The best DISPERSED camping near
Wildaire , SOUTH CAROLINA

My family of four stayed here for 3 nights and loved it, even though it rained a little. There is the Stumphouse tunnel and a waterfall nearby that are a lot of fun too. My daughter enjoyed paddleboats and mini golf. The prices were great for activities. We would love to come here again.

Campsite was clean and well maintained. My family enjoyed being so close to the river and exploring a new area.

We stayed for 10 days with our 37 ft travel trailer. There's only 3 sites that could realistically handle this size or larger. No sewer hook ups, but thats not an issue for us. The rangers kept the bathhouse immaculate. They take such great care of the whole park! If we get back out this way, we will definitely be back!

My family stayed at South Cove on a Friday night. We were impressed with the large number of pull through sites and the cleanliness of the campground. We arrived late in the day and the camp hosts were friendly and quick to assist with checking in. There are several large play areas in walking distance. There appeared to be beautiful lake views from almost every site. We very much enjoyed our stay and plan to return for a longer visit.

Giving a campground a rating solely based on amenities is unjust. Some people want all the amenities. Some want solitude. Based on what I want, I would give this campground at least four or five stars. However, it does not have drinking water, flushable toilets, electricity, wifi, sewer hookups, a swimming pool, or any of those other amenities. What it DOES have is solitude and a peaceful co-existence with nature. It is beside the Chatooga River and you can hear the peaceful sounds of water all night long. 

The site I stayed at had a fire pit and a lantern hanger. A pit toilet and bear-proof trash receptacles were close by. Although there was some trash on the ground, there was not as much as I have seen at some other primitive camping areas. Maybe the reason is because you have to drive 2.3 miles down a curvy, bumpy, hilly forest road. You could probably drive an RV or pull a travel trailer to this campground, but it is not recommended. One thing that surprised me was that there were handicapped signs for access to the river, so I guess you could consider the campsites to be handicap accessible… maybe. 

The campsite itself was level. There were other campsites that were also level, but with the rain, you will have to negotiate big puddles. The pit toilet is cleaned on a regular basis. I know this because there was a checklist on the door of the toilet. 

I do recommend this campground because it is well maintained for a primitive area and it is peaceful.

My husband & I happened upon this place last year when we were looking for a place to camp but all popular campsites were fully booked. Someone suggested this place to us and we were happy & more than lucky that we came. The owner was so nice and directed us to just set up tent anywhere.  The place was starting to get full but we were able to set up tent next to the pond which was a lovely spot. After setting up our tent, it was time to relax.  I brought my guitar (which i always do when we go to the mountains) and just started to play a lil bit to myself (not a great player, just likes to play).  That kind of drew the other campers and next thing we know, we were all jamming and singing.  Mind you this is not a very large campsite but the size of it and the way the campsite is set up makes for easy mingling. The campers are mostly bikers and they are all very friendly and outgoing. I think that makes this place special.  There is a shed where food is served for bfast and dinner if you are too tired to cook.  There are two charcoal grills if you want to make your own bbq. Overall, i fell in love with this place and we are hoping to come back very soon. SOON!

The campground is so fun and enjoyable and the campground managers are great too we decided to stay another night

Even though it’s only 10 minutes or so away from the edge of Asheville, it has the feel of being much further away - including no Verizon service.

Several areas were closed due to the time of the year, but still explorable by foot or bike.

Some reviews mentioned the lake being underwhelming. It is small, but looked pretty to me. Also looks like a lot of fishing pressure, so might be a tough bite.

Lots of trails including several that are popular with mountain bikers on the road into camp.

Close to the NC Arboretum, too!

We've stayed here a couple of times in 2021. Lots of construction going on right now as some of the loops get upgraded RV parking. The tent loop is great for those who want more privacy and are willing to trek their gear a short distance, but the park needs to address parking for the tent area. The best feature of the park are it's access to excellent hiking for all skill levels.

Most, but not all, sites have lake views.  During the time of our visit, only one area was open for camping (sites 25-58).  We picked site 42 out of a handful of available sites, all seemingly equal.

Apon arrival we discovered sites 42 and 43 are very cozy with each other.   A family with a large number of small children was tent camping in site 43, basically using site 42 as a spillover (literally, the site 43 water is physically located inside the edge of site 42, and as children were getting water, this created a small muddy run towards our trailer position).    Suffice it to say we were pretty displeased with the proximity of the neighboring camp site.   See picture.   On the positive side, these 2 sites would be a great setup for a multi-family or group camping event.

We walked the next branch of the campsite which was not open, and found that sites 3-24 are much more to our liking with regards to elbow room and privacy.  Our next trip to this park will be on that branch.

I would recommend this park with the caveat of doing site research ahead of time.

Camp map is here:

https://www.sas.usace.army.mil/Portals/61/docs/lakes/hartwell/PlanaVisit/TwinLakes/FY13TwinLakes.pdf