Rocky Bluff Campground — National Forests In North Carolina

The location is absolutely stellar. Less than 10 minutes into downtown Hot Springs with a hardware store, outdoor outfitters, gas station, two bar/restaurants, and of course lots of hiking. Just over 30 minutes away from the Max Patch trailhead.

We stayed at spot #4 for one night. I thought the fire pit for spot #4 and the tent pad for spot #3 were a little close. Other than that, the sites were spaced out well.

There were no electrical outlets available at this campground, not even one in the bathroom. Bathrooms have flush toilets but no showers.

I used the reservation.gov website to reserve the site and paid $23 - $15 for the site and a $8 reservation fee. There is a lock box for walk ins and the fee is $15 per night.

I had spotty cell phone service with AT&T - I had two bars the site and was able to make a call. I lost service when walking around the campground.

This is a well-maintained, no-frills campground which is the perfect base camp for exploring the area!

The campground itself is beautiful - nestled in the forest, it feels very remote. Each campsite has a ~10x10 level tent pad, a nice picnic table & fire box. There's a mix of more open campsites (if you want a few next to each other for a larger group) or a little more secluded. If you want really secluded - there is an upper loop that the road is closed, but you can hike your stuff up to if you'd like. The bathrooms were nice & clean, and there are spigots for drinking water. The park also features a lovely little loop trail that follows along a stream, which was nice & cool despite the fact that I visited in late July. The last neat feature is a small and very old cemetery above campsite 10

The nearby town Hot Springs is about 8 minutes away and features everything you would need - food, a few small convenience stores, and gas.

The negative bit is I got absolutely eaten alive by chiggers at this campsite, so make sure you apply bug spray!

What a fabulous find. I wandered here during the night on my way to Burnsville. I couldn't ask for a better campground. The nearby town is just indescribably lovely, and the campground itself is just gorgeous. I can't believe it is only 8 bucks a night. If you're on the fence stay a night and you won't want to leave. This campground is in danger of being shut down due to revenue loss and park funding cuts so come show it some love!

Beautiful campground on the side of a mountain, just ouside of Hot Springs, NC. Very well designed & built campground so each sight has privacy and a view of the smokey mountain forest all around you. Very clean campground. Nice bathrooms.