Great spot tucked in a bend of the South Toe River.  The reservable sites are MUCH smaller than they look online, particularly site 7, which is the perfect size for a motorcycle and a one-man tent.  We reserved the site and our car was barely out of the street when parked!

We moved to site 18, which was not on the river, but delightful regardless.  If your site is not by the river, you run the risk of being near Hwy 80.  I can confirm that Hwy 80 is used 24x7 -- it's not terrible, but it's not Silent Night either.  The tent pad was slightly elevated with excellent drainage, which was a good thing or we couldn't have stayed dry for two nights.

The hosts were friendly and hard-working, getting firewood delivered and keeping the facilities clean, which was a miracle given the wet weather.  I would not drink the water without boiling it; could have been the weather during our visit, but the water was an interesting golden yellow color.

The campground is beautifully wooded, although there was a fair number of recently felled trees lying about.  The host said the forest service came in and cut them down because they were too close to the campsites.  Huh?  Regardless, they did not clear the trees away, so one has to clamber over them going from site to site.

We had planned a 4-day stay with a 15-person group spread over 5 sites.  Unfortunately, what seemed like the first hurricane of the season parked itself over the NC mountains and dumped at least 6 inches of rain in 48 hours and, since there was no improvement in the forecast and we couldn't do any of our planned activities, we made for home early.

The reservable Pavilion is beautifully situated and was a nice respite from the rain for our group one evening.  

We did visit the Penland School and had lunch at DT's in Spruce Pine -- both highly recommended.  

I plan to return at the first opportunity to enjoy Carolina Hemlocks and the surrounding area in better weather.