FYI: I was tent camping.

First you stop at the offfice and they give you a map that shows you what is already reserved (online) and what might be open on the first come first serve basis.

We drove the loop and some spots had the R for Reserved, some had the tags showing taken and some already had tents up but I didn’t see a tag. I found a good spot that had a nice tent base that wasn’t right next to any others and sent my friend back to the office to secure it (for $20 a night). But then this ranger walks up to tell me that the bathroom that it was a short walk away, was having leaks so it would be a much further walk to an available bathroom and ones that didn’t have a shower. So, we moved again and got D-10. It was a nice spot and not really that far of a walk to the bathrooms. It was not that easy to find a nice spot that wasn’t directly next to another campsite but we came in around 3pm.

Our unit had a nice picnic table, a lantern pole, storage cabinet (for our kitchen supplies - food was stored in my car) and fire pit that has a grill for over the top. It had some only partially burned logs in it and with small twigs and branches that I found, we were able to re-use the old logs and not need additional firewood (we only used the fire for s’mores since I have a propane stove.)

It’s a little bit of a drive from downtown Asheville and you do drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway. Good for scenery and viewing stars along the lookout points as there is little light pollution out here. Theres also a nice waterfall hike less than 10 miles down the road and countless other hiking trails nearby. Bad if you get stuck waiting for traffic while they repave the road and someone who cannot stay at the posted 35mph when you are trying to get somewhere in a timely manner.

All in all, I liked the site and probably would go back to explore more!