Best Tent Camping near Whitetop, VA

We really like camping there. We tent camp and it is clean and has a handful of things for the kids. The only down side is that the tent sites are road side…so when the campers pull in and out you hear them hitting the gas. Every now and again people will peel out on the road. 😕 Otherwise 👍🏻 and enjoy the friendly staff, CLEAN bathrooms and campground.

Remote, quiet family friendly campground. It is a basic campground with both tent sites and hook-ups. We enjoy tent camping here on the large field where fireflies light up the night sky! There are sites that are close to water so you can fall asleep listening to the gurgle of the creek - and sites near the woods. The bathhouse includes toilets and sinks with a hand dryer. You can drive to the falls or drive to the visitor center and hike to the falls - a great campground!

We camped in this quiet and comfortable campground for 4 nights. We really appreciated the warm shower rooms, large, clean and private. Though we have a 28’ Open Range with shower and septic hookup, we preferred the shower rooms. There is a beautiful area for tent camping with lovely tent sites. And some were occupied by campers who braved a couple of below freezing nights and the first snowfall. The owners are so friendly and helpful you feel like a long-time neighbor. Fully functional septic, electricity and water. Well maintained.

Primitive tent camp site. Water but no electric. Nice grassy area around the gravel tent pad. We had one tree for shade. Fire ring and table. Clean showers and bathrooms. We stayed here specifically for the sliding rock at widow creek falls. But we did hike Stone Mountain falls trail. There are 432 steps going up to the parking area from the bottom of the falls. Beautiful shaded trail. Mountain to sea trail runs through for a little bit. Dogs welcome leashes. Fairly busy trail.

We have been to this campground numerous times. The people and the place bring us back. There are mostly RV's here but we tent camp and there are plenty of spots available. There are about 8-10 sites that are right behind the pool and more sites down a short hill all along the river. This campground accommodates tents, pop ups and RV's comfortably. There is a small pool, but very clean and nice. The showers / restrooms are close by and nice. There is a store to purchase extras and firewood. Great family place to camp. The 5 mph speed limit is strictly enforced! The river is perfect! It's not too deep so the kids can play in it. Fairly easily accessed from many areas at the campground. Tent sites behind the pool have water and electric. If you go on any holiday, there are usually holiday related activities for the whole family. October was great for costumes, trick or treating, fall activities and parties! Many sites were decorated. Summer at this campground had plenty of water activities fun for all ages.

Sites #1-40 are for tent camping and the rest are for RVs. We camped with tents in the RV section because it was all that was available. It was definitely tough to find places to put our tents in our site (86), but the designated tent sites were large and flat. It was pretty crowded while we were there and campsites are close together.

The campground has lots of amenities—a pool, amphitheater, camp store with firewood and ice for sale, flush toilets, laundry machines, etc. They put on lots of fun activities like group hikes and educational talks. We went to the see the live music at the amphitheater Saturday night and it was charming. There are lots of hiking trails you can walk to, but we didn‘t have time to check them out.

The highlight of the trip was hiking the grassy balds starting at Carver’s Gap. Get there early! Parking was tricky when we got there at 9:30am and impossible when we left around 2pm. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. Overall a nice weekend in Roan Mountain State Park!

The tent sites are built into a hill that provides an abundance of trees to hang hammocks and to keep well protected from the sun. The RV spots are located out in the open area and one loop sits right on a creek. The RV spots are sunnier with limited trees to shade from the sun during the summer months. For a NC state park, the bathroom and shower amenities are clean, warm and well stocked with toilet paper. The tent spots are a perfect place to hang hammocks and the tent pads are pretty sizable!

I am giving this review a 5 based on 2 different elements: 1) cleanliness of the camp site was beyond expectation. Not all campground hosts clean out the fire pit on a daily basis. When arriving, there was no trace of the former camper at all. No micro trash, no left over spikes and the campsite was freshly raked and all coals/ash were swept out of the fire ring. 2) welcoming personalities of the camp ground host and and employees. The campground host stopped to ask if we needed anything and to remind us the program that was taking place the next morning.

For tent camping, choose the following sites if you need to park 2 cars at the campsite: #7, #9, #14 and #18. The other campsites have enough space for one car at each site.

Most campground reviews are from the RV crowd.  This is from the tent camper perspective, particularly motorcycle tent camping.  The roads/lanes in the park are paved, but otherwise where you would ride are lousy for motorcycles.  The "gravel" parking lot from the road to the office and in the RV/electric loop is more like rocks, and you stand a good chance of dropping your bike.  Park your bike on the asphalt drive and walk up to the office.  In addition, the tent parking spots are sloped upwards with some very slick crushed rock and are challenging for a motorcycle.  The office closes at 5 (4 on Sunday and probably Saturday) and there is no campground map posted to see where the tent camping area is. They have copies of the campground map in the office and I suggested they put one on the outside of the office door so people arriving after they close have a map to view.   The tent camping (primitive) is off a paved lane a lot further down the hill past the office.  The sign for the lane says primitive.  Straight up at the top of the hill for that lane is site 6 which is somewhat acceptable for motorcycle parking although you are not going to get good enough of a cell signal there to use any internet apps. You might get one bar to make calls or text.   At the top of that hill, take a left and go up a steep hill to the shower house and where sites 1 &2 are at.  At sites 1&2 and outside the shower house you can get a good enough signal (2 bars) to use internet apps.  The campground does have an open wifi, but it doesn't reach to the tent camping sites.  They should add some directional antennas to extend to that area.  Sites 1&2 are best for motorcycles if you can reserve one of them.  2 has a wide enough turn around that you could easily park a group of motorcycles there.  When you check in you are assigned a 4 digit code to unlock the shower house doors.  If you arrive after hours you'll have to ask another camper if they'll share their code with you like we had to.  Don't bother trying to call the campground number after hours to check in or ask for a code because you'll just their voicemail.  Bring a hammer or find a rock to hammer your tent stakes in because the ground where you would want to pitch a tent is mostly rock.  Being primitive there is no electric at the tent sites.  There is an outlet by the sink in the shower house if you need to charge your phone.  There aren't any external outlets at the shower house.  There is a spigot outside the shower house, but I did not open it to make sure it worked.  We got our water using the shower house sink.  The rate as of July 2024 is $10.50 PER TENT per night.  There is no discount for only using one site with several tents.  We (four bikes with 4 tents) stayed there four nights.  We would have left after the first night, but had paid for all four nights and also didn't want to have to pack everything up to look for a different campground.

Love tent camping here, awesome views and great prices

I'd have given RM a 5 star review except for the RV sites are small and so close together. We have a small camper, 15" including the tongue and I felt the site too small. The tent sites are lovely., large and more private. Next time we''ll see if we can get a tent site since our camper is so small. No hook ups on the tent sites, but hey we're camping. The staff was friendly and extremely accommodating. We had some severe weather during our visit. 45mph, horizontal rain and a power outage. The staff was right out after the storm to clean up and help out. Our traveling companions were in a tent and their site was in standing water. The staff hauled in gravel and made an elevated pad as well as helping to move the tent. Great service! The area is spectacular and has something for everyone.

Fancy Gap CC is a great small campground with a rustic hotel, cabins, tent camping, and RV/Trailer hook ups. I've stayed here before tent camping, which was nice. This time I was caught in traffic and they had a cabin available, better than pitching a tent in the dark and rain. The cabins are sturdy, very clean, pet friendly, and complete with a refrigerator/microwave and coffee maker. The bath house is relatively new and kept very clean. The whole campground is tidy. You can tell tell the owners love the place. If Fancy Gap is relatively close to your travel plans, I highly suggest you visit for yourself.

Very nice and comfy! Don’t make the same mistake I did and tent camp outside in a huge storm - just stay inside!

We have tent camped and RV camped here. Great site with lots of space and kept up well. Views are great and area is beautiful.

Tent camping or small cabins, quite and clean with water and power and bathroom/ showers and a few hiking trails , great for moto camping or bike camping

My family went to tent camp and enjoyed our stay. We discovered others with campers that had wonderful campsites. The bathroom facilities are new and very clean. We enjoyed hiking. The location also had four bars of Verizon LTE. Amazing!

We have tent camped here many times and it is always a great time.
Nothing beats falling asleep and waking up to the sound of the creek. Small playground isn’t much to look at but my kids (10 and under) always use the heck out of it. They love riding their bikes along the gravel road and grassy hillside. If you’re tent camping the best spot is the far end, I believe number one and two. So secluded and private.
There’s a small beach area that you get kids can use as access to swim and rock throwing.
This campground is only a few miles from Stone Mountain state park. Lots of great hiking. In the summer you have to check out Widows Creek. Sliding rocks and waterfalls and a swimming hole only .2 miles off the road.

We love camping at this clean, simple campground.

We tent camped here in the Royal Oak section. Campsites in this section are tent only and very nice and have platforms. Rv sites are crowded. Clean bath houses, and plenty to do. The lake is beautiful and has boat rentals and a swimming beach! Great place to kayak! This place stays booked up, so reservations are suggested during the summer/fall months.