Best Cabin Camping near Washington, NC

New Bern is a really wonderful little town on the coast of NC and this KOA is close to all the action. I really enjoyed our stay and the local town. We stayed in a camping cabin that overlooked the little pond area. The bathrooms were nice and clean and cabins were nicely appointed.

Goose Creek State Park campground is one of the newer state parks in North Carolina. The RV part of the park has a great layout with large sites. The park is very flat with full hookups and a large patio/picnic area. They also have cabins.

We stayed at one of the full hook up RV sites with our Riverside Retro 199FKS and it actually looked small in the site. We had more than enough room.

You are far enough away from Washington, NC that you don't get great cell coverage so, it is almost like going off the grid. I think I had service if I sat outside with my left leg propped up (just kidding). 

Since this park is so new, there are not many trees or vegetation to provide privacy between sites. I think this park will be great once the plants grow in - don't skip for this reason - still go, just know that you won't have a lot of privacy.

This campground is nestled in the tall North Carolina pines. There isn’t much shade though because the branches are mainly at the top. The camp sites are long and have plenty of room between camp sites. The campground has been recently redone and includes some cute cabins. We went on a boardwalk hike there. It said that red wolves and bear live on the area. We only saw deer.

Booked a tent site and later a cabin as well since we were unsure about the weather. The tent sites were nicely situated and far apart from each other. The vault toilet was very clean. The site is peaceful and since the weather was pretty bad, it was quiet and only a few sites were occupied. 

The cabins are new and clean, with AC/heat and electricity and a nice outdoor setup with a grill and fire pit aside each one. They are located in the cleared RV park, not the woods, so don't expect to feel like you are staying in nature if you book a cabin. The shower facilities are very nice too. Overall, cabins are a great option if the weather is bad or you don't want to stay in a tent. 

Plan for bugs - ticks and mosquitoes are a given in the summer. Also, the swimming beach is closed as of May 2020.

I have a personal pull to Goose Creek State Park as it was once my family’s land going back generations and generations. My great-grandfather, grandfather, and father carved out the trails used for hiking today and the road to the campground its self was made by my dad and his friends. The state bought the land in the 70’s and it became our state park. It makes me proud to share a part of my family history with the rest of the world.

Even without the personal connection I feel when I visit GCSP, it’s such a beautiful place to be during anytime of the year. Hiking trails equipped with boardwalks lead through the marsh and swampy areas while sporadic signs display pictures and information about the wildlife you are likely to see. The primitive campground has more than 10 sites, with the farthest sights sitting on the edge of the Pamlico River. It truly is an awesome sight to take in at sunset and sunrise. Bath houses with showers, hot water, and toilets are available. There are two group sites and, recently added, several rv sites and about 5-6 small cabins. I have not stayed in the cabins yet. They seem to be fairly popular so reservations should be made at least a couple of weeks in advanced. There heat and AC but no bathrooms or kitchen area inside the cabin. I believe there are two sets of twin beds and a full bed but you have to bring your own linens. There is also a very nice bathhouse available for cabin renters. The only downside to the cabins and RV sites is there is no shade. The sites are toward the front of the park, and, perhaps because of the recent construction, there is are no trees, woods, or shade around. As a personal preference, I want to be IN THE WOODS when I camp so the aspect of being out in the open is not as exciting as tent camping. That being said, the cabins are adorable and have a fire ring, picnic table, and everything you need to enjoy a night of camping.

I think this is only the third time I have stayed at a cabin at a campground, and it was all right but I like tent camping better. Because of the intense heat and health concerns, we chose to stay in a cabin here. I wish I had taken more pictures of the campground, but my buddy(seen in the photos) and I are photographers who look for scenes of beauty. It’s not that the campground was not“pretty,” but when you are this close to New Bern, there are better things to photograph. There’s Tryon Palace, Union Point Park, the historic Confederate cemetery, the fireman’s museum, the Pepsi Cola museum(New Bern is where Pepsi was born), etc. The New Bern KOA is perfect in every way. The sites are large with full hookups, Wi-Fi, cable TV, etc. It has all the amenities of a top notch campground that you would expect from KOA. I have stayed at several KOA campgrounds, and they all seem to have the oversized chess; and I have never seen anyone playing it with seriousness. They have two pools, a pavilion, a bouncer… and I could go on and on. IF you want to spend your time at the campground, there is so much to do that you don’t need to go anywhere else… HOWEVER… Did I mention New Bern and Tryon Palace? You can’t come this close to New Bern and not go to Tryon Palace. The campground is located on the shores of the confluence of the Trent and Neuse Rivers. Since they join here, you seem as if you are closer to the ocean. It looks more like a bay. There is a really nice pier at the campground beach for fishing, and the KOA here has outdoor boat rentals. There is also horseshoes, pedal bike rentals… Did I mention there is also New Bern and Tryon Palace? Seriously, the New Bern KOA is about the best campground at which I have stayed, but my buddy had never been to New Bern. There was more to see. If you go, make sure to make reservations. New Bern is a historic town with lots of vacationers during the summer. Looking for something to eat? My favorite place to eat in New Bern was Captain Ratty’s, which has great clam chowder. However, New Bern has lots of other great places to eat as well. The downtown area is also a great area for shopping. Back to the campground… the first time I stayed at the New Bern KOA was over thirty years ago, but it has grown in size and amenities. Now, it is more like a resort than a simple campground.

Not only is this campground surrounded by tall pines and beautiful lakes it is spotless. The campsites are well spaced and give a bit of a community feel with cabins near by the bath house, which also is incredible!!! Heated bathrooms are a plus in our book! Highly recommend 👍🏼

They have a cabin that is fully handicapped! It has a paved sidewalk to the bathrooms and they will allow you to drive your “person” down the access path to the water way!! My daughter loved it and we will be back! Even the picnic table has a cut out for a wheelchair!

Tent sites with electrical hook ups right beside the river. There is a fish cleaning sink and a pier to fish from also. Small cabins are for rent here as well. This facility has one of the cleanest pools I have ever been in. Very well kept bathroom facilities with a laundromat as well. Very friendly staff and guests here as well.

We did primitive camping, and they were way nice, very spread out and the kids brought their bikes and that's what they did most of the time, and we felt like it was safe enough for them to go bike riding. There was a place where we could put off on a kayak or go fishing

They have little cabins that are not too expensive either that have air and heating, if we go in the summer again we will probably do those

The only thing we mentioned was it would not be very fun if you went with a group because the places were so spread out and where not big enough to have more than one tent each

The bathrooms did not have running water, but they do a composting type of toilet and it did not stink at all and they were always very clean.

Great trip despite the flat tire!

This place is a gem of a state park!!!!

Since it's not right next to the coast it's relatively quiet and not crowded. I went here on the tail end of a mid September weekend and found the entire campground to myself! That is unheard of on the West Coast! There is a beautiful sound access.

This is boutique car camping! There are only 14 camping spots all nicely spaced from each other and in a wooded location. Sites 11-14 are around a little peninsula on the sound so all have some water view. There are a handful of water spouts around the campground, and each site has a parking spot, campsite, table and a lamp hanger. The lamp hanger took me a while to figure out since we don't have these on the west coast it is a suspended hook that looks a bit medieval on first glance.

Bring your paddle boards or canoe to float around the sound. There is a great outline of a 3 mile canoe trail mapped out by the put in. (see my photos)

Ohhhh and it goes without saying near the North Carolina sound BRING BUG SPRAY. This is serious deet country.

We drove up to check the park out to see if it would be worth a trip to camp. We will definitely be making a trip there. The camp ground was nice and very clean. The sights are all gravel with full hook ups. But loop around the sight is paved. There are some cabins as well with a bath house. The tent sights are completely secluded drive in with some on the water. All the roads are paved and nice. Except the road back to the tents is dirt but very well kept. If navigating the tent spot the road may be tight for larger trucks. I have a F-150 that was fine but anything larger than a half ton truck it may get tight.

Activities: There is a nature center at the entrance of the park. A ton of trails with trail heads everywhere. A swim beach (we didn’t walk to). A place to launch Kayaks as well.

Careful There is four foot tall vegetation between the sites and they are spread out. When I was there a random fire started where myself and another camper fought it for 30 mins and my wife drove around getting campers to evacuate until the fire department came. Just be mindful if your smoker and any fires you may have while camping. If you were camping there March 5th, 2023 and came back to your house unhooked from your trailer, I’m sorry but I used it to contain the fire instead of burning your 5th wheel down. I didn’t hook it up because I was dragging it through fire and didn’t know if you would want it hooked up.

The RV park has full hook up which is wonderful. All the amenities are close together and accessible. We have stayed in some state parks where the water is literally 100' away! The bath house is heated which is really nice when going after dark. The shower water saver is ok but the water temperature from night to night is inconsistent; it ranges from tepid to really warm. The campsites are all setup on gravel and are fairly level. We got a good bit of rain while we were there but it didn't flood our site. The picnic tables are a heavy plastic so unlike the wooden at other campsites, should last a long time. The park grass is being allowed to grow to fill in the sandy area. The grass around the camping area is cleared. The camp roads are asphalt and great for walking and biking. The spacing between the RV sites is also good because they are spacious and setup in such a way you are not looking left at your neighbors window and he's looking at the neighbor beyond that! A short distance further into the campground are the'primitive' camps. Shortly after we stopped at the parking area, we were told by a park ranger to stay out of the rustic camp area. No explanation was given. The park has trails on the primitive side, a small dock for launching kayaks and canoes and a small beach area. None are allowable/accessible to the RV camper. From the water, later that day, we did see a small crowd gathered around a tent and being very boisterous. They were camped within feet of the water. Many RV campers were like ourselves, avid kayakers or canoers. Although a short drive(7 miles) to Dinah's Landing, it's still a drive. Go too late in the morning and parking will be an issue. We launched off of a sandy little beach area and had many options for exploration. Go far enough back and the real world will eventually disappear and it will be just you and nature. In the area surrounding the campground there are no local stores/gas stations available. We wanted to purchase some firewood but were unable to locate any closeby. There is a Food Lion and a Walmart located in Washington about 9-10 miles away as well as some food options if you don't want to cook. I think like any campground, there is room for improvement. Maybe, since the RV sites are so new, there will be new amenities coming in the next year. We sincerely hope for the RV side, access to the water is created. We have stayed there twice and appreciate the solitude just not having to drive to load/unload our kayaks just to get in paddle time.

Nice park. It’s not a park with a lot of amenities. No pool, or put put or anything like that.