Best RV Parks & Resorts near Emerald Isle, NC

Another great National Forest campsite. All sites are paved; minimal leveling required. Lots of trees and shade -- plenty of room for the hamock and screenhouse. No individual water at sites, but potable water available at the dump station. Hosts were visible and attentive.

Bathhouse was clean with large, individual showers.

Mostly TTs and big rigs -- only saw 2 tents. Hiking trails and boat ramp located 0.5 miles away, within the park. There is a marine airfield nearby, so you will hear planes and "booms" occasionally. Would have given this one a "10" if it had water hookups.

Extremely nice campground with 4 RV sites(50 Amp) and water service. Dump station is easy access upon arrival or departure. Easy entrance and exit from main highway to site area. Trees are well maintained to prevent brushing RV upon entrance and exit. Accommodates easy access to 2 pull through and 2 back in camp sites. Each site has 12x12 concrete pads to restrict tracking sand and/or dirt into RV unit. Daily trash service at sites. Rest rooms well kept, clean with private single shower. Washer and dryer service located at bath house and close to site area for a reasonable price. Wi-Fi service available and ready. Wonderful remote quite area for total relaxation. Tent area behind RV sites but separated from RV location. Area lit at night but not to the extreme to bother camping. Kayaks available to enjoy the small river behind RV& Tent area. Easy access via wooden dock for boarding or unloading kayaks. Owner is extremely accommodating and offers fresh eggs and black angus beef at responsible rates.

Pickleball! And there's the bar/lounge, swimming pool, gym, laundry but most of all, space. You're in the south, so friendly folks who give you all the time in the world is a given. Yes, southern hospitality is palpable here. We're just a few miles from the beach, walking distance to a restaurant and or convenience store; crawling distance to Dales Pub across the road. It's like a KOA here, without the big trikes, lake and boats- but there are a couple ponds where the turtles come and go. Highlights for us; 1.) The laundry will run off an app on your phone. 2.) The pool and patio is truly awesome; we hang there almost every afternoon(weather permitting). 3.) Did I mention pickleball?! Downsides? Well, there is the price, but that's relative. We're getting a$1200.00 monthly rate which makes it do-able. Sometimes, when the winds blow out of the east, every camper smells the sewage treatment plant across the back fence- Check Google maps satellite view. Truth be told, it is rare, only a few days out of the month. The large majority of the time we get the cool coastal breeze. We camped at Oceans RV Resort in a Fifth Wheel.

Neuse River Flanners Beach Campground: Most sites have visual privacy (Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer with a desire for a campsite that has at least some visual privacy offered - after the trailer is in the spot.)

Overall Rating: 4.5 Price 2023: $ $10 + $5 per night for electricity w interagency pass Usage during visit: Pretty full. Unable to obtain a reservation for an extended period.
Site Privacy: Almost all sites has a nice degree of privacy with trailer in site.
Site Spacing: Very good Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Yes. You better. Campground Noise: Quiet. Road Noise: None Through Traffic in campground: None Electric Hookup: Available Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: Yes. At entrance. Potable Water Available: Scattered spigots Generators:
Bathroom: Yes Showers: Yes Pull Throughs: Not that I saw.
Cell Service (AT&T): 2 bars Setting: Deciduous forest. Weather: 70 degrees today. Bugs: Not noticeable. Solar: Too much tree cover Host: Yes Rig size: Some sites will fit large rigs. A careful drive in Campground will surely be required. Sites: Almost all sites are good. Some of the least private sites are: 13,20,27,29

Cedar Point RA is a small campground along the White Oak River in the Croatan National Forest. The campground has 40 sites with electric hook up. The sites are level and have a paved parking pad that they are pretty strict on you keeping all wheels on and a gravel area with a picnic table, fire pit, and two lantern poles (that also work good for putting up a clothes line or dog zipline). The sites do not have water hook ups so make sure your RV fresh water tanks are topped off, or there are plenty of potable water points throughout the campground to fill up you jugs. The sites are large and separated by space, not trees, for privacy. The sites on the southeast side seemed to have more shade than those on the northwest side. Campground map is in my pictures. 

There is no office or signage for check-in, so we just drove in, found our reserved spot that had our name on the tag and set up. The Camp Host came around a little later and apparently we were supposed to know to check-in with him somehow. We stayed on site 24 on this visit. Lots of sun throughout the day until late evening, so a little miserable on this stay as the area had heat advisories every day. 

The bathhouse could use a little TLC. The bathrooms were functional but not very clean. The showers are separate from the bathroom and half were out of order on this stay. Additionally, in typical National Forest fashion, there is no heat or air or even a fan in the bathroom or showers, so again, pretty miserable on this stay as the area had heat advisories every day. The heat in the bathrooms and showers had to be over 100 degrees. Also, typical National Forest setup, the showers are push button, with no temperature control (you get what you get) and the water only flows for about 15 seconds with each push of the button. 

Firewood was available at the camp host. There is a full grocery store 5 minutes from the campground. The resort has many amenities like a boat ramp about a ¼ of a mile down the road and a hiking trail that loops for about 2 miles along the marshy shore line. There is a dump station and trash dumpster behind the camp hosts location. 

We found good cell phone service with Verizon throughout the property. The campground did not have wi-fi. 

While in the area we enjoyed the public beach on Emerald Isle, which is only 15 minutes from campground. There are lots of water sport rentals nearby and restaurants. Camp Lejeune is less than 30 minutes away and on some nights we could hear the artillery in the distance as the Marines trained. However, as a retired Army guy, the faint sound of freedom did not bother me at all. 

The heatwave during our stay really hindered us. Not sure we’d revisit in the middle of the summer again, but during the cooler month I’m sure it would be much more comfortable.

Oyster Point: Great sites. Sites w water view are best.
(Scale 1- bad, 5-Very good

(70 yr olds in 17’ trailer with a desire for a campsite that has at least some visual privacy offered - after the trailer is in the spot.)

Overall Rating: 4 Price 2023: $ 5 w interagency pass Usage during visit: Light Site Privacy: Underbrush has been trimmed it looks like. So, there is not as much privacy between sites. Site Spacing: Very wide sites .
Site surface: Gravel Reservations: Yes Campground Noise: Quiet during our stay.
Road Noise: Secluded. No public roads nearby. Through Traffic in campground: No Electric Hookup: No Sewer Hookup: No Dump Station: No Potable Water Available: Yes. One or two spigots. Generators:Allowed Bathroom: Pit toilet is clean and well stocked. Showers: No Pull Throughs: Site 13 is a pull through Cell Service (AT&T): 2 - 4 bars Setting: Pine forest with a more of Newport River Weather: 72 fall day high. Bugs: No mosquitoes. Must be gone for the year Solar: Maybe too forested in some spots. In site # 5 at 9:00 AM we had some solar charge happening Host: Tonia is a delightful host Rig size: Our site would fit a large rig. Sites: I took pictures of the sites on the shore side of the campground. They are the best, but all sites here I would be happy with. Sites #9 and #11 have pathways to a very small private beach. Site 1 is close to a pit toilet. Maybe a smell issue now and then.

We found Dixon Landing in their initial opening phase and it is lightly booked at this point (they even have openings for the upcoming summer holidays). This is a very secluded campground right on the wide Goose Creek/Neuse River, with access to the ocean varying from 25-50 miles. 

Every RV site is pull-through with both “waterfront” and “water view” (more of a view of the marsh along the river) sites. Site layout is long, very wide(you have to actually walk over to talk to neighbors) and mostly level side-to-side. Front-to-back was easily compensated with blocks. The road in and the sites are a combination of compacted sand and grass that drained well after a storm. Many sites have shade or afternoon shade. The electric pedestal was new and tall, making it easy to connect the surge protector, and topped with a solar light. 

Hosts Steve and Joan were themselves RV’rs and park details reflect their experience. Since they are in their opening season they currently offer basic services with electric/water, a dump site(no water) and free on-site pump-out service, picnic tables, firepits, a dog park, kayaks, and a fishing pond for kids(C&R). More services are in the planning or permitting stage. Today they offer a bathroom and just got permits for the full bathhouse. Fiber-optic cable should be run to their area this year. We were amazed at how many TV channels we picked up just on antennae. Verizon, ATT and Sprint service are known to be good. They will have an ice machine, laundry, and a pier eventually. 

Today you will go to enjoy the absolute quiet, waking up to sunrise glinting off the wide river in every window, fishing from the banks, land and sea wildlife, gorgeous sunsets over the river, and hearing whip-or-wills serenade after sunset. 

It was about 90 minutes (including 2 ferry rides) to reach the Cape Lookout National Park and lighthouse.  The ferry dropped us off for 2 hours to walk the beach, hike and view the wild horses on Harker’s Island. Gary’s, the local seafood restaurant, was a find! So good we ate there twice. I’m already looking at the calendar to go back.

Not bad this is called a holiday one but I would say this is more like a journey one it doesn't seem very resort-like.

Bathrooms: 5/5

Sites: 4/5 upgrades are nice but really expensive for just a concrete pad next to someone else

Pools: 3/5 they have one but it's pretty meh. Like a 70s motel 8 pool.

Beach: 2/5 there is an inlet beach and a pier but it's like marshy Mudd not sandy beach

Waterfrontness: 0/5

Closeness to other sites: 1/5 you are up each other's buttcracks

Dog rating: 4/5 plenty of poop bags

Internet: 2/5 no wifi and no hookups but our AT&T router worked

Cell service: Google fi and ATnT worked

Water quality: 1/5 potable but tastes gross

Extra amenities: they have a shuttle some seasons. It was not here during October so who knows. Bike rentals Kayak rental Laundry Host station

Full timers and long term on business campers beware! This campground has nothing to offer. The owners of this 1 year old campground are very strict with their rules and regulations. They are very nice in person and when checking in but soon you will find yourself receiving passive aggressive emails from them about rule violation they’ve spotted on the 6 or more cameras throughout the park. They have a very strict leash law here but offer no dog run/park area for your K-9 to play. They claim a dog park is on the list of things to come, but the second half of a drain field will come first. There are no amenities here, other than a very small fishing pond and some poorly maintained walking trails at the rear of the campground that have piles of post construction material scattered about. The campground is on well water and very brown in color so I would not drink or cook with it. Over half of the sites have your living side of the RV facing west and there is not a tree in sight, so in the summer be prepared to bake in the sun. The entire campground is gravel parking lot with 10 foot slivers of grass between each site and god forbid don’t let Sean the owner see you put anything(rug, vehicle, etc…) on his beloved grass. I gave this campground 2 stars… 1 for being dark and quiet at night and the other star for the free and decent wifi. So if you don’t want spied on via cameras, harassed, a dusty rig and a place for Fido to play, I would suggest going 8 miles down the road to an awesome campground called Whispering pines you and your dog will be much happier!