Established Camping

Shinleaf — Falls Lake State Recreation Area

4 Reviews

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About

State Park

Located in Durham and Wake counties 15 miles east of downtown Durham, Falls Lake State Recreation Area provides seven access areas to the reservoir. More than 300 campsites offer a variety of overnight experiences. Trails include a portion of the Mountains-to-Sea State Trail, as well as one of the premier mountain bike trail systems in the Triangle area, located at Beaverdam access. During the spring and fall, migrating monarch butterflies add to the picturesque beauty of the lake.

Not every access has all the listed facilities. Please check the General Information page to view a table of the facilities at each access: https://www.ncparks.gov/state-parks/falls-lake-state-recreation-area/plan-your-visit

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.
Hike-In
Backcountry sites.

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WiFi
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AT&T
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T-Mobile
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Site Types

Tent Sites
Group

Features

For Campers

Picnic Table
Reservable
Showers
Drinking Water
Toilets
Alcohol
Pets
Fires

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Francisco M.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 18, 2023

Nice 🔥

Great views by the lake and a great spot to camp

Month of VisitMay

(8) View All

Brad C.

Scout

Reviewed Sep. 30, 2019

Amazing

Had a great 2 nights here ! Can’t wait to come back!

Robert R.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 18, 2019

Cool place to explore

We had a great weekend camping here with our cub scouts in the Shinleaf group camping area. We had about 40 people and had plenty of room to spread out over three camping sites, Osprey Nest, Blue Heron and Bootleg point. The bathrooms were within easy walking distance. Lots of shade to put tents up under. Plenty of picnic tables and fire rings. The Park Rangers came by a few times and we bought some firewood from them. They were very friendly and helpful.

The area is cool to explore, there are several points on the lake you can easily hike to. There are boaters who use the lake mostly during day, even a few at 6:30am!

We even found a cool Northern watersnake eating a fish on the shoreline.

SiteOsprey Nest

Month of VisitOctober