Best Cabin Camping near Shelby, NC

This is an absolute top-notch campground.  It just opened in the spring of 2020 and I can already tell this is going to be a very popular place.

First, the staff is incredible.  Everyone is friendly, helpful, and goes out of their way to make you feel at home.  The owner was onsite every day and checked in on us several times.

The camping options are very unique and diverse.  They have your typical RV sites (all full hookups) and tent sites, all of which have green space around them.  Our site backed up to a beautiful stream with some trees for hammocks and shade.  The tent sites are clustered together next to a stream in the woods, providing tons of shade on hot days.  Nearby are a few treehouses that you can rent, similar to old school sleep-away camping cabins.  Around the corner from the tents are several vintage RVs, many from the 50s, that have been completely renovated with beautiful interiors and modern updates.  They each have their own deck, fire pit, and grill.  My mom stayed in one of these while we were visiting and loved it!  There are also camping pods - basically an igloo shaped cabin that is good for a couple people.  Yurts are just up the hill from those, alongside two beautiful tiny homes that are some of the most unique campground rentals I've ever seen.  Book these early - we were here in late June and they were already full until October!

The amenities are very nice as well.  There is a resort style pool with built in seating almost all the way around.  It's next to a pavilion area with picnic tables, corn hole, a community fire pit, outdoor movie screen, and performance stage.  Nearby is an inflatable jumping pad and volleyball net.  I spoke with the owner and he has plans to add many other game such as bocce ball as well as complete construction on a playground and wooded play area for kids.  You can also rent many campground games at the camp store such as spike ball and ladder ball.  More hiking trails are being added, and a large dog park made exercising our pup easy.

Oh and the wifi is off the charts for a campground.  Total coverage everywhere you go.  I was getting 30/30 speeds at my site.  I work remote so it was very important to have good internet, and Emberglow did not disappoint here!  They obviously invested heavily in a quality network infrastructure and it shows.

The location is nice - off the main roads so you get plenty of peace and quiet, but only 20 minutes to Lake Lure and Chimney Rock.  It's easily accessible from Charlotte, Asheville, and Spartanburg, SC.

Every campground owner needs to come take a look at this place.  This is what campgrounds should be aiming for - clean, modern, lots of nature, friendly staff, good prices, and fun activities.  I was not paid or asked or endorsed in any way to do this review, I simply think this is an awesome place that you should come check out!

Really cute campground just a short jaunt to the beautiful multi-level Catawba Falls hike in the Pisgah National Forest. We stayed in a tent site VERY close to a rushing creek of cool water. The sound definitely helped put me to sleep!

The tent sites all have a tent pad, camp ring, trash can, and picnic table provided. This site had a bit more privacy than others we saw and was on the other side of the property from the RV area, which also included a playground, bathrooms, showers, and small store. There are also small tiny cabins to rent out which is great if you had a large group and not everyone was down for roughin' it. Some tent sites were also close to shared pavilions which were very nice to use during the rainy weekend we experienced! We appreciated the hot showers since we were outside hiking all day but wanted to hit up some sights in Asheville that evening without looking too worn out.

The people who run the camp were extremely nice and helpful -- we arrived later than expected in a downpour thunderstorm and they were able to accommodate us and transfer us and our bags from the car to the site via golf cart.

This place was a 13 hour drive and so worth it. All of the cabins and trailers available to rent are so reasonably priced and have AC and fully fucntioning appliances. Every cabin or RV rental has its own private gated yard with your own firepit. Several dog parks and a private pond for the pups means days of fun for an active, social dog. Everyone is so kind, the women who run this place are so sweet and they were incredibly accomodating. The camp store has tons of treats and necessities for dogs and people, and a dog washing station and laundry are available communally. We spent our days hiking the nearby Chimney Rock and hanging around Lake Lure (FYI Dirty Dancing was filmed here whoa). We also checked out the Equestrian center which was an awesome recommendation of the staff and also dog friendly. Definitely recommended for people who like day hikes and adventures and coming back to a cozy camp cabin.

This is such a great campsite. We have tent camped, cabin camped and RV camped here on several occasions. The cabins are awesome and each site is nice and private with great tree and brush cover separating sites. The hiking trails at the campground are very impressive. They range from easy to challenging and it is nice that you dont have to leave the grounds to enjoy a nice hike.

Then, down the road you find yourself at the Apple Orchard off of the Blue Ridge, which is an absolutely charming place. It feels like a scene from a most perfect movie. 

Highly HIGHLY recommend this awesome campground/resort.

We stayed in the new glamping cabin #2. Very clean, comfortable bed, nice AC, lovely porch to relax on. All cabins are in walking distance to the bathrooms and showers. Those as well were pretty clean for a camp ground, I was pleasantly surprised. The path to the bathrooms light up at night so you can find your way very easy in the dark. Camp ground itself was very clean and I often saw the staff working on cleaning it and interacting with the campers. The designated swimming area was like a piece of heaven. Small not to overly packed, very clean beach. We plan on coming pack to do tent camping with our dog, fantastic family or romantic couple retreat.

Overall, this is a very nice, clean park conveniently located to the interstate I-85) and attractions in the area. It has all the amenities you would expect to find at a KOA such as a swimming pool, playground, dog park, miniature golf, store, clubhouse, and more (including goats). It is by far the nicest private campground in the area that we have stayed at.

This KOA has 127 sites offering varying degrees of services to accommodate RV's, tents, and those wanting to rent cabins. We chose a 50-amp full hook-up back-in site but were upgraded to a pull-thru so we could be in a sunny location to mitigate the chilly air. How nice of them! Our site (#79) was perfectly level as were most others (but not all). Water, electric, and cable hook-ups were well placed at the site and worked fine. We paid $37/night(with the KOA member discount). Nice, large grassy area for dogs to walk and sniff and there is a decent size dog park.  Roads and pads are hard packed gravel with grass in between sites. Some sites are set in a wooded area while some are out in the open with plenty of sun and satellite coverage. The park is big rig friendly and the roads are easily navigable. All sites have a picnic table and some had fire pits but ours did not. Cable is included and offered over 50 channels. Wifi worked well at our site.  The laundry was small with three washers and three dryers but very clean and had a decent book exchange. The bathroom and showers were super clean and looked like they were updated recently. 

The campground is extremely clean and the owners/employees are super friendly. There is a short hiking trail (less than a mile) through the woods and plenty of green space in front of some of the pull-thrus. playground large swimming pool with large deck putt putt with lots of goat humor. 

The only downside would be the closeness of sites but that is pretty much what you expect from private RV parks. Fortunately, we did not have neighbors right next to us which gave us more space. I'm usually not a KOA fan but have to say this one was great for our overnight stay and we would recommend it.