Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Uwharrie National Forest

Uwharrie National Forest-Arrowhead Campground

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recarea/?recid=48934 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE\_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5368418.pdf 

Uwharrie National Forest is fairly vast, but several camping areas are located in one general area. Equestrian campgrounds, hunting camps and then Arrowhead and Badin Lake campgrounds, along with the boat launch area. Arrowhead Campground has had a bigger budget compared to its lesser sibling Badin Lake Campground. 

Campground roadways are paved, as well as the campsite parking pads, The restrooms are newer, larger and offer paved parking for users. 

Sites are reasonably large and offer a picnic table, firepit, charcoal grill and metal hanging pole for lanterns, etc. some foliage exists between Campsites, but you still have a visual of your neighbors. 

It appeared during my visit that most users were off-roaders with either 4x4’s or quads. The onsite host advised that it is very popular with the off-road enthusiasts. Enclosed and flatbed trailers filled most of the sites. 

Caution: During hunting season, the National Forest is open to hunters...wear brightly colored or hunter orange clothing especially dawn and dusk.

Reserve well in advance if you desire a site...these campgrounds fill quickly. 

Arrowhead also offers an inner-campground paved walk/bike/stroller trail...and the drive down to the boat launch(which has a fairly sizable paved parking lot and latrines). You can also pick up the lake loop trail by the Boat Ramp.

Being located so closely to the Raleigh/Durham area...and the Fayettville area...I can see this being filled to capacity most days and definitely weekends. Mid-week it was filled.

Geast campground, lots of shad. Some of the sites are very steep. Situated in a beautiful park with lots of activities. Dog park. Trails. Nearby lake, pool

Great hosts, spacious spots, nearby dog park, loved staying here. The bath houses are a little dated but very clean. There is horse shoe, volleyball, soccer goals on the camp ground. I would stay here all the time if I could!

Beautiful place. At $35 a night, there is a lot to enjoy. The only thing you need to be aware of is that some of the sights are very slanted. Very tall levelers are needed. But they do have cable, wifi(that’s ok) a dog park and lots more. It’s worth it.

We only stayed for 1 night as we were passing through, but we plan to return one day.

Positives are it’s a newer campground, nice and shaded, full hookups (w,e,s), lots were wide, Easy to get in and out of, plenty to do within the park (hiking, fishing, kayak/canoe, etc), has a nice dog park, hosts were very welcoming and kind, VERY clean.

Negatives are unlevel lots (we had to lower ours by over 4” and still weren’t level, but couldn’t adjust anymore), sites aren’t exactly private - but there was a bit of space between sites.

Uwharrie National Forest-Badin Lake Campground, New London, NC.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nfsnc/recarea/?recid=48934 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE\_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5368418.pdf

Campground Overview: 34 sites, two loops...upper loop and lakeside loop. Relatively large sites with vegetation that blocks constant view of neighbors. 

Each site has a gravel parking pad and separate gravel tent pad, a standing charcoal grill, firepit with adjustable grate, a picnic table and a metal pole for hanging lanterns, etc. I would advise securing online reservations, but they do have an Iron Ranger to drop your payment in should you find an empty site. Note: There are warnings that online reservations take precedence, so if you use the Iron Ranger payment drop chute and someone reserved the same campsite...you will be required to move to a different location when the online reservation campers arrive. Just so you know.

No electric. 

Oddly, no firewood for sale...although scrounging produced plenty of things and fallen branches to keep a fire going.

I preferred the lower loop as nearly every outer site was on the lake with great views and lake access and sites are spread out. The inside sites of the lower loop are pretty spacious and deep. Water spigots were spaced out around the loop, so a short walk as we were equal distance between two. 

Restroom/showerhouses were quad door buildings. Separate men’s and women’s restrooms and two separate shower rooms. Facilities were kept clean and stocked by resident hosts. 

With Verizon, I never lost signal...a plus for a National Forest!

The upper loop appeared to offer a little more solitude than the lower lake loop...but no lake views. 

The lake loop trail crosses the main campground roadway between the two loops. This trail is relatively flat and meanders around the lake and it’s many fingers...offering lovely lake views and some nice fishing locations. 

During my midweek visit it was quiet day and night. The sunset across the lake was gorgeous and relaxing. Loud powerboat noise was minimal as only a couple bass boats thought it essential to travel at high speeds from location to location. Next visit my canoe and mountain one will accompany me. 

What I enjoyed: as much as I dislike tree rats, I was entertained by two feuding squirrels that chased each other relentlessly and knocking each other out of tree tops. Woodpecker and Turkey wake up calls. 

For a National Forest, I was surprised by the level of daytime industrial noise nearby. 

Overall, a fantastic location relatively close to Raleigh/Durham and Fayetteville for a great camping getaway. I was only able to stay one night as the campground was booked, all reserved in advance. So plan ahead.

Great amenities, sites and activities. 2 pools and hot tub. Game room, store and grill. Spacious and level sites. Hiking trails and lake with small beach for swimming and fishing. Pet + horse friendly. Neatly kept. Kind and helpful host.

Great place to spend some time. People and pet friendly. Adult and under 18 pools open seasonably. Gated and campers are given individual codes to get in after hours. Only negative is that they were working on remodeling their activity center. So, evening functions were limited.

This is an excellent campground! It’s really woodsy and the creek is fabulous. Nice laundry facilities. Especially nice are the tent sites. They seem to have some of the most scenic spots. The Sanctuary area is awesome and the tent sites are right on the creek. It is for those with no pets or kids and is limited to 2 people per site. It’s a quiet zone. There is one tent cabin and 4 tent sites with water and electric. You CAN park at your sites. We weren’t sure before if it was a walk in area. The bathhouse for this area has two toilets and two showers.Each is completely private. There are outlets and sinks in all four. There is also a very nice sink and counter on the end for dishwashing. It’s all in excellent condition. Very nice picnic tables too. They were easy to wipe off. Sites S1-3 have an awning/ shelter. S4 does not but is much larger. S4 is higher up so you look down on the creek. It is more off by itself. S1 even has access to a 2nd picnic table close to the creek. It is the smallest as far as tent space. We would love to visit again!

Pretty heavily wooded medium sized campground with good sized sites, some of which are beside a small lake. No sewer hookups, they do have a dump station with no extra fee to use. Heavily populated park about a quarter mile from campground within same area which has gem mining, a carousel, small makeshift train ride, small petting zoo, playgrounds, etc. The campground would have been nice except the park staff are horrible, by far the worst I have experienced yet. When we checked in the girl didnt have a clue as to what the campground had to offer, where to put your trash, etc. The ranger would ride throughout the campground all day and hassle people who didn't follow the rules that no-one knew because the check-in lady didn't have a clue. The worst part was we were forced to move sites the very last night because they had a "mix-up" and someone else had reserved that site for 1 night of all sites on a Sunday night when the entire campground was wide open. Go figure. Was treated rudely told if we couldn't move than we would have to leave, ruined the entire day. We finally moved sites to the one beside us and she calls me back again and says you can stay there, that they had "mixed it up" again! We had already moved The TT and everything. The customer service was horrible and the staff lack training and are unfriendly. Very disorganized. Will not be back.

If you want to get away, this is where you go. Secluded but still able to get into town for supplies. Beautiful area, lots of space on the lower ground, gorgeous views from the higher ground, and some damn good fishing. I didn’t take enough pictures when I was there. The upper landing is relatively small, my Dodge Ram fit with nothing being exposed on the road, but there was still plenty of camp able space begins my truck. Short but steep walk down to the river. I would be careful when the river is swollen, but otherwise it is gorgeous. My friends both caught a couple of channel cats. One enormous female catfish we released because she had eggs on board. Great. Definitely recommend it for a day or weekend trip. You have to haul all your supplies and trash in and out to include water.

We stayed at this rv campground while visiting the many things to see and do in Greensboro North Carolina. visitgreensboronc.com

The rv sites are all pull thru nearly level, big gravel sites. We had plenty of room for ort 45' plus toad. There is a nice large K9 park. Playground. The best WIFI we have experienced and many free antenna tv channels. The restrooms and laundry were both neat and clean. The hosts were wonderfully friendly and knowledgeable. Will return for a longer stay.

It should be no shock to those familiar with North Carolina’s geography that if one is seeking higher altitudes and breathtaking overlooks, Uwharrie is not the place he should go. Notwithstanding, as much of the higher elevations are impassable during the winter months, the forest offers backpackers an opportunity to stay on the trail a few days. The Uwharrie Trail, which pretty much spans the park north/south is about 20 miles point to point. The trailhead is kind of hard to follow sometimes, sections of the trail are prone to flooding and creek crossings can become difficult following heavy rains. Overall, however, the forest is a good place for backpacking in this region of the state. Th streams, provided one has filtration or iodine tablets, provide ample sources of drinking water.