Best Cabin Camping near Creswell, NC

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.

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.

What a rare and beautiful eco-system the cypress swamp is! The state park offers several camping options: drive in, hike in and canoe in.

Each drive in site has a picnic table, fire ring/grill and tent pad. There are showers, spigots and restrooms for campers staying here. There are three canoe-in sites, two of them have pit toilets and the third requires you to pack out all waste. If you want to enjoy the amenities of the drive-in sites but want to spend time canoeing the pond (which I highly recommend) then that's certainly an option, too.

There aren't many eco-systems like this left so it's absolutely worth checking out.

If you have a chance, definitely check out Goose Creek State Park. My husband, son, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and myself stayed at the park this past weekend, and we had a wonderful time. We stayed at campsite 11, and we had plenty of room for our two tents, two vehicles, a pup, a toddler, and the supplied picnic table, fire pit, and additional charcoal grill. The one negative about spot 11 is there’s a hiking trail that run directly behind the campsite, so it feels like people are constantly walking through your campsite. Spots 1-10 were definitely a bit smaller, and spots 11-14 are larger. If we were to stay again, I believe we’d try to stay at site 13.

The fishing dock is quite small, but it was fun to fish from with a few people. Be sure to bring bug spray! The worst for me was the biting flies. There is one outhouse-type bathroom near the dock with a spigot and dumpster nearby. There are about 10 steps leading up to the one-person, non-flushing bathroom.

There’s a wood station at the campground that uses the honor system. It’s $5 per bundle. We visited the visitors center in the hopes that they would have live bait for sell, but they sell nothing of the sort (no ice, bait, fishing rods, etc). So bring everything you need other than wood!

Overall, I’d give the campground 4.5/5, and I certainly recommend it! Try to stay in sites 11-14 if possible.

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.

Merchants Millpond is a great state park if you want to explore a different kind of ecosystem.  The heart of the park lies in its swamps filled with cypress trees and cypress stumps.  There are several camping areas of different kinds.  You can canoe in to one of their primitive campsites, which is on an island in the swamp.  There are other hike-in primitive sites, group camping sites, and there are also the family camping sites.   I stayed at the family camping site and decided to set up my hammock instead of a tent.  If you stay at Merchants Millpond, make sure you take and use insect repellent and lots of it.  I had the biggest problem with mosquitoes and ticks.  If you stay in a hammock, make sure it has mosquito netting.  The family camping sites have tent pads, lantern poles, and fire rings.  The bath house is centrally located within a short walking distance of all of the campsites.  The showers have hot water, but the bath house itself looks outdated.  The canoe-in site that I explored only has a pit toilet, but it did have fire rings and picnic tables.  You can hike to the island by way of a wooden bridge across the swamp, but it is mainly for those who want to canoe in.  If you can go off trail, you can see lots of wildlife.  I had the opportunity to do so since I was invited to participate in a search and rescue exercise.  I only saw one snake, which is unusual not to see more, but I also saw a deer and couple of turtles.  There is a bicycle trail, but the one I hiked on the most was the Lassiter Trail, which has a few wooden bridges and opportunities to experience the eastern woodlands and great views of the swampy millpond.  Fortunately, I did not run into any bears or alligators, which are common in this area.  The visitors center is large and modern, and there is a meeting facility.  The person that I talked to at the visitors center was pleasant and was able to answer my questions.  The staff is great to work with, and I know this because I volunteered to teach camping skills to 4H kids a couple of years ago at this state park.  Overall, it’s a great state park, but it lacks the amenities of modern RV parks.

The 12 trips in 12 months’ progress well. February’s outing was Merchants Mill Pond. What a great place. It probably helps that the bath house had just been redone with fresh paint. But that wasn’t the only thing. The park staff was friendly and the camp sites are nice and spaced well apart. Each site had a fire pit, tent site and picnic table. I am not sure that all the tent spaces were leveled, but if you pay attention when you set your tent up you should be fine.

I happened to be a glorious weekend in February and the temperatures were good enough for a hike in shorts and tee shirts. The trails were well maintained and it was a day well spent on the Lassiter Trail. The park also rents kayaks and there are marked water trails as well. Next trip will include a boat ride and a search for alligators (from a safe distance).

Good hikes, good campground and evenings by the campfire. Definitely on the places to return to list.