Best Cabin Camping near Sparta, NC

We stayed for one night only on our way to Dreher Island SP. We didn't get in until after 4 pm, but there was still enough daylight to see how pretty the campground was. We had site 60 for the night. We tow a 19' a-frame camper with a Toyota Tacoma and had lots of room on the pad. The pad was pretty level so set up was easy. The site also had a huge area for the picnic table and the fire ring is far away from your camper. There was a huge grassy area behind our site with a creek, lots of space for our dog. We were in campground B (electric) and the sites were decent. There wasn't a lot shade for us, but up in the tent area they were surrounded by trees and it looked like they all had tent pads, some better than others. The shower house was nice, clean, flush toilets, and good showers. By the shower house they also had an outside sink to wash your dishes. We didn't get to hike, but everyone said we should if we ever go back. It's on our list to visit again.

Stayed for three nights in October. We had site B9 which was near a group site - so be mindful of this! During our trip it was full of loud and unsupervised kids.

We paddled around the lake on Sunday; there are a couple of different boat launches in the park. The cliffs are freaking amazing from the launch closest to the park entrance. It’s so beautiful on the water, especially this time of year.

There’s also a camp store/visitor center. Our site included a fire ring, two lantern posts, and a picnic table. Firewood and ice are available at the entrance station (can use credit card), and wood is available from the camp host (cash only). Lots of hiking and bike trails throughout. Very clean restrooms and showers. We had a really great time and will totally be back in the spring 🍂🍁

**Campground Review: **

This is the second year in a row of us ending our summer road trip at Honey Bear Campground in Boone, NC. Honey Bear is a medium sized campground with around 60 sites that are a mix of full hook up, RV water& electric, Tent water& electric, primitive camp sites, and a group tent camp area. There is also two small cabins to rent. All sites with hook ups also included cable hook ups. I have included a campground map in my pictures for your orientation. All the sites are gravel and most sites are wooded with lots of shade. The sites are a little sloped, so have leveling equipment ready. The sites vary from small and close together, to medium size with established plumeria shrubs separating sites for some privacy. All style sites include a picnic table and fire ring. If the campground is full, they do have an overflow area that they allow you to boondock at until a site opens up. 

Check-in was easy at the office at the entrance of the campground. We stayed on site B12 again this year as we find it private, well shaded, and close to a small creek that provided background water noise when it’s flowing good. This site does have a good slope to it and we had to use a stack of 3 Cacmo leveling blocks to get level, but if anything, this is my only minor complaint about this site. 

The bathhouse is centrally located and older, but functional and cleaned daily. There are also laundry machines available between the men’s and women’s area. 

Firewood and ice was available at the office. You can even walk down, pay for wood and/or ice and they will deliver it to your site! The office also has limited other supplies. There is a full grocery store less than 10 minutes away. Connected to the office is a coffee bar that also had some seating and a TV(Seemed to be a teen hang out in the evenings). 

We found good cell phone service with Verizon throughout the property. The campground did have wi-fi, however we only got a good connection if we were near the office/coffee bar. 

The campground also has a dog run, which our dogs loved. After being on the road for two weeks they enjoy every opportunity to get off leash and run. The dog area was surprisingly clean, so either the dog owners are doing the right thing and cleaning up after their dogs, or the staff monitors and cleans this area regularly. 

Being right on the outskirts of Boone is very beneficial. The area offers all types of outdoor activities, from hiking, rock climbing, fishing, mountain biking, and an assortment of snow sports in the winter. Additionally, you’ll find lots of shopping, restaurants, breweries & wineries, and appealing little towns around the area to explore. Also, Boone sits at 3,333 feet (surrounding mountains go up to 6K), so even in the middle of the summer you’ll find very comfortable day and night temperatures. 

Pro Tip: Check with the office for the Saturday night movie! Weather dependent, they show a movie outdoors on the front lawn. Bring your chair or blanket and a cooler/snacks, and come hang out for a movie with fellow campers. They had multiple fire pits going the Saturday we were there, so bring your favorite snacks to toast over the fire. 

With this being our second year to stop here, we have fallen in love with the area. We recommend this campground and will keep returning to this area. I wish it was a little closer to where we live and we’d come here a lot more often!

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**Product Review: **

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At this campground, I tested the Gregory Intertia 20 H2O Hydration Pack. This backpack from Gregory turned out to be my new favorite day hiking pack. The 20L easily fits all my day hiking equipment with room to spare. The 3L reservoir is plenty of water for a day hike even on the warmest of days. What I also really like is the side pockets. They are very deep, so if you are on a shorter hike where you are not using the 3L reservoir, you don’t have to worry about water bottles popping out of the side pockets (I’ve had other packs with short side pockets where water bottles fall out easily). The front mesh pocket is also large enough to hold all that“need now” type gear and there is a small quick stow pocket that is lined and perfect for storing glasses or sunglasses. Even loaded down with more than I’d usually take for a day hike, I found that with the multiple adjustment straps, this pack proved to be very comfortable and rode perfect on my back. I highly recommend this pack for day hikes and look forward to trying some of their larger packs in the future.

This beautiful state park offered large, leveled, gravel area for our teardrop trailer. Site had a picnic table, large fire ring, electric and water hook up. Sites were private due to trees around each site.

Our site was #35 which was a lovely end spot. It was also diagonally across from the bathrooms/shower. Site had plenty of room for our teardrop camper, The Clam screened shelter, and our Jeep. 

Campground was around a beautiful lake that had a full marina - boat ramp, slips, dock house, kayak and paddle board rentals. May have also had other watercraft rentals - saw really cute pontoon boats. There was a bass fishing tournament being held while we were there. Also had a bunch of hiking trails in various lengths and levels of difficulty. Park ranger had scheduled lectures for children and adults around a campfire in the early evening. 

Bathrooms: 3 showers, 3 stalls. Clean, no bugs. Were a little run down but clean. Shower had good water pressure and water was hot. Lighting in the women’s bathroom was dark by the showers and flickering (horror movie style) but clean. 

We saw turkey vultures, deer, and woodpeckers near our campsite. Wish we had more time there to explore the trails - had something for everyone.

Hungry Mother State Park, Royal Oak Campground, Marion VA...site 3. https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/hungry-mother

Campground Overview: Located outside of Marion VA

Hungry Mother State Park is somewhat split up and fragmented on either side of a local highway and the first campground is distanced from the other two. So a little different than most parks but not necessarily a negative.

The Visitor’s Center is on the left after the first campground (Camp Burson) and across the roadway from the reservoir and beach area. The remaining two campground loops are past the beach area...one to the right along a feeder stream (Creekside Campground) and opposite that is the third loop (Royal Oak Campground) on the side of a hill with wooden platforms for tents.

I was hoping to paddle this meandering reservoir but it was being drained for bridge work...so it was six feet or so lower than normal. Even the migrating geese weren’t too happy about it, as they waddled around on the mud.

During the peak of the summer season, it appears that it would be very popular with s nice swimming beach, paddlecraft rentals, cabin rentals, conference center, ample covered picnic pavilions and both paved and dirt trails.

I stayed on site 3 in Royal Oak Campground, pitching the tent on a 20’x20’ leveled wooden platform. Several pros and cons to elevated platforms.

Pros: It’s level and large enough for any tent I’ve ever seen. Water drains pretty decent between wood decking, so no pooling. D-ring lashing points were attached to the decking to assist in securing tent or rainfly.

Cons: When the cold wind blows, it’s hard to retain heat in the tent...360 cold. While there are D-ring lashing points, they don’t accommodate every tent of rainfly. Previous knucklehead campers drill Tapcon screws or nails in the wood decking and rails to secure their tent...then leave them there so everyone else snags or rips their tent on them.

It rained for 12 hours straight with cold, high winds...so it was a bit chilly, but still enjoyable.

What I enjoyed: deer wandering through the grounds, the Molly’s Knob Trail and Vista Summit,

The ugly: the lake (reservoir) was drained. Heaters weren’t on in the shower rooms...37 degree showering gets tricky.

Fancy Gap CC is a great small campground with a rustic hotel, cabins, tent camping, and RV/Trailer hook ups. I've stayed here before tent camping, which was nice. This time I was caught in traffic and they had a cabin available, better than pitching a tent in the dark and rain. The cabins are sturdy, very clean, pet friendly, and complete with a refrigerator/microwave and coffee maker. The bath house is relatively new and kept very clean. The whole campground is tidy. You can tell tell the owners love the place. If Fancy Gap is relatively close to your travel plans, I highly suggest you visit for yourself.

The staff here is INCREDIBLY friendly and the check-in building/store is small but mighty, offering items like local honey, local preserves and camping/swimming/tubing accessories.

We stayed in the camping cabins located on the hill behind the store. It was so quiet & offered a beautiful view of the river from the picnic table. We took part in one of the offered tubing experiences and it was so cool. You can rent a tube to place a cooler inside of so you can tube down the river with beverages and snacks in tow. The end of the rafting experience puts you right there back at the campsite.

This is a great place.