Thousand Trails Carolina Landing

I can't give Carolina Landing five stars because the sites are so close together. Also, our site- A5- was super unlevel. I felt unsafe with our fifth wheel's two left tires up in the air after auto-leveling. That was a first for us, and hope we never have to do that again. The hill getting up to our site was steep. This place is full of big rigs, however, it is not conducive to them. Every turn is tight. The dog in the camper next to us was allowed to bark nonstop when it came outside. The park staff even texted us after arrival to see how things were going, and also again mid-way through our stay. I mentioned the dog. Nothing happened. The neighbors did manage to hear the dog after about ten minutes each time, and they did put it up, but gosh. That's a lot of unnecessary barking. Currently, the pool is green, but I expect that will change soon. The mini-golf needs some love, but it's in pretty good condition considering some that we've seen other places. The clubhouse, office, bath houses, and laundry are nice and clean. The staff is friendly. The tall tall trees are beautiful. We didn't meet any of our neighbors as almost no one comes out of their campers. The weather was very nice at least 3 of the 8 days we were there. We never saw anyone sitting out around a fire, cooking out, or just hanging out. We saw a few people playing basketball a couple of times, and lots of kids rode their bikes occasionally. We saw a lot of big rigs struggling to get up the hills to park in the A section. If you have a big rig, park somewhere else besides the A section if at all possible.(We paid$0 because this was part of our Thousand Trails membership.)

We arrived a little late to the RV park, and the office closes at 5:00. I find that strange since it was in the middle of the summer. The whole check-in process is a little strange for this RV park, and the sites are first come first serve. The sites are gravel and many of the ones that were open were almost level. The biggest thing I do not like about this“campground” is that I felt as if the sites were squeezed in on top of each other. The only privacy I felt that we had was because one site next to us was apparently seasonal since nobody was there, and there were a LOT of seasonal RVs there. There are a lot of activities for campers such as mini golf, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a volleyball court, and a playground. However, we had our grandson with us and the playground was closed off, and the pool closed at 4:30. Our hope was to spend some late afternoon time at the pool, but that didn’t work out. Some of the mini golf holes were also missing carpet in some places. The big attraction for this RV park is Lake Hartwell, so a lot of people stay there for the water activities. Unfortunately, there is no onsite boat ramp. When I asked if I could put in my kayak, the answer was yes. However, there really wasn’t a suitable place to put in without having to drag it over large rocks. The campsite itself had quite a small fire pit and a very weathered picnic table. There was some shade, but we set up our dining canopy since the heat would have almost killed us. The bath house in our camping area really needs updating. It was okay, but it just seemed old. The showers were small and were accessible through a separate door. The worst part was that the showers and restrooms were as hot, if not hotter, inside than it was outside. Later, we discovered that the bath house next to the pool was air conditioned. There was one shower in the pool area that might be considered ADA accessible, but there were no hand rails. We paid to stay two nights, but we left after one night because of the heat and lack of shade and privacy. Fortunately, we were in our teardrop camper with an air conditioner. This is a huge campground, and we were hoping to get ice at the camp store. The only problem is that there is NO camp store, which is again strange for such a large RV park. This RV park does not have hiking or biking trails, but it does have access to water. Overall, the RV park is acceptable for RVers who want to be close to water(it is a short drive away), but getting to the water is inconvenient unless you have a boat already docked at the shore.

The campground itself is gorgeous, heavily wooded and lots of hills. It has great access to Lake Hartwell, and lots of sites. The sites are very close together throughout most of the park. The park also has lots of hills which can be a challenge for some RVs. There are also some very tight turns on these hills. Some campsites are level, some are very unlevel, there are lots of seasonal sites with built in porches making it very tight to get into the travelers spots that are mixed throughout the park.

When you enter the park make sure you stay to the left of the sign. We made the mistake of going straight our first time at this park and almost lost our 5th wheel at the turn around by the lake. If you miss the turn you are safer backing up to the entrance.

Cell Service: AT&T was minimal, T-Mobile was minimal.

Not all sites have sewer and there is a pump out service for a fee. They do have a dump station but it is not easy or ideal to move throughout the park once parked.

Each site had a picnic table, some had a fire ring. Some sites are full hook up, many do not have sewer at the site.

As of 2019 this park needed a lot of upgrades to the majority of the sites, such as fire rings, new picnic tables. The sides of the road were washing out from water run off. These were things also needed in 2018.

Amenities: Laundry Swimming Pool Dump Station Club House Pool Tables Lake Access (Lake Hartwell) Basketball Court Volleyball Playground Storage Lot Beach area Fishing

My family and I really enjoyed our stay here. We did go late spring, so it was a bit chilly at night. We decided to tent camp instead of bringing our RV. Honestly, this time of year I really wish we would have brought the RV. I didn't really sleep well because it was 1. cold and 2. it is close to the highway so we could hear cars and trucks driving by at night. Maybe we just picked the wrong campsite. I would advise you to pick a campsite that is the farthest away from the road. The campground is very easy to find, and the road is well maintained. The people at the check in station were very nice and helpful. Due to a change in campsite when we arrived, they actually gave us a discount so it was cheaper than normal. They also gave us some of the best recommendations for hikes nearby. We really enjoyed getting good feedback from them. We did look online beforehand for hikes, but it was nice to get someone else's opinion. The hiking was awesome! We went early in the morning to beat any sort of hiking rush. We enjoyed being on the top of the mountain by ourselves, sipping coffee and hot chocolate. The leaves and trees were beautiful, changing back to green and getting ready for the summertime. Beautiful flowers were blooming, and I couldn't stop taking pictures! The campground was good as well, although the spots were a bit small- however each campsite was divided by shrubs and trees so you didn't feel like you were right on top of your neighbor. Also, because we went in the spring we didn't think it was very busy. I am sure it is crazy busy during the summer because of all the wonderful hikes nearby. I would like to visit this place again in the summer!