Dusty Trails Outfitters

Gorgeous location along the river. There is plenty of river access as well as canoe and kayak rentals which we didn’t get to take advantage of due to cold weather but we will absolutely be back to try it. Dustin was very accommodating and friendly, he even let us borrow a wood splitter when we realized we forgot to bring our hatchet. All around a really great experience, we can’t wait to go again!

We stayed at Dusty Trails Outfitters (in Crumpler NC) last week and it was fantastic! He was recommended to us by a nearby campground and we were thrilled with our new riverfront go-to! 

We met Dustin as he was packing up near his boat launch area. If you drive down Garvey Bridge road (past the bridge), you will easily see the shuttle bus labeled Dusty Trails Outfitters. Dustin rents out single canoes and kayaks, tubes and luxury fishing kayaks as well. We paid for our site and drove a few miles to get to a beautiful, spacious, quiet, remote campsite- our favorite kind! 

As we pulled down the gravel road, we noticed each site had their own port-a-potty, hand washing station(with soap), campfire ring, picnic table and trash can. The port-a-potty was very clean- not even spiders inside! Dustin delivered our firewood to our site, did a quick once over to make sure everything was set and reminded us that we were in bear country and bears had been spotted on this road days earlier. As we unpacked, the only other group we could see over 150 feet away- at a site 2 away from ours. It was fantastic. We never heard them and could hardly see them through the brush that separates the campsites. The dogs were happy wandering around our site, the kids were happy playing in the babbling brook through our site and the river was GORGEOUS! Our site was both shaded and sunny- so if you were wet from river play, you could warm up and dry easily. Yet our tent was in the shade and we stayed nice and cool. 

Aside from the great breeze off the river, the darkness with no artificial light and the size of our campsite- nothing could beat the fireflies. As darkness set in, the fireflies across the river began to light up, like festive lights. Not just a few hundred, but thousands of them, in the most amazing natural light show I have ever seen. This is our new solid go-to spot!!

Advice for this spot:  Bring water(or a pump) - and camping chairs.  The picnic table is perfect - but we like to sit around the fire and being so close to the river, the terrain is uneven as the area suffers from periodic flooding.  

This is my ideal campsite - even with your own port-a-potty for social distancing!  The firefly show and the sunrise over the river were breathtaking - I highly recommend it!   (Please keep in mind all of these photos are JUST from our campsite :)  It is that awesome!)