Best Cabin Camping near Blue Ridge Parkway

If you like a clean restrooms / bathhouse; friendly owners, level sites, and a well maintained  camp ground then you have found the right place.

Don't let the size keep you from making a reservation.  Located right off the Blue Ridge Parkway the views are amazing.  You have access to several small towns and state parks with plenty of trials and things to see.  

The camp site is well maintained.  Sites are level and spaced out for room to open your slide and awning.  Picnic tables and fire pits at every site.  There is tent camping and cabins or a hotel if that is your preference. 

I will definitely be back.

We stayed for one night only on our way to Dreher Island SP. We didn't get in until after 4 pm, but there was still enough daylight to see how pretty the campground was. We had site 60 for the night. We tow a 19' a-frame camper with a Toyota Tacoma and had lots of room on the pad. The pad was pretty level so set up was easy. The site also had a huge area for the picnic table and the fire ring is far away from your camper. There was a huge grassy area behind our site with a creek, lots of space for our dog. We were in campground B (electric) and the sites were decent. There wasn't a lot shade for us, but up in the tent area they were surrounded by trees and it looked like they all had tent pads, some better than others. The shower house was nice, clean, flush toilets, and good showers. By the shower house they also had an outside sink to wash your dishes. We didn't get to hike, but everyone said we should if we ever go back. It's on our list to visit again.

We go back here multiple times each season. Very family friendly. Sites are relatively clean, easy to park at, bath house is clean& easily accessible. They even have a"coffee shop". The staff here are amazing! The campground is tucked away outside of Boone, but not so far that if you really need something you cant get it. The staff does a great job making sure the quiet hours are really quiet and no craziness happens. After looking around at other campgrounds, we really love this one. Most of the sites are shaded so in the heat of the summer it is really pleasant to hang out at the campsites(usually with a nice breeze). The location is also not far from the Blue Ridge Parkway and lots of great hiking.

Another lovely campground along the BRP, close to Linville Falls and gorge, picnic area and visitor center.

Erwin’s View Trail: Moderate Linville Gorge Trail: Strenuous {amazing view of falls}

Get a map at the visitor’s center.. redundant: the gorge is rather crowded on the weekends.

Check online for road closures when visiting the parkway.

$20 per night

There are 70 sites, some reservable sites and walk ins -and an RV loop {dump station} All sites non electric, generators permitted before quiet hours.

Lovely rangers and camp host that I found to be pleasant and helpful.

Open field sites, with decent sized pads, fire pits & picnic tables. Some of the sites are more secluded, the ones nearest to the parkway road.

Dog friendly for leashed puppers 🐾 Kid Friendly

There are bear lockers, keep food and supplies in the locker and in car at night.

Alcohol is prohibited

No showers but access to clean water and flush toilets.

You may collect dead wood or bring in HEAT TREATED firewood that is certified with a federal seal.

Local stores that sell wood and/or other supplies: Linville Falls Visitor Center/Park store Linville Falls General Store {8896 NC-183, Linville Falls, NC 28647- trinkets, camp supplies, cold drinks, non perishable food, Hunt Brothers Pizza etc} Walmart Supercenter, Spruce Pine, Ingles Food Store, Newland

Nearby Attractions

Linville Falls Linville Gorge “Grand Canyon of the Southern Appalachians”

Falls Trail - 1.6 mi RT/easy The Gorge Trail - 1.4 mi RT/ strenuous. The Plunge Basin Trail- 1mi RT/ moderate. Leashed dogs permitted 🐾

BRP Linville Canverns Crabtree Falls, Burnsville Grassy Creek Falls NC Gem Museum

The campground is laid out well, spacious, clean and located near awesome trails, falls, look outs and shops and restaurants.

We stayed one night at the Fancy Gap Cabins and Campground in our Riverside Retro 199FKS - and absolutely loved it! We did choose on of the 4 pull through sites which provide a great view but they are along the ring road so they are not really private. The back in sites appear to be roomy and rather private. They also offer cabins and tent sites. The couple that own/run the park are super nice and are huge dog lovers. They made me, my wife and our two large dogs very welcome. The park is right off the Blue Ridge Parkway and US52 in Fancy Gap. Also accessible near I77. We are going again in a week for a longer stay.

I was looking for a campground in the latter half of April and so many of the NF and NP campgrounds were not yet open. My plans had been up in the air, so I hadn’t made reservations anywhere. Jumped on The Dyrt and located this KOA just off the Blue Ridge Parkway that was ideally located for my exploration of the area AND I was able to make a late reservation on a weekday night. The campground was much busier when I departed on a Friday morning. 

Like many KOAs, this has a combination of tent sites and well-equipped RV sites, ranging from back-in to pull-through as well as cabins. I’ve stayed at a few, but not many KOAs and this one had some amenities that I think are worth calling out. In addition to a pet play area, there are a few sites(51, 43& 45) with pet backyards, fenced in areas for your pet to roam and play. For the tent sites there are a couple (T84& T86) with a shared covered kitchen area plus sail-style awnings. There’s also a separate kitchen pavilion for the all campers near site 83. I didn’t explore the seasonal sites, but they are available and somewhat separate from the short-term campers. 

There’s a small camp store, laundry room, clean bathrooms with showers. Firewood can be delivered to your site. They’ll lead you to your site and help you get situated if necessary. I was in site 10, a back-up site with a slight incline. It was quiet apart from the creaking trees during a windstorm😊. 

In peak season, there’s a pool, a small pond (catch& release unless you want to pay), ping pong, rock mining, etc. They have great wifi (they sent a text to campers to let them know they were working to get the cable restored, but in the meantime people could use the wifi to stream movies if needed). I didn’t have a need to use it as I was able to get what I needed on my phone(Verizon). 

If you’re traveling the Blue Ridge Parkway, you may want to make this an overnight stop or use it as a base to explore in different directions. I went online and discovered that Mt Airy(of Andy Griffith fame), was nearby, so I wandered into NC to explore that. I also drove along the Parkway and enjoyed Mabry’s Mill(a lot of activities were closed due to COVID, but I expect they’ll start returning to former levels as restrictions ease). On an early trip, I recall learning about making moonshine as well as the functions of the scenic mill.

**Campground Review: **

This is the second year in a row of us ending our summer road trip at Honey Bear Campground in Boone, NC. Honey Bear is a medium sized campground with around 60 sites that are a mix of full hook up, RV water& electric, Tent water& electric, primitive camp sites, and a group tent camp area. There is also two small cabins to rent. All sites with hook ups also included cable hook ups. I have included a campground map in my pictures for your orientation. All the sites are gravel and most sites are wooded with lots of shade. The sites are a little sloped, so have leveling equipment ready. The sites vary from small and close together, to medium size with established plumeria shrubs separating sites for some privacy. All style sites include a picnic table and fire ring. If the campground is full, they do have an overflow area that they allow you to boondock at until a site opens up. 

Check-in was easy at the office at the entrance of the campground. We stayed on site B12 again this year as we find it private, well shaded, and close to a small creek that provided background water noise when it’s flowing good. This site does have a good slope to it and we had to use a stack of 3 Cacmo leveling blocks to get level, but if anything, this is my only minor complaint about this site. 

The bathhouse is centrally located and older, but functional and cleaned daily. There are also laundry machines available between the men’s and women’s area. 

Firewood and ice was available at the office. You can even walk down, pay for wood and/or ice and they will deliver it to your site! The office also has limited other supplies. There is a full grocery store less than 10 minutes away. Connected to the office is a coffee bar that also had some seating and a TV(Seemed to be a teen hang out in the evenings). 

We found good cell phone service with Verizon throughout the property. The campground did have wi-fi, however we only got a good connection if we were near the office/coffee bar. 

The campground also has a dog run, which our dogs loved. After being on the road for two weeks they enjoy every opportunity to get off leash and run. The dog area was surprisingly clean, so either the dog owners are doing the right thing and cleaning up after their dogs, or the staff monitors and cleans this area regularly. 

Being right on the outskirts of Boone is very beneficial. The area offers all types of outdoor activities, from hiking, rock climbing, fishing, mountain biking, and an assortment of snow sports in the winter. Additionally, you’ll find lots of shopping, restaurants, breweries & wineries, and appealing little towns around the area to explore. Also, Boone sits at 3,333 feet (surrounding mountains go up to 6K), so even in the middle of the summer you’ll find very comfortable day and night temperatures. 

Pro Tip: Check with the office for the Saturday night movie! Weather dependent, they show a movie outdoors on the front lawn. Bring your chair or blanket and a cooler/snacks, and come hang out for a movie with fellow campers. They had multiple fire pits going the Saturday we were there, so bring your favorite snacks to toast over the fire. 

With this being our second year to stop here, we have fallen in love with the area. We recommend this campground and will keep returning to this area. I wish it was a little closer to where we live and we’d come here a lot more often!

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**Product Review: **

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At this campground, I tested the Gregory Intertia 20 H2O Hydration Pack. This backpack from Gregory turned out to be my new favorite day hiking pack. The 20L easily fits all my day hiking equipment with room to spare. The 3L reservoir is plenty of water for a day hike even on the warmest of days. What I also really like is the side pockets. They are very deep, so if you are on a shorter hike where you are not using the 3L reservoir, you don’t have to worry about water bottles popping out of the side pockets (I’ve had other packs with short side pockets where water bottles fall out easily). The front mesh pocket is also large enough to hold all that“need now” type gear and there is a small quick stow pocket that is lined and perfect for storing glasses or sunglasses. Even loaded down with more than I’d usually take for a day hike, I found that with the multiple adjustment straps, this pack proved to be very comfortable and rode perfect on my back. I highly recommend this pack for day hikes and look forward to trying some of their larger packs in the future.