Best Glamping near Linville, NC

We had the best time at Buck Hill Campground! I got the idea to go camping near Linville for Memorial Day weekend and most places with online reservations were already booked up (oops). SO HAPPY I called this place! The owner Chris and his family were so kind and helpful, and the campground was super peaceful and lovely. Grassy shady spots by the lake to pick out a place to pitch a tent with fire rings, water spigots and picnic tables spread down the treeline. Chris and the kids would ride by on golf carts and you can purchase firewood from them and have it delivered to the campsite.

We have young inexperienced campers, and this place was perfect. They could run around in the field, go play at the playground, watch the baby geese, and visit the arcade while I got dinner ready, so that was awesome. Plus there are rivers and trails there too, although we took the short drive to Linville Falls to go hiking. Close to Linville Falls & Caverns. There was no cell service for us (AT&T) but the campground had free wifi. Bathrooms nearby were clean and big. Very quiet at night, all the other campers were super nice. People were fishing in the lake and river, and the guys next to us went out fishing somewhere all day every day. GORGEOUS weather, beautiful views of the mountains, nice and cool throughout the day and not too cold at night (end of May).

We look forward to going back!

A smaller campsite but very well organized and maintained. Small lake on site. Several hiking trails nearby. You can hike a trail into the NC Arboretum. Very near Asheville and Biltmore Estates. Tent sites, RV sites and Glamping sites. Clean bathrooms and properly supervised. A hidden gem minutes from Asheville

I only stayed a night here but it was just the spot I needed to reorganize my truck and enjoy a wonderful hot shower.

Also really needed the quick swil in the lake in the evening.

This site sells ice and firewood usually (they were out of ice when I was there) and also has a number of "glamping" tents available to reserve.

This campground was dreamy! The ambiance is perfect, the streamside campsite was music to our ears, the bathrooms immaculate and the yurts looked pretty great too! I could stay forever. We visited Chinney Rock and Linville Falls during our stay and they were both amazing sights to see.

We had a lot of fun at our glamping campsite. The gorgeous tent was on a platform and included a large bed and decorated interior. The site had a campfire ring and was close to the bathroom. The platform had some chairs and the campfire wood was there for us.

I did have a bear encounter on my way to the bathroom during the night, but we both just backed away slowly. This was actually the experience that made me pro-camper with a bathroom lol.

The camp host arrived shortly after we did to check in on us and to give us the lay of the land. He fortunately also came around the next morning when our car battery was dead and gave us a jump.

The best thing about Lake Powhatan is the the nice hike around the lake and the fun little lake beach. It’s the perfect size for kids. Plenty of people also seem to enjoy the biking, but it’s a bit uphill for me and there can be a fair amount of cars.

Lake Powhatan is a great little getaway!

I really wanted to love Lake Powhatan, it’s so close to Asheville and I thought it would be my go to place to stay when I wanted to visit friends there but the staff was rude and there were so many loud groups at night. I had a prime site with lots of space between myself and my neighbors and an easy walk to the bathrooms with hot showers. Dogs aren’t allowed in the small lake but there are tons of streams along the trails they are allowed in so that was perfect for my senior dog to cool off. The trails were crowded with people and mountain bikers but conveniently located to the campground. Along the streams there were tons of these tiny blue butterflies and I saw a young bear stroll past my campsite one morning, just magical really. At night people showed up late slamming car doors and partying at several sites, some that I could hear weren’t even on my loop and it was a bit frustrating. I also had a very uncomfortable interaction with one of the men working their (who didn’t make it clear he even worked there) who basically restricted my movement for several minutes and then accused me of trying to steal from the glamping sites because I was driving around checking out where I might stay the next time. I was so uncomfortable I packed up to leave right after and the people at the site next to me said they had issues the previous year with the staff, really unfortunate when you are trying to relax in nature. They and I emailed the campground about the incidents with no response from management, I will not be going back.

Another lovely campground along the BRP, close to Linville Falls and gorge, picnic area and visitor center.

Erwin’s View Trail: Moderate Linville Gorge Trail: Strenuous {amazing view of falls}

Get a map at the visitor’s center.. redundant: the gorge is rather crowded on the weekends.

Check online for road closures when visiting the parkway.

$20 per night

There are 70 sites, some reservable sites and walk ins -and an RV loop {dump station} All sites non electric, generators permitted before quiet hours.

Lovely rangers and camp host that I found to be pleasant and helpful.

Open field sites, with decent sized pads, fire pits & picnic tables. Some of the sites are more secluded, the ones nearest to the parkway road.

Dog friendly for leashed puppers 🐾 Kid Friendly

There are bear lockers, keep food and supplies in the locker and in car at night.

Alcohol is prohibited

No showers but access to clean water and flush toilets.

You may collect dead wood or bring in HEAT TREATED firewood that is certified with a federal seal.

Local stores that sell wood and/or other supplies: Linville Falls Visitor Center/Park store Linville Falls General Store {8896 NC-183, Linville Falls, NC 28647- trinkets, camp supplies, cold drinks, non perishable food, Hunt Brothers Pizza etc} Walmart Supercenter, Spruce Pine, Ingles Food Store, Newland

Nearby Attractions

Linville Falls Linville Gorge “Grand Canyon of the Southern Appalachians”

Falls Trail - 1.6 mi RT/easy The Gorge Trail - 1.4 mi RT/ strenuous. The Plunge Basin Trail- 1mi RT/ moderate. Leashed dogs permitted 🐾

BRP Linville Canverns Crabtree Falls, Burnsville Grassy Creek Falls NC Gem Museum

The campground is laid out well, spacious, clean and located near awesome trails, falls, look outs and shops and restaurants.

Jake from the Dyrt here!  I had the opportunity to talk with Kimberly about her amazing farm and she is looking forward to welcoming more campers to stay in this great area of North Carolina.  Check out the farm and please post some pictures and a review on The Dyrt about about your experience!

We stayed 2 nights in our 17' travel trailer and enjoyed clean bathrooms and hot showers, plus our site #2 had a small deck that came in handy when we were able to move the picnic table under our camper awning to avoid a light rain. Don't miss Linville Falls, but especially don't miss the drive up to an amazing lookout over Linville Falls Gorge if your vehicle can handle a pretty bumpy drive up the mountainside. Campground proprietress was helpful tho' efficient. Premises clean, with sites tucked into a hilly area.

While it is close to a highway it is far enough away not to hear it but convenient to many places to visit including Asheville, The Blue Ridge Parkway and many national Forests and Parks. It is situated on a small river which makes a wonderful backdrop noise to the experience and your sleep. A short not overly strenuous hike to beautiful Catawba Falls to enjoy the beauty of the North Carolina mountains. The staff is helpful and the facilities are more than adequate. Highly recommend this campsite

My stay in the yurt was an amazing experience! Waking up to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the morning over a nice cup of Juan Valdez is unmatched!! The trail to the waterfall and peacefulness in the air is something I will come back to visit for years!

Julian Price Park is a beautiful campground just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. We enjoy this campground on the weekends throughout the fall and spring as it is less occupied. Reservations can be made on-line or walk up to the small building in the front of the loop. The campsites are separated into several loops. One loop is closer to the lake, the other loop has more availability and quite a range of campsites.

Bathrooms are available here (upgrades coming soon!) as well as drinking water.

Be prepared for an encyclopedia of reading all the rules. I found the yurts and cabins to be way too close together for any type of privacy. Maybe they have it set up that way for big groups to come in at once? But it was so noisy with kids and dogs echoing in the valley, and we could even hear the neighboring cabins talking while sitting around their campfire. I suppose if I was there with a group of close friends it would be okay but it seems with all the land they have that they could have given each person more privacy in their spaces. One more thing that may help is we hiked all of the trails and noticed in several places there were 3-4 inch protrusions where small trees where cut down but not cut all the way back to the ground and I almost sprained my ankle. They all did spray paint some of the roots and had the trails nice and cleared but the exposed ends of the small trees throughout the trail are a real hazard. I’m super fit and have good eyesight and hike a lot so I was able to dodge many of them but I’m sure the kids and the older adults may get hurt. Other than the close proximity of the cabins/yurts/RVs and the exposed tree stubs I think they have a great concept (for large group events) and we enjoyed our stay. One more thing the shower handle falls off in the small yurt.

At the top of Linville Falls you can hammock camp on a Rock are within 50 feet of the Waterfall.

This campground is fully established and the rangers and hosts are wonderful. It's not deep forest or fabulous views but has access to the river. There is water and some buggy bathrooms (if that bothers you) but no showers. What it does have are very nice hosts, good sites, some shady, some sunny for rigs and tents and access to Linville, Banner Elk, Spruce Pine, the Falls and Linville Cavern. Some sites are hellish to back into (like mine) so check it out first. Spotty cell service with T mobile. Overall though, a very nice experience.

Truly a dog-oriented campground, there are tons of activities and plenty of room to roam for the dogs.

No camper? No problem. They have campers, yurts and tiny cabins for rent.

Everyone is extremely nice and the grounds and facilities (bathrooms, laundry, dog wash, etc) are very clean.

We spent a great weekend at Lake Powhatan.  I was a little nervous after reading reviews that said that the staff & hosts could be aggressive.  We had no trouble there.  Everyone we encountered was very friendly and helpful.   I saw a host drive by in a golf cart once, but we were basically left to our own devices.   I did not see anyone who could have been the older male mentioned in the older reviews across a few different websites, so the former problematic hosts may have moved on. 

We stayed on the Hard Times loop at 90 and 91.  We scoped out both spots when we got there and decided 91 would be our base camp and 90 would be used for extra parking.  91 was on the outer loop and had some woods behind it for the kids to play.  There was also more room to spread out.  There was enough level space for a 6 person tent, 4 person tent, and large shelter (over the rather large concrete picnic table).   There were also a few trees within the spot, that made rain-prep tarping easier.  The space was fairly sunny when the weather cleared up so we kept the tarp up for some shade Saturday afternoon.  (Trees didn't have leaves yet, not sure if it would be shadier later in the Spring/Summer). 

90 had steps leading up to the spot which were cool, but could be problematic for someone with mobility issues or young children.  The useable space was a bit smaller, too.  It was also closer to neighbors on the other side of the interior loop.  Bathrooms were close to both, but closer to 90.  Could be considered too close for some, perfect for others.  If we had only booked 90 it would have been lovely, but 91 was the better spot.   

The bathrooms were some of the cleanest we've seen.  My husband, who normally does not comment on that sort of thing, pointed it out more than once.  When we got there they were spotless, but took a little beating with the rainy weather. They were cleaned Saturday morning and someone was in there cleaning up again after the rain stopped.

Dumpsters were within walking distance, which was nice to be able to walk it down instead of putting it in your car for the night.  There was also aluminum recycling.  

The lake was close enough for my 7 & 8 year olds to bike.   And there were so many trails to chose from.  

A friend stayed at the glamping sites and thought they were fantastic.  And happened to be very close to our spot. 

There was a water spigot on the road in front of site 90 which made filling up our water cooler so easy. 

A few things that didn't bother us too much but others might want to know:

There is no camp store for extra supplies, but they do sell ice and plenty of firewood at the gate.  

There are only two bathroom stalls per bathhouse.  There were a couple of times when both would be in use, but I never had to wait long and there was never a line. 

We had very little cell service (Verizon).  We could sporadically send texts, but not get on the internet.

Easy access to the trails around and over Linville Gorge. You can easily spend 2 days exploring trails along both sides of Linville Gorge and staring at the Falls. There is a less strenuous walk along one side of the gorge and a trail that allows views from the top of the waterfall that is accessible for most people.

On the other side of the Gorge are more challenging hikes. Maps are available at the visitor’s center. I highly recommend researching the geology of the Gorge to add to your appreciation & understanding.

Warning: This is a very popular tourist area and it’s crowded in summer. Get there early if you want to park without a wait.

As you would expect, there are restaurants and shops in the area to serve visitors.