My husband's family took me here for my first camping trip, and I loved it! It was a quiet spot right on the water, in late fall when all the leaves where so beautiful. Mind you, I did wear every piece of clothing I packed, to the point that I couldn't even fold my arms. I've been on many camping trips since, and my cold tolerance has improved, but Thunder Rock remains one of my favorite spots to this day. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a place to spend a night under the stars!
It's been a while since we went to this campsite. Back then it was named Nelsons Nantahala Hideaway, and it was under different ownership. I can't say how it is now, but we loved it back then. It really was a beautiful spot. Loved being close to the water. There were lots of great trails, and gorgeous waterfalls. Nantahala is just a beautiful area in general. We've continued to visit there over the years since, and we even came home with a dog on one trip. Even if you don't visit this campsite, I would definitely go anywhere in the area of Topton, Nantahala, or Bryson City. You can't go wrong.
This has been one of my all time favorite campsites. It’s simple, so beautiful, and there is so much to do. There is a lake to fish in, and we walked the trail around it every day. In fact, there are endless trails in the area, a few waterfalls, and overlooks. The campsites had bathrooms, but no showers. There were no lights in the bathrooms, though, so some evenings that was a pain. But honestly it had everything we needed close by. And more than that, it was one of the friendliest sites we have ever been to. I can’t wait to go again.
Overall it was nice, but not my favorite place I’ve been to. I thought I chose a campsite right on the water, but we couldn’t actually see the water. However, we did walk around the site to where we could get in the water and it was really pretty there. There was a playground, the bathrooms were in pretty good shape, they had a dump site, and water. So yeah, my husband and I both liked it, but we would just visit some other campsites before coming right back to this one.