Best Dog-Friendly Camping near National Forests in North Carolina

The Asheville KOA is very pet and RV friendly. There are a number of walking trails of easy to moderate difficulty that run throughout the property. The dog park is a great place to let the pups off of the leashes for a bit. Staff pickup trash daily between 10-11AM at your site, but dumpsters are easily accessible.

We camped here in our 22' travel trailer. The back in sites are mostly level with a mix of dirt and gravel. If you're looking for a sunny spot, request one of the even-numbered back-ins. If you would prefer to be mostly in the shade, go for an odd-numbered spot. 20/30/50 amp electric, cable, water and sewer were easily accessible at each site. Camp sites are not very large, so be mindful of volume and lights with respect to your neighbors.

From the moment we arrived at the campground the manager "Larry"  ( a workamper) signed us in, show us our site on Wagging Tail Dr.  We arrived on their opening weekend the Owners provided BBQ meal and live music "Jose Wales" band.   It was a wonderful time.  As for the "Dog Retreat part - 18 acres of wonder open areas fenced in to keep you furry friends from running away, there is agility park, puppy park, the main dog park, a private park (single or you can invite), a Lure run, a Ball Park, and a Pond for those watery dogs.

Price for Fire wood - a little expensive and 10 lbs of Ice was reasonable.  There are fully fenced sites, a couple of sites with a fenced area.  The larges rig I saw in there was a Solitude at  38 ft.

Over all, if you want the peace and quiet in the North Carolina foot hills with your furry friend and have a good time.  This is the place to be.

One other note:  It is the only park in NC that is a dedicated dog campground.

Great place to spend a couple of nights. Went over Labor Day weekend with 5 or 6 other groups and still felt like we had full privacy. Fire pits, an outdoor shower, and a porta-potty. Cute horses and barn cats to pet and watch

We camped here back in August and had a blast! We brought our two dogs and they also had a great time. This site is very dog friendly (obviously), with many sites having their own fenced in yards. We opted for a site without a fence, which we regretted once we got there. The gravel at our site was painful for our dog’s feet and they had a hard time walking on it. The dog parks made up for this! There are multiple large dog parks located at the campground. The restrooms were awesome, but are single person use only. We felt like we were the only ones using them (that’s how well maintained they were). Campsites are close together but we didn’t mind. The staff was great, they helped us find our site and even helped us back our camper in. There was power and water hookup at each site. There is tons of stuff to do around the area too. Chimney Rock and Lake Lure are right around the corner and SO FUN.

This campground was pristine - from the moment we turned the corner, until the moment we left!  

We met Kimberly within seconds of pulling on the property.  She was incredibly kind and made us feel at home immediately.  As tent campers, she told us our best choices were a 30 amp site on the river ($50) or a 30-amp site off the river ($44).  These prices are steep for tent camping, but include 2 adults, kids and pets.  Additional adults come with a fee, but we were happy the kids were included.  Not only were the pets included, but they have a dog park area that they can run free and stretch their legs!  

We came into the cute little office where Kimberly gave us a campground map (which was painted by a resident camper glass blower) and told us about her property. Several items were on sale inside the store, including many shirts, sweatshirts, hats, etc. They also sell kids fishing poles, stickers and even a fresh coffee cup machine.  They have recently renovated the bathhouse (wait until you see it!) they have a library with books and games, an outdoor sink to wash dishes etc. and even a laundry room that operates on the honor system.  How great is that!  I thought it was wonderful that we could wash a wet sleeping bag or a quick load of stinky hiking clothes if necessary!  Kimberly explained that they have a pretty good mix of short and long term campers (primarily RV's) and even a cute little cabin that can be rented.  

Kimberly said that they choose not to allow on-line bookings to maintain the atmosphere that they desire.  You can call, or submit a request, but they want to have a conversation with you before booking.  The campground was calm, friendly and so so clean.  Campers were friendly, the campground host was as kind as could be, and so proud about her new bathrooms.  (See below).  This is the kind of campground we would feel good about our kids biking around in the evening as they chase fire flies and meet new friends!  

The campground was located on the river, but the slope was challenging from several sites.  With kiddos, I may prefer a site closer to the road because it was nearly a flat walk out to the river.  We will surely be back!

Great and clean unless you have a very active dog and you're sorta out of shape. Their dog park extremely small and hilly and has holes you need to watch. The yellow jackets were terrible and I got stung while just sitting at our site. Also a hike to take garbage to their dumpster. Some sort of pickup or maybe bear proof cans half way point, also more flat area for dog walks. If they would take in some of the area around the horse shoe area that would help too .

We visited this park a few weeks ago and wished we could have stayed longer! It's a well-kept, clean park within approximately half an hour from Lake Lure (where Dirty Dancing was filmed). It is an adult only campground that is dog-centric... For us the best of both worlds! Includes several dog parks for large and small breads, and a pond in which the pups can swim and splash around. We've never been to a park like this one and highly recommend it if you can get in. We'll be back for sure!

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.

Stayed a 4 Paws numerous times now and have always had a good time. There are options as to how you want to camp. This year I had one site with a fence all the way around and most recently my site had a small fenced in yard for the dogs to use. Ownership has changed as of Thanksgiving week, we will see what the new owners do. There is a laundry, dog wash and shower building that is well maintained and very modern. We visited several EXCELLENT hiking trails that had the views! Then there’s sampling of local cuisine and shopping. Asheville, Hendersonville and Greenville are all nearby. Or you could easily sit at the campground and just hangout at the dog parks. For Thanksgiving they served a meal and had other events. They also have other event weekends that are a lot of fun.

Very pretty campground in the fall. Operators live onsite and were friendly. Full connections and no issues leveling. Easy in/out and close to Greenville, Paris Mountain, Travelers Rest, Swamp Rabbit Trail etc. Bathhouses were very clean, but the lights are on motion detectors which weren’t sensitive enough to pick you up in the shower. We both had a couple moments of total darkness to contend with. A camp cat hung around our site at times and loved the heat coming out of our furnace. We don’t have pets so didn’t mind. Cell coverage was great (att & Verizon), so we had no issues working our 9-5s. Love the bubbling creek next to our site, which was so pretty from our back window. We’d definitely stay again.

The campground is really beautiful. well maintained facilities. the campground is pet friendly but the park is not. you can't take your dog on any trails except 2. Those are 45 minutes and 2 hours from the campground. The only downside to this location is it is 45 minutes to Gatlinburg.

The campground is really beautiful. well maintained facilities. the campground is pet friendly but the park is not. you can't take your dog on any trails except 2. Those are 45 minutes and 2 hours from the campground. The only downside to this location is it is 45 minutes to Gatlinburg.

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.

This place is lovely, an idyllic setting, wonderful hosts, very clean facilities, and a great location to explore the area. We spent 2 nights here and loved our site, the deck over the rushing stream was a perfect place to sip coffee in the mornings and whiskey in the evenings. The dog park gave our pup the chance to run free, the clean bathhouses gave us a place to freshen up and the location gave us the ability to explore all Asheville had to offer, climb to the top of Mount Mitchell (the highest point East of the Mississippi) and just enjoy the surroundings. Our site had a full hook up, electric and water (even with temps in the low 20's at night), we had a fire ring (or square), a picnic table perched on the deck, cantilevered over the stream, and lovely (back-in) site with privacy and shade. We can't wait to come back.

We stayed here and LOVED it! Tucked away into the mountains not far from the interstate, super quiet and nicely taken care of. Has mountain top views that are spectacular at sunset, campground is pet friendly with a dog run area. Multiple bath houses all with nicely done showers and bathrooms that are clean. Laundry facility was very nice too. Would stay again!