Best Tent Camping near North Topsail Beach, NC

I chose this site in hopes of being in a private wooded area. Very dissapointed. Original pics and videos i saw were showing lots of coverage. But now everything is so open, you can see every persons camp site. Theres no real privacy. They are also sticklers about dogs on leashes. Even though mine was trained and playing with us in our area. We were still forced to leash him. There are toilets at each end, but it's a pit. No flushing. No sink. No showers. There are fire pits with grates and also a picnic table. There is also a lot of rocks around the tent pad area and picnic table.

There's a wooded trail that leads up to the main gravel road you come in on. Very narrow. Also water but only half the campsites are looking onto it. I believe it's only odd numbered spots. Overall it was an okay time for the price. Wouldn't come here again.

Couldn't even attempt fishing because the wind was bad. There was only a small area to even try, but there was an oyster contamination sign. Dirty Foam all around the edge of the water.

We camped here in October 2020 and stayed in site 17. It is a great site with lots of room between you and the next camper.

The bath facility is in a very nice building, is heated and has individual locking shower rooms so you have total privacy and security. The roads are paved and the paved pads accommodate up to a 70 ft camper/vehicle. Each site has a smooth, flat, gravel area equipped with 2 lantern poles, one large picnic table, and a fire ring with swing away cooking grate. Beyond the gravel areas are flat level areas of grass. The campsites are shaded by large, tall pines and other assorted trees.

The bath facility was very clean and well kept. The host was very friendly and helpful. The grounds throughout the park are extremely well kept.

Upon arrival, you check in with the host, drive to water fill area and fill up your fresh water tank. There are additional water fill faucets throughout the park. Your site is equipped for both 30 or 50 amp campers.

We really like this little campground and plan to come back again soon.

Our family has tent camped here twice and recently reserved a camp cabin for a week this summer. This is a quiet and spacious campground mere miles from Carolina Beach at a price that's hard to beat. We tent camp here around $30 a night for a tent site. Each site is very large and spacious. It could could comfortably fit 2 tents and a car.

This Campground offers bathhouses, picnic tables, and fire rings. Dogs allowed, but not in the cabins. Plenty of walking trails.

Campground is flat and shaded, although there are some primative group sites away from the main campground but they don't have as much shade. Grocery store is maybe 6 miles away.

Cedar Point RA is a small campground along the White Oak River in the Croatan National Forest. The campground has 40 sites with electric hook up. The sites are level and have a paved parking pad that they are pretty strict on you keeping all wheels on and a gravel area with a picnic table, fire pit, and two lantern poles (that also work good for putting up a clothes line or dog zipline). The sites do not have water hook ups so make sure your RV fresh water tanks are topped off, or there are plenty of potable water points throughout the campground to fill up you jugs. The sites are large and separated by space, not trees, for privacy. The sites on the southeast side seemed to have more shade than those on the northwest side. Campground map is in my pictures. 

There is no office or signage for check-in, so we just drove in, found our reserved spot that had our name on the tag and set up. The Camp Host came around a little later and apparently we were supposed to know to check-in with him somehow. We stayed on site 24 on this visit. Lots of sun throughout the day until late evening, so a little miserable on this stay as the area had heat advisories every day. 

The bathhouse could use a little TLC. The bathrooms were functional but not very clean. The showers are separate from the bathroom and half were out of order on this stay. Additionally, in typical National Forest fashion, there is no heat or air or even a fan in the bathroom or showers, so again, pretty miserable on this stay as the area had heat advisories every day. The heat in the bathrooms and showers had to be over 100 degrees. Also, typical National Forest setup, the showers are push button, with no temperature control (you get what you get) and the water only flows for about 15 seconds with each push of the button. 

Firewood was available at the camp host. There is a full grocery store 5 minutes from the campground. The resort has many amenities like a boat ramp about a ¼ of a mile down the road and a hiking trail that loops for about 2 miles along the marshy shore line. There is a dump station and trash dumpster behind the camp hosts location. 

We found good cell phone service with Verizon throughout the property. The campground did not have wi-fi. 

While in the area we enjoyed the public beach on Emerald Isle, which is only 15 minutes from campground. There are lots of water sport rentals nearby and restaurants. Camp Lejeune is less than 30 minutes away and on some nights we could hear the artillery in the distance as the Marines trained. However, as a retired Army guy, the faint sound of freedom did not bother me at all. 

The heatwave during our stay really hindered us. Not sure we’d revisit in the middle of the summer again, but during the cooler month I’m sure it would be much more comfortable.

The group campground is isolated from the rest of the camping areas and is quiet at night. There are a lot of park visitors who walk through the area, but the trail through goes around he main campsites. The pit toilets are in need of some attention, but have always been well stocked. It’s about 400 yards to hike in, so we used a wagon to bring in gear. No water on site, but a really nice fire pit with grill top and 2 picnic tables. Shady tent sites available, but really hot and buggy in summer. Group camp site is about .5 mile hike from the river which is great for wading, but swimming is not allowed.

Many species of carnivorous plants grow here and abundant wildlife.

in the summer months there is a place to rent kayaks and paddle boards at the marina.

I’ve been riding my bicycles on the the trails around Flanner’s for years. This was my first camping experience here.
We brought our T@G Boondock XL for my wife and I, and a side tent for my grandson. Decent sized spot for our camper and 10x10 tent, and it included a fire pit (very tall sides) and a picnic table. We spent the first day setting up, preparing food and enjoying the fire. Ended the day in the tent playing guitar and singing, while my grandson played the Djembe. Day 2, was fresh ground Death Wish coffee in the Chemex and breakfast. Then we went for a 3 mile hike. Ate lunch and played ladder ball. Another 2 mile hike in the afternoon, some card games, dinner over the fire and pudgie pies. Played music around the fire until bedtime.
Day 3 was Coffee, breakfast and tear down/pack up. The grounds were clean, saw the hosts throughout the park, and they were very friendly. Showers/bathrooms were good. Water was plenty hot in the shower. It was cold at night and in the morning, and the facilities have screens for ventilation, so it can get quite cold (or hot) in there. The beach is closed indefinitely. The trails are great.
Great first camping experience for our grandson. I will be back. The sign at the gate says NO ALCOHOL. Not sure why this is an issue, but it’s their rule.

We really enjoyed our night at Oyster Point.  The host was friendly and helped me find another campsite when my was taken by an unregistered guest.  We were able to launch kayaks almost directly from campsite #11.  Tent pads are big enough for 1 large tent or 2 small tents.  The campground is small so fairly quiet.

**Pro's: **

Metal Fire Ring/Grill 

Picnic tables 

Lots of lantern hooks

 Port a Johns were very clean

Some cons:

The bugs are bad in June and bug spray didn't really help.

The sites aren't in order by number. 

The gravel road had a lot of ruts in it so getting my trailer with kayaks in and out was a lot of trouble.

No showers

Port a johns were noticeably tilted down hill

The camp ground was really easy to get around with kids, plenty of trails that preschool kids can enjoy as well as adults. Lots of beautiful views just a short hike away. We camped in a primitive tent site, plenty of shade with nice picnic table and fire ring with grill grate. The bathrooms were so clean, we were really impressed. The rangers are super helpful and very nice. One of our best camping trips ever. Fort Fisher Historic site and Aquarium are less than 15 minutes away. Beach accesses are less than 5 minutes away by car. I would highly recommend visiting in early Spring or late Fall. I live a short distance away and the mosquitoes are unbearable in the warmer months.

We tent camped at this small (16 sites) campground in late May. The location is pretty and on the water. Not a swimming place, but there is a launch for canoes and kayaks. The location is a perfect staring point for hiking in Croatan National Forest. Fierce biting bugs and ticks during certain seasons, so bug spray is a must! Campsites are large and clean with some shade and old (need repair) picnic tables and fire pits. Some sites have electric hook ups. Toilet facilities are there but I do not recommend. Sites feel relatively private, but you do sometimes hear your neighbors. Most sites had RV campers when we stayed there. Also small youth groups frequent this location. Good for tent camping and not far to Carteret County beaches.