We could not have Christmas with our kids, so we went camping. Where? To our new favorite campground, of course!

Back to CP. We were in site 11 on this trip and we reserved it because it is close to the bath house.

The campground has only had about 12-15 campers in it this week. We love the quietness and the wind in the trees. It turned off really cold….I MEAN REALLY COLD, so I have spent a LOT of time inside the camper.

Here are some of our favorite things from this trip:

• Clam Chowder (yes, buy the BIG ONE) from Swansboro Food & Beverage in Swansboro

• Lazzara’s Pizza on Emerald Isle has some AMAZING thin crust pizza (save yourself and don’t settle for Michangelo’s pizza…. not even close to the deliciousness of Lazzara’s)

I did a silent video that show several sites and how big and well kept they are. I showed the end of the nice bath house and captured a few scattered campers and a brave tent camper……brrrrrrr too cold.

We came back for Thanksgiving week and had a blast! We were in site 1 and it was awesome! It is bigger than site 17 and you only have a neighbor on one side.

We rode bikes on the marsh trail which is just down the road the campground is on and watched kayakers and fishermen launch from the pier.

All the items I touched on in my October review are still true. Bath house clean, grounds well kept and host friendly.

FOODIE TIP:

If you have the chance while in season and while camping….call Bekah Bay Oyster Company and order some of her farm raised oysters….so clean and such a sweet taste. We opened ours on the half shell and grilled them in the shell with butter and Bull Hot Sauce.

We camped here in October 2020 and stayed in site 17. It is a great site with lots of room between you and the next camper.

The bath facility is in a very nice building, is heated and has individual locking shower rooms so you have total privacy and security. The roads are paved and the paved pads accommodate up to a 70 ft camper/vehicle. Each site has a smooth, flat, gravel area equipped with 2 lantern poles, one large picnic table, and a fire ring with swing away cooking grate. Beyond the gravel areas are flat level areas of grass. The campsites are shaded by large, tall pines and other assorted trees.

The bath facility was very clean and well kept. The host was very friendly and helpful. The grounds throughout the park are extremely well kept.

Upon arrival, you check in with the host, drive to water fill area and fill up your fresh water tank. There are additional water fill faucets throughout the park. Your site is equipped for both 30 or 50 amp campers.

We really like this little campground and plan to come back again soon.

This site is conveniently close to many beach attractions. To compare it to the local RV sites it so great in the aspect you are not on top of each other. The site itself for it being on “national park/forest land,” is “ok.” But in comparison to other national parks or federal land, it is barely a 3 star. It struggle in cleanliness and upkeep. The facilities are at best an “ehhh it’s food enough.” There are nice people here though that are making an honest effort, and who can argue with this places excellent location?

When driving in it was beautiful. Looks can be deceiving. The only place to fill with water was the dump station and we were filling for 20 minutes and ran out after about an hour. The restrooms and showers were so discusting that we cancelled half of our reservation. We were to be there 3 days, go to Myrtle beach and go back for 4 more, but I could not bring myself to go back. I only time saw the campground host once in three days (at 6am smoking at his site), he was no where to be found otherwise. I called COE and told them they should not put this campground (it was not COE it was National Croatan Forest) on their site.

Cedar Point RA is a small campground along the White Oak River in the Croatan National Forest. The campground has 40 sites with electric hook up. The sites are level and have a paved parking pad that they are pretty strict on you keeping all wheels on and a gravel area with a picnic table, fire pit, and two lantern poles (that also work good for putting up a clothes line or dog zipline). The sites do not have water hook ups so make sure your RV fresh water tanks are topped off, or there are plenty of potable water points throughout the campground to fill up you jugs. The sites are large and separated by space, not trees, for privacy. The sites on the southeast side seemed to have more shade than those on the northwest side. Campground map is in my pictures. 

There is no office or signage for check-in, so we just drove in, found our reserved spot that had our name on the tag and set up. The Camp Host came around a little later and apparently we were supposed to know to check-in with him somehow. We stayed on site 24 on this visit. Lots of sun throughout the day until late evening, so a little miserable on this stay as the area had heat advisories every day. 

The bathhouse could use a little TLC. The bathrooms were functional but not very clean. The showers are separate from the bathroom and half were out of order on this stay. Additionally, in typical National Forest fashion, there is no heat or air or even a fan in the bathroom or showers, so again, pretty miserable on this stay as the area had heat advisories every day. The heat in the bathrooms and showers had to be over 100 degrees. Also, typical National Forest setup, the showers are push button, with no temperature control (you get what you get) and the water only flows for about 15 seconds with each push of the button. 

Firewood was available at the camp host. There is a full grocery store 5 minutes from the campground. The resort has many amenities like a boat ramp about a ¼ of a mile down the road and a hiking trail that loops for about 2 miles along the marshy shore line. There is a dump station and trash dumpster behind the camp hosts location. 

We found good cell phone service with Verizon throughout the property. The campground did not have wi-fi. 

While in the area we enjoyed the public beach on Emerald Isle, which is only 15 minutes from campground. There are lots of water sport rentals nearby and restaurants. Camp Lejeune is less than 30 minutes away and on some nights we could hear the artillery in the distance as the Marines trained. However, as a retired Army guy, the faint sound of freedom did not bother me at all. 

The heatwave during our stay really hindered us. Not sure we’d revisit in the middle of the summer again, but during the cooler month I’m sure it would be much more comfortable.

The sites are decent, but very little shade. There are no individual water hookups at each site. They are just scattered thruout the campground. The website does not specify this. Also, there is nowhere to wash dishes as they do not allow gray water at the water pumps, and there is no gray water dumpstation if you did happen to fill your holding tanks. There are only four shower stalls for the whole campground, and 2 were out of order during our stay…and could use a cleaning.

Great location. Easy to get to the beach or check out the river or trails. Power only hook ups with a water and sanitation station for the whole Campground. The “host” sucks and will drive by 10 times a day making sure no one is breaking any rules. Well trained dog off the leash for a few minutes well away from everyone so he can retrieve a ball….nope. Not allowed. Drive 10mph in a 5. Get threatened to be kicked out? Meanwhile the bathrooms /showers haven’t been cleaned this year.

We stayed here while visiting friends in Swansboro. We had to pay full hook up prices even though we were just tent camping but that wasn’t a huge deal. The area was kept really clean (bathrooms could use a little TLC) loved the views on the hiking trail which was close to the camping sites. Dog friendly! Our kids loved it. Beaches in driving distance.

Great birding including Chuck-will's-widow, Croatan Nat Forest, close to Cape Hatteras and Hatteras Island by ferry. Nice breeze, morning fog is usual.