Rolling View — Falls Lake State Recreation Area

This campground is one of the two listed at Falls Lake State Recreation Area, and I chose it because of its good reviews. The“primitive” area is Loop C, which means it does not have water or electricity at the sites. However, the sites do have picnic tables and lantern hangers. There are no designated tent pads, but you are instructed to set your tent up on the gravel. Unfortunately, the campground has flooding problems in the Loop C sites when it rains, and it started raining after I set up my tent. After thirty minutes of rain, my tent was standing in at least an inch of water, and there was nowhere else to move it. I ended up abandoning my tent to stay in the back of my SUV. The next morning, I looked at the other sites in Loop C, and they were also flat, which meant that it didn’t matter which site I chose. That is one of only two drawbacks that I saw in this campground. The other drawback was the nose from jets overhead from the RDU International Airport. It wasn’t noticeable at night(that may have been because of the pouring rain and the thunder), but during the morning, it was constant. My advice is not to stay in Loop C if it is going to rain. A raised tent pad would have prevented my tent from being flooded. The bath house is especially nice for a state park(state recreation area). The shower doors are a little narrow, except for the handicapped shower, but there is hot water. There are electrical outlets in the bath house as well, which I used to charge my cell phone. Other features about this campground include swimming beaches, a marina, canoe/kayak rentals, at least two fishing piers, a couple of playgrounds, and a store. The Mountains to Sea Trail passes through this park, and there are several other short trails as well. Overall, this campground is pretty good if you are in an RV or if you are in a tent and it is not going to rain.

Good Campground for RVing but not so much for Tent Camping

Great campground! Sites are close to bathrooms, with nice clean showers. Also swim beaches, and trails. Can buy firewood on site from entrance. Good spot for families with kids of all ages. I like the group sites here, there very large good for many tents

Great for family camping

Nice, big sites and plenty of good areas for swimming, hiking, and fishing. We always catch a ton of fish!! Bath houses are always clean and the park is in a convenient location. We’ve been several times.

Rolling View, Falls Lake is one of my favorites!

My husband and I absolutely love this place! Park rangers are friendly, campsites aren't on top of each other and the restrooms and showers are clean. We love seeing the wildlife.

Peaceful 

I love camping here with the family. Plenty of drive up campgrounds close enough together that you can camp with plenty of sites close enough together that you can have lots of people camping together but still remaining a comfortable distance apart. They also have nice bathing facilities for those who dont want to rough it.

Best family Camping in my opinion in the area

Bathhouses are ok, hiking trails are good and has a nice fishing pier. Sites are anywhere from close to plenty of distance apart.

Nice hiking and fishing

We've camped here 2 or 3 times now and we can't get enough of this park. It is huge, covered in hiking trails like Mountains to Sea Trail and Falls Lake Trail. The dogs love it, the camp sites are beautiful and clean. The bathhouse wasn't quite warm enough for showers in November temps, when we tented. January was just as cold, but we rented a camper. The lake is gorgeous. Love sitting by the campfire and staring up through the trees at the moon and stars.

Can't get enough

Quiet. Easy access to the lake. Some really good hiking trails. Closer access to the Mountains to Sea trail. 

NICE Camp grounds

Fantastic sites with community showers and toilets in loop c where we stayed poop a and b have electric and water at each site. Lots of easy hiking trails , fishing piers , playgrounds , picnic areas and swimming beaches . You can also get to the water with a quick stroll through the woods.

Fantastic underused sites

So much fun to camp here. They had a controlled burn of the Holly Hill Loop In February. It was really neat and educational to see the charred bottoms of the trees. 
The lake is beautiful and great for kids. We will be going back!

Fun and educational 

Nice, large, well shaded sites. Clean bathroom, currently being cleaned 4x a day. Playground and Beach closed due to covid, but look nice. Check-in ranger was very friendly and helpful finding our site. We stayed in loop A, but walked all 3 loops, only a few sites we noted we wouldn't particularly want (lack of shade or less privacy), but all are nice big graveled sites with picnic and fire pit areas. Our 2yr old and dog loved their first times camping. We will definitely be back! 

We will definitely be back

I spent a night in Shinleaf walk in campground in April as part of a backpacking trip along the Falls Lake MST trail, sections 8-12. The fact that it doesn't have vehicle access to the sites makes it somewhat not popular with the usual camping crowd. It's a pretty big campground, but when I was there it was mostly empty. My site had the lake view and I spent the evening watching the sunset on the lake, it was amazing.

  

The bathroom was clean. I didn't use the shower, but I think it was available.

  

It's a great spot if you backpack MST or otherwise don't mind taking your stuff from the car to the site on foot.

  

I booked site 39 and it was great, I also remember that the two adjacent sites 37 and 38 were connected and could serve as a great spot for a small group.

Hike In campground for MST hikers

Man-made reservoir - Falls Lake is located in the upper portion of the Neuse River Basin. Nice shaded trails. Very nice park. 

Falls Lake State Recreation Area, Rolling View Campground

Reserved a site near the water for a solo evening, just me and my pup.  The sites are close, but private enough with a lot of trees between you and the folks next site over.  The bathrooms were very clean.  Be sure to bring wood, there are a few places to buy wood within a 5 minute drive or so.  I plan on coming back with the whole family.  

Great little spot outside the city!

Great clean sites, marina, access to lake. Everything you need.

Excellent 

Sites are nicely spaced(B loop), some surprisingly so, but many are unlevel, and some deceptively so. We were in site B-004. Our front wheels were about 4-5” off of the ground to get level. AT&amp;T had 2 bars and 4 MB/s w/o a booster, 3 bars and 5 MB/s with it. No WiFi. We didn’t have any satellite coverage. OTA TV is ok, but not as good as one would expect being this close to Raleigh-Durham. Also, the SRA is apparently on the airport flight path, as there was a fair bit of jet noise, particularly in the evening. There are a couple trails in the immediate area, as well as between the campground loops. A Loop seemed more crowded and noisy than B Loop.

Nice, roomy, heavily wooded sites

Good morning 🙏 🌄 Sunset 🌇 ✨ 💕 ❤ 💛 💖 I've been working 💪 

Fall of Lake 

Sites are decent size and somewhat spaced out. Planes can be a distraction if you’re not used to the sounds, but the biggest distraction is the noise from other campers. Super popular spot for young families which is cool, but there’s little to no quiet time. 

Decent site size, but pretty noisy

Just stopped for one day/night on the way through, and I am amazed with this place.  All three loops have great sites.  Our site is fantastic, really large and overlooking the lake. The path to the fishing dock goes right by our site, giving great access to the lake.  Cool rocks along the lake to climb on and swim off of.  There are nice trails winding through the campground, a large sandy beach, and several playgrounds.  Lots to do and very serene.