has it all from primitive camping to beautiful waterfalls. There maybe a couple steps along the way but who doesnt love a good hike. When you make it to the top... you feel like you are ontop of the world.

we camped at the family camping area, it was great, we had site 6 and it was on the river and the kids loved it! cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen!!

This state park is relatively close for us in Charlotte and we have camped here on a few occasions. We want to visit more and always plan on it. The campground is clean and the spots are level and decently spaced. Easy access to the creek and hiking trails from the campground. What I like most about this park is they do close the gates at night (I can’t remember exactly what time) but it definitely cuts down on random traffic.

New bathrooms. roomy sites. Gets booked quickly

South Mountains is a great campground. Bath facilities are new and kept clean. Very quiet with NO cell service which is a big draw for us. Far from a town, so don't forget anything. Rangers are helpful and will bring firewood (charge for the wood). Mostly drive in sites with only 2 (that I can think of) RV sites in the family campground. Not sure about the equine campground.

Even though we only stayed one night, we had a blast! Restrooms were very clean and well maintained. The tent pad was large enough to setup our 8 man tent and 2 man tent, and lewve us plenty of room for our kitchen setup and room around the fire pit.

Great sites, impeccably clean bathrooms. Park rangers are very present - they will deliver firewood bundles for a fee, and drive through the campsites frequently. The no-alcohol policy at the park is STRICTLY enforced, so be careful! Nice easy trails lead to the campground, and the State Park is full of great things to see and do.

No cell phone service, and gates to the park are locked up at 9pm so there's no getting in or out late at night.

Never used the mobile home/park and camp sites, only the hike to sites. They are well kept, wood supplied for camp fires, and outhouses are all well stocked.