Campground Review:

The campground sits in a section of the Nantahala national forest along the edge of the Cullasaja River hiking distance to both some incredible views and majestic waterfalls. We had the exciting chance to visit several of these waterfalls and have an amazing adventure over July 4th weekend. The weather was hot but bearable and the conditions were perfect for playing in the water.

Van Hook Glade campground is organized as a single loop consisting of around 10 or so primitive campsites each with a nice bit of privacy and a parking area. The site has no gate just an area you can go stop to pay for the night. There is also a campground host that you can check in with regarding questions or issues. Since it is a national forest campground you can reserve online and there are the fees though this comes with the associated amenities such as nice bathrooms and well cared for sites. While there we saw about an even mix of small RVs and tent only setups and each was separate enough from the other to be very comfortable. I would highly recommend checking this place out if you are visiting the Highlands area.

Since you are so close you must check out the nearby waterfalls that we saw while on our visit. I'll just describe our day to discuss a few of the options. We first parked along the road on the Northern end of the national forest and hiked down a steep hill to see parts of Cullasaja falls that has rapid moving water and some small but dangerous pools that you can carefully dip in. These forests are beautiful in the summer since they are cooler than the nearby city and luscious with greenery. Next, we continued up the road (to the south) and arrived at Bust Your Butt falls as it is colloquially known that includes both a natural rock slide and a cliff you can safely jump off of. This place was hopping and everyone was trying out the different options. Check out my video below to see me daringly jumping off the 10 ft ledge (I did manage to hold my hands flat when I hit the water which hurt for a few minutes). The water was cold but perfect for a hot summer day. Just as we were finishing up our time her the sky opened up as it often does in this area and we made it to the car just in time. Our final stop of the day was Dry Falls, so named because you can actually walk behind the falls and stay (relatively) dry. It is an amazing sight to see and worth the short walk down some stairs.

Overall, this is one of the best campsites you can stay at in the area if you are doing car camping and don’t want to get stuck in an RV park. Also since it is right in the National Forest you can easily get to all the nearby destinations.

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Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At this campground, I tested the Matador NanoDry Shower Towel. This ended up being a necessary gear addition for this locale since enjoying the area meant both swimming (drying) and hiking (packability). Some of the things my wife and I really loved about the Matador towels are:

1. Weight/Size: I have used several backpacking towels over the years and they have all suffered in 3 ways that Matador managed to fix. They are either too small, too heavy and bulky, or not effective at drying and some fit into all 3 categories. The first thing I noticed with these towels was just how light they were. When you take them out of their case you will be surprised at how nice it would be to take them backpacking. At the same time when you open them up, they are almost as large as a standard shower towel and can fit around your entire body. This combination of super thin, light, and large led me to believe that they wouldn’t be able to do a great job of drying.
2. Wicking ability: However, I was proven completely wrong and found that they were able to dry me off incredibly well and I also noticed that if I wrung out the towel it was almost dry again and could be used over and over again. I found that after only 3 times wiping myself down I went from soaking to dry and was comfortable getting back in the car to drive to the next destination. We could then hang the towels up a the end of the day and they would be ready to go for another adventure the next day.
3. Included case: Finally, the included breathable case makes it super easy to hike in with the towels but not have to worry about putting them back in your bag wet and getting your gear soaked. I also appreciated that it made them easier to pack up, unlike other towels that need to be rolled a certain way to get a clasp to close.

Overall, these towels are incredibly affordable for how well they work and how can be vital for any camping trip or travel situation where water will be involved but space is a concern.