Best Equestrian Camping near Knotts Island, NC

We camped at the tent only loop(F3). The site was great. The walk to the beach was longer than I thought. The most northern access was closed.

I was a bit disappointed with the bathroom situation and the trash situation. The one shower/bathroom serviced 3 different loops. And they closed it for cleaning in the morning for about 30 min. Frustrating.
There was no trash can in the loops. It was located at the entrance to the park forcing us to either drive it up daily or keep on site till the end.

Otherwise I loved the fishing and crabbing. The north beach was beautiful and water warm. Although they don’t allow dogs on the north beach.

Overall I would still go again.

First time camping at this state park. Tent site was spacious and very shaded. We camped on the F loop which is tucked away. Site was a quick walk to the swimming beach and bathhouse. If you don't have bikes/don't ride a bike, location is pretty far from camp store and trail heads. 

Loved that we could take our dogs on the south beach and enjoy a beach day with our dogs & toddler. Beautiful sunsets on the bay. 

Bathhouse is outdated, and did not experience any hot water from the showers. Toddler rolling around in sand meant multiple showers, all chilly.

Merchants Millpond is a great state park if you want to explore a different kind of ecosystem.  The heart of the park lies in its swamps filled with cypress trees and cypress stumps.  There are several camping areas of different kinds.  You can canoe in to one of their primitive campsites, which is on an island in the swamp.  There are other hike-in primitive sites, group camping sites, and there are also the family camping sites.   I stayed at the family camping site and decided to set up my hammock instead of a tent.  If you stay at Merchants Millpond, make sure you take and use insect repellent and lots of it.  I had the biggest problem with mosquitoes and ticks.  If you stay in a hammock, make sure it has mosquito netting.  The family camping sites have tent pads, lantern poles, and fire rings.  The bath house is centrally located within a short walking distance of all of the campsites.  The showers have hot water, but the bath house itself looks outdated.  The canoe-in site that I explored only has a pit toilet, but it did have fire rings and picnic tables.  You can hike to the island by way of a wooden bridge across the swamp, but it is mainly for those who want to canoe in.  If you can go off trail, you can see lots of wildlife.  I had the opportunity to do so since I was invited to participate in a search and rescue exercise.  I only saw one snake, which is unusual not to see more, but I also saw a deer and couple of turtles.  There is a bicycle trail, but the one I hiked on the most was the Lassiter Trail, which has a few wooden bridges and opportunities to experience the eastern woodlands and great views of the swampy millpond.  Fortunately, I did not run into any bears or alligators, which are common in this area.  The visitors center is large and modern, and there is a meeting facility.  The person that I talked to at the visitors center was pleasant and was able to answer my questions.  The staff is great to work with, and I know this because I volunteered to teach camping skills to 4H kids a couple of years ago at this state park.  Overall, it’s a great state park, but it lacks the amenities of modern RV parks.

We really enjoyed the short hiking trails and the opportunity to kayak off the very nice beaches.  The boat landing was extremely busy, but a separate section for canoes/kayaks made it slick to get in and out.

The bathrooms are not well maintained, although this time there was hot water!  Our site was good and semi-private.  Certainly large enough for our two man tent and camp chairs.

A small camp store means you may have to take a trip into town, which is close by.  There are also a number of nice restaurants in the area.  Gas, groceries, etc. are near by.