Gorges State Park offers primitive backcountry camping in a spectacular natural environment. A favorite park for backpackers who are looking to get away from the beaten trail, campers will find solitude after the strenuous hike.

Please note that as of July 19, 2021, the Raymond Fisher campground is permanently closed. The park will be opening a new campground in late 2021.

 

Ray Fisher Campground— CLOSED

My girlfriend and I camped at Gorges State Park for a few days in October of 2017\. The trails are excellent and they were in great condition when we visited. The waterfalls are beautiful and it isn't a very strenuous hike to Rainbow Falls.

Camping seems to be hit or miss. The campsites aren't bad, but during our stay the privy pit was nearly unusable, so we dug our own. The access road to the campsite trail was closed as well, so the hike to the campsite from the parking lot felt closer to 3 miles. Given the lack of amenities and the distance to the Raymond Fisher campgrounds, I'd advise that you snag one of the primitive backcountry sites instead. They are situated along the main trail to Rainbow Falls, and almost every backcountry site was in a nice spot with easy access to the stream. Be aware that many of these backcountry sites are directly adjacent to the trail, and hikers will probably pass by your campsite.

If you are camping, expect bears. I don't know if this is still an issue, but we had a bear messing with our stuff every night. It didn't exactly bother us, but we did have to hang our trash and food far from the campsite while we slept. It made us a little nervous because we were the only campers there and you are miles from your car, but it didn't come close enough to our tent to really frighten us.

That being said, we had an incredible time and would definitely return. Despite being in a state park campground it still felt very secluded, and we felt that all the set backs made it more of an adventure.

Beautiful Trails and Falls, Barebones Campgrounds

A fall camping trip from 2011. It's one of the newest State Parks in North Carolina established in 1999 and is the only State Park west of Ashville. Excellent hike-in campsites and beautiful waterfalls. 

Gorges State Park, NC

Did not get to camp, but hiking in the area was great! 

Great hiking in fall!

A couple of yearas ago, I stayed in Sapphire, NC,  for a trip and had the opportunity to visit the beautiful falls and scenic overlooks in and around Gorges State Park. There are trails fewer than 2 to over 10 miles, and I did a short one to view some of the biggest falls I've ever seen (I'm not a falls chaser or anything, but I've seen a decent amount).

My girlfriend took all the falls pics with her nice camera, but I've attached a few of the overlooks right in/outside the park!


Absolutely beautiful-- many hiking distances

A great destination for amazing geological features, views and a variety of different lengths of hikes... Linville Falls, Brown Mountain lights, beautiful Pisgah National Forest. Great for dayhikes, backpack overnights, camping.

Don't miss the natural wonders near Linville Falls at Gorges SP

There are 2 sides to this park. The side we stayed on butted up next to an entrance to Pisgah. We stayed at Ray Fisher campground site. It was about a mile hike to the pond side sites. Fire rings and pads are built in. Not much to do without crossing into pisgah but worth staying here to see the nearby falls

Good tails. Near good waterfalls

I was planning on staying at the campsite known as Raymond Fisher while in this area last month. There was a lot of beautiful hiking to do here and it being a rainforest climate it was absolutely amazing sounding to get out in the thick of it. But then I was alarmed to find out that the camp itself was experiencing some difficulties with bears. Now a lot of places I have camped in the east have mentioned Bears, but never so much so that they were experiencing closures of camps because of this. I took it as a strong hint that I needed to go elsewhere.

But I was encouraged to hike in this area and see some of the amazing sites. A little confused as to why hiking would be ok but not camping I did a short hike on a more improved trail that was heavily trafficked. I figured why not, if I am out there I just have to be faster than the person behind me right…lool.

It was beautiful!!!

I will be going back to this area when bear activity isn't as intense because if the other trails are half as amazing as this one I want to see them all!!

TIPS:

*   If you are planning to camp check in advance with the ranger station or online. I noticed when reviewing their site today that they have officially not reopened camping as of yet.
*   Take hiking stick or poles depending on your preference for the longer hikes and consider water shoes as well. One of the hikes I would like to return to is 7.5 miles and treks through water on portions as well as uneven terrain. The pictures I saw when visiting looked amazing!!

Bear Activity High In This Area

This place is so beautiful and offers a variety of things to do. My family and I come here all the time to fish in the rivers. They also have a lot of nearby hiking/biking trails for all skill levels. I would give it 10 stars if I could!

So Diverse

My wife and I camped up here about two weeks ago. It was still perfect out. 75-80 during the day hi to mid 50s at night. 
The campsites about 3/4 of mile walk downhill to one of six campsites around a little pond and a creek that the pond drains into. Spots five and one are probably the most secluded but six has a good Creekside view. 

It’s about a mile and a half walk from the campsite to rainbow Falls. There’s Turtleback falls be on Rainbow Falls. My wife and I decided not to go all the way up there. It’s pretty dangerous so just be careful especially if you have a pet. 

We also went and explored Brevard which is about a 30 minute drive from the state park. We even went and saw the white squirrels that are the local legends they look like white tree rats to me but whatever. It’s a cute little mountain town I recommend going to it just explore on a day trip. I’ll definitely back to explore that further trails that we didn’t get to check out on this trip. Also the visitor center is incredibly awesome and the people that work there were the most friendly staff that I’ve ever encountered in any state park   I’ve ever been camping. They made recommendations on everything we could do, and even gave us cutlery when we forgot ours when we ate breakfast up there to watch the sunrise. 