Best Glamping near Montreat, NC

Super place, super staff. Kevin the manager and Diane the host are awesome people with plenty of knowledge of the area. The road into the facility (FR 472) turns into a gravel road for the last mile or so with a few small potholes but nothing terrible, we had no problems getting there in a 30' class a RV . Just make sure when you get to the fork in the road STAY TO THE RIGHT! The road on the left is Neil Creek road (which btw has some really nice dispersed camp sites) but if you have a bigger rig and go up that road you will hate life... It twists then gets steep and only a couple places to make a 180. No cell service whatsoever even with a booster... If you walk a 1/4 mile out the gravel road by the 1st A frame house you can get a signal there. The showers have plenty of hot water and are clean. The place is a bear super highway so they take policing your food and garbage very seriously. There are an abundance of hiking trails accessible from the site and are well kept... S

Toe River has some beautiful spots to take a dip if you can handle the cold water.

Stayed here with a group . I van camped, a Bell Tent, Avion camper, Geodome , and mini house was rented. All pretty well maintained. There were a few electrical issues due to the crowd that arrived for a music event over the weekend. They sorta stick people all over the place when their busy. Beautiful view along the River. Bar and food truck with vegan options on site. We whitewater rafted, the guides were excellent and it was an awesome trip. The AT meanders along the River and is easily accessible from the campground. Be flexible if you stay here, their reservation system leaves a lot to be desired, but it is a very layed back and enjoyable stay.

While there's a few dozen great places to stay in and around the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway, there are few campgrounds as prized as Julian Price, which has plenty to explore just steps from your tent's front door (er, flap!). 

After a 3+ hour drive from nearby Raleigh, my very great friend Gary (or'Gariatica' for short) and I landed at the D Loop, which is one of four campgrounds you'll find here. What's important to know about the'Big Letter D Barrio' as the locals refer to it as, is that the campground perches up almost immediately after entering it, so you'll be first met with a few of the lower campsites (which must receive a decent amount of noise from the passing traffic that is only 30-40 feet away from them) before coming to the ground's bathhouses (while just mediocre and not the cleanest, there are bonus points here for providing 'no coin required' individual, private stalls (8 in all), so no group showers, which will be disappointing for some, I suspect). 

After passing the communal bathing facilities, you will circumnavigate the D Loop in counter-clockwise fashion (although many tried to swim upstream and go in the opposite direction, which I don't recommend, as apart from being hit from oncoming traffic, even if there was none, you would need to conduct a 17-point turn-around to park your car in the provided parking spot) to tour the 40 or so campsites. 

While there were only a few free slots to chose from at the time of our booking (about 3-4 weeks in advance, so book early if you can!), we did get relatively lucky with our campsite, good 'ol D20, which had plenty of space for our behemoth 24 person tent cabin (OK, so you can't really sleep 24 in this sucker, but it sure would be fun trying!). 

I would actually recommend the sites that were located directly across from ours - while ours slanted upwards(revealing our entire site), those on the other side of the road sloped downwards so had a solid amount of privacy. Basic amenities were had at most sites we saw- solid (yet aging) picnic tables, fire rings (with pull down grill) and wooden-encased tent platforms. Warning: no nearby running water (to clean dishes, you'll have to load them up in a bucket and trudge back and forth to the bathhouse (donning a towel is optional). 

Also, I would suggest if you are looking at campsites here or in the other areas of this campground, do look at whether or not a trail cuts through or by your campsite. I don't know how you feel about 100's (this is a popular campground with loads of people hiking trails when we were there, so I'm not overestimating here) of strangers passing by your front door (dang it, I meant'flap' again!), but you might want to avoid the heavy foot fall traffic. 

Also, unlike any other campground I've ever visited (I lost count after the first 100), I've never stayed at a campground where it was so easy for anyone to simply drive up and around the campground (usually, you have to persuade someone at the front gate that you belong there, right?) as this location has an EZ access point that avoids the ranger at the gate(who left promptly at 5pm anyway), which made me a bit uneasy, although we had no problems to speak of. 

Last tip? My buddy who knows the area fairly well took me to Gamekeeper's Inn [https://gamekeeper-nc.com\\\\\\\] for one of the best meals of my life. This oversized log cabin chalet has an outstanding bar, simply fantastic staff, upscale smarts and feature exotic meats and rare game, so while I would have preferred hot dogs and beans fireside, followed by endless amounts of s'mores, I was instead dining on grass-[hand]-fed Bison and dungeon-free Emu, the likes of which I had never savored before. Quite delish, washed down by very fine Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough in the land of kiwis and finished off by, what else? You guessed it, a fantastic creme brûlée. Very nice and quite expensive, but hey, you only live once, right?!. 

Happy Camping!

What a weekend! My family desperately needed a COVID safe getaway so we decided to retreat to the woods. Cherryfield Luxury Group Camping exceeded our expectations. The shelters and grounds were prestine and the covered platforms were definately the way to go car camping. Our tents stayed neat and the covered shelter kept us dry and cozy as we watched the rain on our second night without a fly on our tent. This campsite has thought of everything. There are grills an firepits beside each platform (each platform is large enough for 3 four person tents) and there are two common shelters with electricity and GORGEOUS bathrooms. It is funny to say, but the bathrooms were nicer than many hotels we've stayed at... large tiled shower with digital temperature controls, excellent water pressure from the large rain shower head, and, as a bonus, surround shower heads for that extra special something. I have never been excited by a shower or bathroom at a campground, but I made sure to shower before leaving because the experience was so zen. There is ample lawn space to play games, set up additional tents, and spread out for privacy, even during larger group gatherings. There are grills and grill tops by each fire pit making campfire or grill cooking easy, but delicious local restaurants just 10 minutes away also offer catering style menus that makie car camping and group gatherings even easier (the local BBQ and Italian were terrific). The grounds are meticulously kept and there are sturdy bear boxes to protect food and trash to help keep unwanted visitors from troubling guests. While we enjoyed some activities away from Cherryfied, we could have easily spent the entire weekend at the campsite. Not only are the grounds spectacular, but there is an easy walking trail to a lovely moss covered waterfall just steps away from the campgroud. The sound of the waterfall can be heard from the campground. It added ambient atmosphere and lulled us to sleep each night. The hosts were terrific and offered many suggestions for take out meals and activities. My only criticism is that the weekend went by too quickly. I did not realize how much my family needed an escape of this sort until we got the Cherryfield. I recomment Cherryfield without reservation. Take good care of this special place. We cannot wait to return.

   We camped at Emberglow campground for a long weekend the third week of April 2022. The campground is amazing. We all had a wonderful time. There was a combination of Camping trailers, and one family rented a Tiny House. The house was beautiful. The bath house and bathroom facilities at the campground were pristine. They were completely tiled and very clean. There were multiple activities for children including a bounce pad, playground and ball pit. The swimming pool was lovely and scheduled to open the next weekend. There are also tent sites available. Some of the RV sites had outdoor kitchens with sinks and propane tanks. Each site had a picnic table and fire ring. Our site had a gravel base. The close proximity to Chimney Rock and Lake Lure is an added bonus. The owners and staff were very friendly and helpful, but unobtrusive. I highly recommend Emberglow Campground.

PROS 

Discounted camp fee with senior pass 

Reserved 169 days prior to arriving 

Friendly and helpful gate attendant 

Nearly 100% shade at each site 

Excellent dark sky viewing 

Private sites with large space along with vegetation between sites 

Very quiet 

Asphalt parking pad surrounded with bean size gravel 

Concrete picnic table 

Metal fire pit with cooking grate 

2 hook lantern pole 

Electric at water connection for heated water hose connection 

Recycle bins in campground loop 

Trash dumpsters immediately out of campground loop 

Firewood for sale but gate attendant told us to buy at Ingles (grocery store) where it is $3 bundle cheaper and we did! 

Next to North Carolina Arboretum 

Close to Asheville Outlet Mall and Camping World 

CONS 

3 bear sitings a day prior to our arrival in campground, according to gate attendant 

No overnight gate closure even tho RULES proved at check-in stated gates closed at 10pm, but no open hours in RULES

 Lakeview site 38 not level 

Up hill sewer connection at Lakeview site 38 

Fire ring not cleared of ash upon our arrival 

Non-moveable concrete picnic table and beyond camper awning 

2 toilets and 2 showers for entire Lakeview Loop (21 campsites). There were lines! 

Low hanging tree branches over roadways and roadside tree branches over roadways so it was a maneuvering obstacle challenge to not scrape camper roof and sides Campground roads narrow with tight curves along with roadway asphalt dropped off to steep shoulders; could be challenging to novice rig drivers (as we witnessed that more than once) 

Two-and- a-half-mile drive on a twisty hilly road through residential neighborhood to get to the campground 

No WiFi 

1 bar Verizon