The best camping near
Jersey , NORTH CAROLINA

Personally, I would give dispersed camping here four or five stars, but I have to be objective from the point of view of many campers. This is not an RV camping area, at least not the dispersed camping area. You cannot drive up to the campsites. There are no electric, water, or sewer hookups. There might be at the more developed campgrounds, but if you are camping along the Uwharrie Trail or the Dutchman’s Creek Trail, it is completely primitive. With that said, I have enjoyed camping in the Uwharrie National Forest. 

This makes my third time in the Uwharrie National Forest. The first time was with a Royal Ranger Junior Training Trails group when I was a Royal Ranger leader. We camped along the Dutchman’s Creek Trail. The second time was with the Boy Scouts when we were preparing the boys for a longer backpacking trip to Philmont in New Mexico. This time was my third time, and I was by myself. I hiked along the creek at what was marked as campsite 1 along the Uwharrie Trail. It was a short hike and easy to moderate. Unfortunately, it wasn’t far enough away to hear distant noises from Hwy 24, so if you want to get away from traffic noise completely, hiker farther in. 

Obviously, there are no facilities, so I had to take my own water and a water filter. Since I was close to a stream, I had to take care of personal business about two hundred feet farther away. There was evidence that others had been at this site because of the trash, but as always(and I am not patting myself on the back), I left the site cleaner than I found it. I am sure there are other views, but my favorite view was from Dennis Mountain, which is only about 700 feet above sea level. I didn’t make it to Dennis Mountain this time, and I wish I had taken pictures when I was there before. On my previous trips, I also wish I had taken more photos. Nevertheless, backpacking and camping in the Uwharrie Mountains gives you a sense of being in the wilderness.

This KOA is RIGHT off of the interstate. If you are in midtravel and need a place to overnight this is a nice KOA for that. The camping cabins are cozy, we stayed in a single which has 1 dbl bed and twin sized bunk bed. Staff was very friendly. I wouldn't consider this a camping destination.

I guess my GPS needs updating since it took me down the wrong road to get to this state park, so if you haven’t updated your GPS, do it before you attempt to come here. Other than that, it’s not that difficult to find. 

There are quite a few things to do at this state park. Hiking, horseback riding, and boating/kayaking are just some of the activities. The trails range from easy to strenuous, and there are lots of them. In addition to the typical outdoor activities, there is also an outdoor museum devoted to Dr. Francis Joseph Kron, one of the first doctors in the Piedmont.   There is also a history and geological museum located within the park.

The campground has three loops, some with no hookups and some with electric hookups. Water access is a few steps away. I didn’t do my research and I got the campsite farthest from the bath house. However, it wasn’t so bad since the road was paved and there was a moon out. I think the tent pad at my campsite was one of the largest, even though part of it was used for the picnic table, the lantern pole, and the fire pit. It was fairly level, but it was fine gravel. Driving tent stakes in was a little difficult but not impossible. One of the best things about this campground is that there is plenty of space between the campsites(at least where I was), so you don’t feel as if you are on top of the other campers. I also liked that there were plenty of trees for shade. The only drawback is that this state park is close to the Fort Bragg Army Reservation, so you will hear an occasional jet or helicopter(s) flying overhead. 

Even though the bath house has everything you need, including hot showers, it does need updating. Paint was peeling off the walls, but if that doesn’t bother you, it will be fine. Most campers are in their RVs, so I guess it doesn’t really matter. One thing I did not like was that the bath house is cleaned from 9:30– 10:30 am. Knowing that, however, I was able to work around it. If you decide to go exploring, you will want to go to the Morrow Mountain overlook. There are some pretty spectacular views from there. Overall, I enjoyed my stay here, and I wish I could have stayed longer.

Really nice park with nice trails that aren't too challenging but also with just enough going on to keep them fun and interesting. We camped at Dispersed Hike to Site 1. The dispersed sites are really nicely spread out. Nice clean firepits. Standard pit toilets, just nice overall. This is a really well maintained park!

Wide spaces with lots of room under big shade trees. This campground is a muni but is is very well maintained. It is convenient to the highway, clean bathrooms and next door to a 4 mile paved exercise path with mountain bike trails in the middle.

Friggin awesome man!! Loved all the experiences I’ve had here. Never a dull moment. Gone as many times as one can go and still not tired or burned out. Highly recommended for fun folks.

We stayed here while visiting friends who lived in the Salisbury area and stayed in Cabin 1. The cabins are REALLY nice, I was very impressed. We walked the RV sites and spotted several that were also very nice as well. They each seemed to offer a decent bit of privacy, which is nice. The pool was well located but busy, which was okay all the families and kids were having a great time and that was so nice to see. I enjoyed sitting near the pond and just watching the ducks swim. The best part was getting fresh eggs from the check-in store each morning… And I mean… Fresh Eggs. Really cool place.

We stayed in July 2019. For a NC state park, some of the sites are a little close to each other. It is well known that NC parks do not allow alcohol, so we did not bring any.

The camp host was a little insulting with how they kept on checking on us over and over and over and reminding us that we can't drink. We weren't even playing music or making noise. And we weren't drinking. It was just the two of us, and we are experienced campers, so… We know better.

I'd go back and give it another try,but having to insist that we weren't breaking rules… I felt like a kid in Catholic school all over again and frankly, I do not go camping with the goal of re-living that.

I have stayed here twice now and still love this campground. We explored the creek and walking path. The kids loved the jumping pillow.

We stayed with family and reserved a cabin. Our two family members reserved two RV sites.

The cabins were wonderful and I would highly recommend them BUT… there is no late check in, and we were not warned of that at all, so when we got in at 10pm no key was left for us to get into our cabin. We had to spend the night in my dad's RV on one of the foldouts- if he wasnt there; who knows where we would have stayed.

I do not really recommend the RV sites, I didnt like the way they had the waste lines set up, and i kept smelling raw sewage.

Once we were IN our cabin, I must say- it was one of the nicest cabins out there and the whole family hung out with is at our cabin site since it had more privacy, didnt have a sewage smell and then was right next to the lake/pond. We also rented a canoe and had fun canoeing around the pond/lake