Best Tent Camping near Lumberton, NC

I stayed here the night before a mountain bike race at Brown’s Creek. I only needed one night, but wished I would have stayed a couple more. When I got to my site, I didn’t realize that I reserved a handicap spot (my mistake). The site was on concrete so I couldn’t stake down my awning. I rode my bicycle around the park and found the hiking trail right by the campground. It went around the lake, but since it said hiking, I stopped at the trail head. After dinner I started a fire, pulled out the guitar and played for a bit. I would have had a beer, but there is a no alcohol policy. (Still don’t understand this policy at state parks). The bathrooms/showers were great. Clean, heated, private showers. Quiet hours start at 10pm, but there were kids running around the park yelling. No too bad though. Never had to talk to anyone from the office. Just reserved online, pulled into my spot and left in the morning. I’ll come back to stay longer and hike the trail, check out the lake and go mountain biking down the road.

Little Pee Dee State Park is a quiet and clean campground on the banks of Lake Norton. Locals often come here for fishing and non-motorized boating.  We were fortunate to witness a mass crayfish event--the recent flooding had brought them out of the swamp and up the spillway, much to the delight of seafood lovers.

The campground had two different campground hosts, and they kept the restrooms and campsites immaculately clean.

Campsites have a fire ring/grate and a picnic table, but no trash cans, and you'll need to bring your trash to a large bin located at the edge of the campsites.

There are some nice sites right at the edge of Lake Norton, but the abundant water plants don't allow you to fish from the side of the lake, and it's not really a swimming lake. These sites accommodate RVs and have water & electric.  If you're on a budget, there are tent-only sites off the water.

The campground recently built a sleeping cabin, which is a cute structure with air conditioning/heat, bunk beds, and a free-standing bed (the cabin sleeps four, total). Guests can use a fire ring and Adirondack chairs, hammock, and grill.

The park also has a nice shelter for use.

There is no WiFi here, and cellular internet is spotty. There isn't a camp store, but the Ranger Station does have ice, firewood, and a small number of souvenirs for sale.

General: Small campground (20 Sites) around a circle with the bathhouse in the center. Although you can walk to the lake (about a half mile away), the sites are not lakefront. There is also a group campground.

Site Quality: Camper driveways are very generous in size and level. Sites are spaced far enough apart to provide reasonable privacy/separation. Sites vary. Two ADA-accessible sites have a concrete pad; most others have gravel pads, but two are just open grassy sites. Some are FHU, while some have no hookups. Some are pull-thru, and some are back-in. Each site has a fire ring, picnic table, and lantern hook. Most have a raised tent platform. 

Bath/Shower house: Very clean. Three showers, including one ADA-accessible one. The spray was not very strong, but the water was warm. 

Activities: In season, there is boating, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and fishing, but we were there at the beginning of April, and the weather was in the 50s. We did the four-mile Bay Trail, which was really more of a walk and not a hike. The signage was good, and the trail weaved back and forth from the gravel road. We were disappointed that there were not many views of the lake (there are three overlooks, but access to them was restricted due to flooding). Due possibly to recent rains, the last mile of the trail (we went in a clockwise direction from the campground) was flooded in several places, making passage challenging. There is also a short one-mile Cedar Loop trail as well as a spur leading from the Bay Trail to Salters Lake. 

We chose this campground primarily because of its location - it was a good stopping point for us. In early April, even during spring break, only a handful of sites were occupied. I imagine it would be a much different story in the summer months.

It was a little tricky finding the entrance to this campsite, but when we managed to Google map our way in into the park, we were very happy with our selection! These campsites are in a beautiful pine woods forest. Many sites have a pretty mossy pathway near the tent platform. The platform is elevated and and dirt framed in wooden railroad ties. The sites have great privacy and the campsite was virtually empty except for us and one other family. The campground ranger said they only fill up on the 4th of July. They set-up and trash can with a bag for you upon arrival. There is no general store nearby so bring wood and supplies in with you. There was a water pump/spigot near the restroom with great pressure (potable water). We brought our own pop-up shower and road toilet with us, so didn’t need the restroom. The ranger that greeted us was super nice and respectful. He gave us the gate code in case we needed to leave after they closed the gate at 9:00pm. Very quiet and peaceful.

We used this campground as a stopping point after a trip to Fantasy Lake Water Park.  It's secluded, small, cute, and located right on the Lumber River. 

Our particular site, PA 7, is one of two right on the river's edge, across from the Naked Landing trail.  Sites 7 & 8 would be perfect for two families to camp together, because they'd have the whole trail area to themselves.  These sites have a bit of hike-in required, in that you can't drive up to them (see my uploaded photo of where the parking lot is in relation to the sites).

There is a vault toilet near the parking lot ("that's gonna be a no from me, dog") but an actual restroom facility across the parking lot.

Each of the sites has its own trash can, and a ranger comes by in the morning to empty it.

The river is nice to swim in after a hot summer's day, although the bottom is quite squishy.  It's a good area to fish or use small watercraft.

We slept in hammocks and were awoken at dawn by a cacophony of juvenile barred owls directly above us.

When it comes to the artificial 'camping-for-the-masses' line of properties that KOA creates across the country, there’s some definite turn-offs for pure nature enthusiasts such as me, but in some cases, you come across one of their sites that is fairly decent and should not be overlooked. Lumberton KOA, which runs parallel to I-95 in these parts of North Carolina, does not disappoint. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find a better campground that is just minutes off of I-95 to park yourself for the night. But, to be clear, this place isn’t necessarily a destination – but rather, intended for those enroute to somewhere greater. In short, if you need a good place to park for the night, you will be pleasantly surprised by what you find here at Lumberton KOA.  And if you need something more substantial, well, just keep heading on down the road.

With a wide-array of elongated parking lanes for your parking pleasure, all of the sites come equipped with the typical 30 / 50 amp electrical hook-ups, waste disposal and water connections. There’s of course, the typical KOA office / market that will supply you with just about anything you might be missing. Other amenities include complimentary WiFi, camping kitchens, shuffleboard, propane and firewood for sale. In addition, there’s the standard-issued picnic table, fire ring / grill, garbage receptacles, kid’s playground and even a community BBQ – nearly everything was brand-spanking-new. In particular, I loved the open-air picnic shelters, in-ground heated pool (open from Memorial Day weekend until Halloween) as well as the wooden-framed tent parameters that you’ll find, which discourages pests from encroaching upon your encampment. The KOA hosts were nice, incredibly accommodating and offer pricing by the night, week and month.

Insider’s tip? (1) As this is certainly NOT a destination, but rather a very nice layover, arrive late, leave early, but while you are here, be sure to get to know the locals you are surrounded by – there’s always a great vibe amongst fellow KOA’ers; (2) Near this RV parking lot, you do have access to Lake Lynn, which has some decent fishing and is a good place to drop a kayak or canoe in for a short spin around its periphery; (3) For the kiddos, if you need to get away and see something a bit more educational then try out Exploration Station in downtown Lumberton; (4) When you grow tired of trying to conjure up that next meal from the depths of your Cordova roto-molded cooler or on-board mini-fridge and want to explore some great local fare, then check out The Governor Place for brisket burger and duck fries with alioli or Happenings on Elm, which has a pretty amazing wine tasting (for these parts), outstanding domestic and international craft beers as well as some pretty great edibles like baked brie crostini and Annette's homemade lasagna.

Happy Camping!

Pretty nice campground right off of hwy 401, just south of Raeford NC. There is a pit toilet and water spigot. There are no showers here. The Lumber River is right here, so fishing and canoeing/kayaking are popular activities. There is a hiking trail here as well.

The right hand side of the campground is set up for RV,s (pull through sites). The left hand side is for tent camping. Tent camping sites, 9-10-11, sit WAY back in the woods, so its like almost like having your own campground. TONS of forage wood here.

With talking to the rangers, they were saying that the place seldom gets too crowded, and you can almost always get a reservation here.

Our GPS wanted us to take Jones Lake State Park Rd, that was closed off, about 300 yards before the main park entrance. They have good directions on their website to follow. Check-in was easy. We proceeded to site 8, back-in with FHUs and 50 AMP. The roads were narrow but one way. Our back-in was a little challenging with our 39’ 5th wheel due to brush across the road, but very doable. Utilities were centrally located to the pad. Water pressure was good at around 50 psi. We got 2 bars on Verizon, a variety of OTA channels, and clear shot to the southern sky for satellite. Six of the CG’s back-in sites are FHUs with both 30 & 50 AMP. However, there are very spacious pull thru sites, but no hook ups, not even electric. We could have extended our stay and dry camped in one of these spots but there’s no dump station. This made us wonder if the state ran out of money or if they are still building? This was a very nice CG with well spaced campsites and a good trail system. There are no water views from the CG but the lake is a short walk. The CG is essentially a large circle with even numbers to the inside and odd numbered pull thru sites and some smaller tent sites to the outside. There is also a group tent camping area. FHU sites are 2, 4, 6, 8, 18& 20 and are long enough for large rigs. Back-in site 18, which is a handicap spot, could be a tight back-in for a trailer over 38’. Eighteen is pretty much a 90 degree turn plus there’s a water spigot and metal recycle container directly across the street to contend with. There are water spigots about every 4 sites(near sites 3, 7, 11, etc.) throughout the CG. There is a newer looking shower house conveniently located between sites 16& 18 that we didn’t use. The 3 nights we stayed over a weekend, the CG was maybe half full so very quiet and peaceful. If we could book one of the FHU sites or they add a dump station, we would stay here again.