Honey Bear Campground

This is a heavily wooded, natural-type campground. We enjoyed the seclusion and privacy that provides. Most of the sites are close together but the mature trees and shrubbery make it feel like you’re all alone. Very quiet park, even at Memorial Day weekend. There’s a fishing lake and a central coffee shop/hangout area with some scheduled events. No playground or swimming area that we’ve seen but we haven’t explored the other half of the campground. There is a lovely creek passing through the campground with a long bridge crossing over it. Due to rocks, trees, and other shrubbery blocking the way, there is no wading in it.

We had a hard time backing in our small (17ft) trailer because of natural obstacles and the direction of the road. Other sites are not like that, but we got the last available site, so there wasn’t an option. If you’re not tent camping, don’t choose site B8. ;) Unfortunately, they’re closing permanently at the end of the summer. It’s a lovely park and I wish someone would buy it and invest in some upkeep to restore some of the blocked off areas. It’s a small family owned park so I imagine it’s time- and money-intensive.

One of these days, A 0 stars rating is critical to the overall scoring process. Honey Bear should be thankful for the scoring process because the single star at least gives some advantage to the overall score. Let me begin by saying that the pictures do not match the grounds. Well, one of them may match hit the rest are seriously filtered. Turning into the grounds from the main road, there is a series of make-shift goat pens made from old wooden pallets. Each standing on its end and side-by-side attached however but not well enough for the one escape artist who is actually one of the better sites you will enjoy during your stay! To the right, an empty (seemingly also abandoned) commercial building that houses empty office locations. The old sign team still stands with no signage but one fluorescent bulb still burns at night. Further ahead, on the left are two open roll off dumpsters for trash. If that is not cause for rodents and other vermin, nothing is. Beyond those are travel trailers that others are being stored. The office is nothing near as clean as you are going to expect. The coffee house is closed but the only way you will know that is if you follow them on Facebook. Hope you have Facebook. The bathhouse and laundry facilities are also closed. We reserved a double site. One hour prior to arrival, we received a call regarding being transferred to a different site. When we arrived to the site, it was a small site and not what we paid for. I spoke to Marsha and indicated that we wanted a different location. We were supposed to be in B section however due to below freezing temperatures, we were moved to A section where they have a few frost free water connections. We paid and we are here! Let's make the best of it. Once set up and stabilized, we plugged i to the power connection which shorted out our power cord and our unit receptacle. Because she has no maintenance personnel, I had to test the power supply myself which determined that all three legs were hot. Serious problem especially when the temperature was 29°. I called to let her know what was going on and she did not have a solution. Our options were dependent on whether or not the grounds keeper was still on site. It is now after 8:00 pm. On Sunday. We had enough battery power for basic functions and enough gas for heat so we did it old school. Monday, we headed straight to a dealer to purchase a new cord as well as the receptacle. I called at 12:02 pm to verify if the supply had been repaired but was told that she was not at the office yet because she does not come in until noon and was unsure of the grounds keeper was there. I said it is after noon but no response given. It was after 1:00 pm before the supply connection was replaced and once we had our work completed, we were back in business. I hope you know some handyman basics because you are going to need them. Not once did she follow up to make sure our stay was going better. Not once did she offer to make good on anything. I spent my first two days of vacation working because Marsha does not work at all when it comes to maintaining the grounds, water, power and such. I will be furthering this with appropriate sites, social media outlets and local bureaus/chambers.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS LOCATION!

**Campground Review: **

This is the second year in a row of us ending our summer road trip at Honey Bear Campground in Boone, NC. Honey Bear is a medium sized campground with around 60 sites that are a mix of full hook up, RV water& electric, Tent water& electric, primitive camp sites, and a group tent camp area. There is also two small cabins to rent. All sites with hook ups also included cable hook ups. I have included a campground map in my pictures for your orientation. All the sites are gravel and most sites are wooded with lots of shade. The sites are a little sloped, so have leveling equipment ready. The sites vary from small and close together, to medium size with established plumeria shrubs separating sites for some privacy. All style sites include a picnic table and fire ring. If the campground is full, they do have an overflow area that they allow you to boondock at until a site opens up. 

Check-in was easy at the office at the entrance of the campground. We stayed on site B12 again this year as we find it private, well shaded, and close to a small creek that provided background water noise when it’s flowing good. This site does have a good slope to it and we had to use a stack of 3 Cacmo leveling blocks to get level, but if anything, this is my only minor complaint about this site. 

The bathhouse is centrally located and older, but functional and cleaned daily. There are also laundry machines available between the men’s and women’s area. 

Firewood and ice was available at the office. You can even walk down, pay for wood and/or ice and they will deliver it to your site! The office also has limited other supplies. There is a full grocery store less than 10 minutes away. Connected to the office is a coffee bar that also had some seating and a TV(Seemed to be a teen hang out in the evenings). 

We found good cell phone service with Verizon throughout the property. The campground did have wi-fi, however we only got a good connection if we were near the office/coffee bar. 

The campground also has a dog run, which our dogs loved. After being on the road for two weeks they enjoy every opportunity to get off leash and run. The dog area was surprisingly clean, so either the dog owners are doing the right thing and cleaning up after their dogs, or the staff monitors and cleans this area regularly. 

Being right on the outskirts of Boone is very beneficial. The area offers all types of outdoor activities, from hiking, rock climbing, fishing, mountain biking, and an assortment of snow sports in the winter. Additionally, you’ll find lots of shopping, restaurants, breweries & wineries, and appealing little towns around the area to explore. Also, Boone sits at 3,333 feet (surrounding mountains go up to 6K), so even in the middle of the summer you’ll find very comfortable day and night temperatures. 

Pro Tip: Check with the office for the Saturday night movie! Weather dependent, they show a movie outdoors on the front lawn. Bring your chair or blanket and a cooler/snacks, and come hang out for a movie with fellow campers. They had multiple fire pits going the Saturday we were there, so bring your favorite snacks to toast over the fire. 

With this being our second year to stop here, we have fallen in love with the area. We recommend this campground and will keep returning to this area. I wish it was a little closer to where we live and we’d come here a lot more often!

**---------------------------- **

**Product Review: **

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At this campground, I tested the Gregory Intertia 20 H2O Hydration Pack. This backpack from Gregory turned out to be my new favorite day hiking pack. The 20L easily fits all my day hiking equipment with room to spare. The 3L reservoir is plenty of water for a day hike even on the warmest of days. What I also really like is the side pockets. They are very deep, so if you are on a shorter hike where you are not using the 3L reservoir, you don’t have to worry about water bottles popping out of the side pockets (I’ve had other packs with short side pockets where water bottles fall out easily). The front mesh pocket is also large enough to hold all that“need now” type gear and there is a small quick stow pocket that is lined and perfect for storing glasses or sunglasses. Even loaded down with more than I’d usually take for a day hike, I found that with the multiple adjustment straps, this pack proved to be very comfortable and rode perfect on my back. I highly recommend this pack for day hikes and look forward to trying some of their larger packs in the future.