We camped here in the winter a few years ago and finally got back out there this last weekend. We brought a kayak and fishing gear this time and stayed 3 days.

The water is amazing! The deepest part of the lake is 9’ so you are able to walk around most of the lake. My kids loved this. The lake is the second largest in NC, so we spent about 6 hours just swimming, fishing and kayaking within eyesight of the dock. If you want to explore more, you need a boat.

I caught 7 large mouth bass and saw a lot of perch. 2 of them were keepers so I want to come back out again just to fish.

The campsite was pretty empty probably because of the heat, but site number 3 was large and had plenty of shade the whole day. The bath house was decent. Very clean and warm showers. The have a sink outside to wash dishes. Fires were allowed and the have cheap firewood on site. The office isn’t far and I had the kids take a wagon to grab ice twice.

Columbia is the closest town that has groceries or anything to eat. There is a back route to the campground from there along the refuge called Newlands Road. We traveled through there on the way back from a grocery run and saw a lot of wildlife including a baby black bear.

There are lots of trails and a boardwalk that is fun. Bring bikes and boats for the real experience. Also, bring bug spray. We had some citronella and mosquito coils but we still had to spray some off.