Best Dispersed Camping near Moravian Falls, NC

At the intersection of the North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia state lines, sits this national forest which offers multiple dispersed camping areas along Bear Creek. Opportunities for hiking, cycling, fishing, and paddling are abundant.  The Appalachian Trail and Virginia Creeper Trail are just minutes away, as well as some easy whitewater paddling fun on the White Top Laurel Creek.

Most of campsites are large, very shaded, along a beautiful treelined road, and surrounded by mountains. There is no drinking water, picnic tables, or even pit toilet, so come prepared. The only major problem is that folks tend to leave a ton of trash around, so we often spend about 20-30 minutes cleaning these sites upon arrival. Please Leave No Trace! 

Our site had a good fire ring, and was on the edge of a creek that we could filter water from with ease. We stayed at this camp for 3 weeks during the pandemic shutdown and it was a perfect place to ride out this crazy storm and decompress from some anxiety. 

The closest town is Damascus, VA, about 12 miles away. The town is small, but draws thousands of tourists each year who are either hiking the Appalachian Trail or cycling the famous Virginia Creeper bike path. It is equipped with a decent sized grocery store, gas, and couple of restaurants, and a cute downtown area. There is absolutely no cell service at this camp, you have to go into town or hike a local mountain to get service up high.

There are so many sites tucked along this dirt road and some incredible views! I spent almost 14 days here and almost didn't want to leave! The dirt road must've been regraded in the past year as it is easily drivable. I stayed in several sites further up the road and they're all good options! There is traffic, but not much. I have 5G service on both Verizon and Sprint/Tmobile (Verizon has a better signal). Lake James State Park has water at the picnic shelters. The water pump at the Catawba River entrance allows you to connect a hose to it while the Paddy Creek is better for using containers. I'm not confident it's potable water though there's no sign saying it's not. I was using jugs at Paddy Creek and noticed tiny things in the water. Went to Catawba and didn't find anything in the water, but filtered it to be safe.

First time trying dispersed-camping and was super excited originally! We followed the coordinations and pulled into an off-road spot. Initially we felt pretty comfortable riding through the national park. However when we arrived to the site there was someone already there. We didn't think much at first, until we realized what they were doing in their car: It was a man and female. They appeared to be smoking meth and had a distinctive smell coming from their truck. They were making incoherent noises and could barely hold their heads up. They then pulled out a gun and started shooting at the signs near the road. Needless to say we quickly packed our gear and left. It was definitely scary and not the best encounter for first time dispersed camping. Thankfully I was with my partner and felt safe with him. If I was alone, I'm unsure how safe I would've felt, as a traveling/camping solo-female. We were able to find another dispersed campground down the road about 15-20 mins alongside the road. We also saw more people car-camping and doing the same: so overall we felt better about the situation. However, I'm not sure if I'd recommend this spot or go back again: Be aware of your surroundings and always carry something on you to protect yourself!

Absolutely beautiful area and one of my new favorite wilderness areas on the east side of the country. I went solo camping for 5 days and stayed at the overlook, got really lucky finding my spot in the middle of the night but nonetheless, I drove the whole road South end to North in my fwd sedan haha and saw plenty of beautiful spots to settle at. Definitely recommend you to come check this out, I met some of the nicest people and another solo traveler that I ended up spending 2 nights with. You definitely wont regret it, and dont worry If you dont have a great car for offroad, I saw alot of reviews about absolutely needing an AWD vehicle with good clearance but I maneuvered my way through the road with my little hyundai. You definitely need to be a confident driver if you do that though. Good luck, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This was our first stop on our first trip to North Carolina and now we don’t want to leave! We drove the entire road between Lake James and Linville Falls and there are tons of good spots for boondocking and hiking. About 5 camping spots along the road have breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains, hills and valleys. Those spots are obviously the first to go, so come early or on a weekday for those. Otherwise, there are a ton of other great spots. The road itself is all dirt and gravel and can get a little rough. It’s much easier with a 4WD vehicle, but we saw sedans and minivans driving it.