We live in Charlotte, NC and are new to camping. The best campground we've been to so far is Jellystone Marion. We have small children and are looking for family campgrounds that are well kept and have activities for children. Let me know if you have any recommedations. Thanks.

What are you looking for in a campground. I may be able to help. Know of several that we go to with our kids but they are older a boy 11 and a girl 16. with the boy all we need is a place to ride his bike or water to play in the girl is harder too intertain. Elkin N.C.

We have all girls - 8, 6 and 2 - a pool or water would be good - they like planned activities as well. We have been to Holly Ridge, Foothills, Oak Hollow and Zooland. Thanks. Charlotte, NC

you might try some of the following. dady joes jelleystone park in tabor city, in charleston try james island park , near myrtle beach willow tree resort in longs ( pricey but nice) . Pf you are into asneville try rutledge park in fletcher = nice but office people not too friendly, however its close to asheville the parkway and biltmore estates
if you like dry camping try carolina beach sate park incarolina beach- near the ocean and beach. or try koa in wilmington - its about 10 minutes frrom the beaCH..
Last suggestion go to books a million or barnes and noble and get a trailer life campground directory. it list many places. then check here for revues of them. also try rv.net they have a lot of campgrounds and info.
good luck

Cain Creek south east of Monroe maybe 15 miles iis located on a lake and is a nice family camp ground, I have drove though it but have not camped there, but looks nice, and not sure about if a beach at the lake are not but nice setting. would call tho to see if aviable

[b] Hey there ! We are newbies too.....also located next to Charlotte. I know some people frown on KOA's, but we have thoroughly enjoyed the East Asheville KOA. It's easy to get there .....up 321 to 40.

They have lots of activities for the kids. In fact, we are going back the weekend of 8/4 for a carnival (they do several events to raise money for children with cancer). This event includes a flashilght candy hunt on Saturday night.........fun for the kids !! They have a very friendly / helpful staff also !

We are also looking into Jellystone in Marion (between Hickory and Asheville)...once again, not a long drive.....good for weekend trips.

Good luck and have fun !

We have been to Jellystone 2 times this year and have reservations to go back for at least one more time. We're on the waiting list for Labor Day. They stay booked. We went to the Black Forest Camping Resort in Cedar Mountain. It's a drive, but worth it if you're into hiking in the Dupont State Forest and Pisgah National Forest to see waterfalls and such. The facilities at the campground were immaculate. They have a heated pool and other activities. The campground itself is very wooded and quiet. You definitely feel like you're in a forest. Our kids are younger than yours so it doesn't take much to entertain them.

We just returned from Boone, NC on our maiden voyage with our new/old camper. We have 2 kids 5 and 7. We stayed at the Boone KOA because it seemed to have more of what the kids wanted. There is a lot to do there in town, Grandfather mountain, gem mining (kids love it!), little race cars. I do not recommend Myster Hill, big ripoff and a lot of the stuff was broken/old. We also took a short hike to Cascade falls on the Blue Ridge Pkwy. The KOA had a fair amount of retirees visiting from the southern states but there were kids around. IF you take bikes, book a site at the top of the hill (lowest numbers), or the bottom of the hill (highest number). Anywhere in between and you might get stuck with a deck on the steep hill. They had mini golf (in the process of much needed renovation- but cheap), swimming pool and goats to feed.



Enjoy your trip

5campers> We have three grandkids that we frequently take RVing. Ages 8, 6, and 2. Give them a pool and they’d be there 24/7. We originally tried the KOA and Jellystone thing and they enjoyed it, but the grandparents didn’t. Too much noise, too close together, and too expensive. So we now camp in state or Corp of Engineer parks where there is a lake. They get the water to swim in, a nice place to ride their bikes (yes the two year old rides one too), a campfire, territory to explore, and we get some of nature’s peace and quiet. We try to pick one that is located near an area of interest so that we can take a short day trip to a zoo, big play ground, miniature gold, a Dollar store to buy trinkets, etc. We recently toured an ice cream factory. Free ice cream at the end will make even the most boring tour a great one – even for the “old” people.

There are many non-commercial parks in the NC, TN, VA area around you. Try one and don’t forget that the parents need to have some fun too. Welcome to RVing.

We enjoy the federal campground in Pisgah Forest called Davidson River. It's near Brevard. The sites are pretty spacious, the bathrooms are reasonably clean. The showers are on timers (have to keep pushing a button for about 20 seconds of water), and you can't adjust the temperature - but usually they are too hot instead of too cold. The river is trout stocked, and from April - October there are no limits or lure restrictions in the part that runs by the campground. You can rent tubes (or bring your own), put them in the swimming hole part of the river at one end of the cg and ride for about 45 minutes to the other end. Just finished our 3rd trip this year alone (4.5 - 5 hour drive for us from Charleston).

There are no hookups - you can fill your water tanks when you first pull in, and there are several taps in each loop. You don't need A/C - barely hits 80 in summer and most sites have plenty of shade. Sites are $18 ($20 for sites right on the river). The river leaves plenty of water activity.

If you're looking for a campground with a pool, game room, store, cable tv - then forget this. Cell phone coverage is spotty. I did hook up my TV to my roof antenna to watch the final round of the US Open in June. There is a Wal-mart and a Bi-Lo about 4 miles back into town. They sell ice and firewood in the campground. The loop hosts do a great job of cleaning up sites just as soon as someone checks out (though I wish some of them didn't use leaf blowers).

Plenty of other stuff close - Looking Glass Falls, Cradle of Forestry Museum, Blue Ridge Parkway, Fish Hatchery, and trails, trails trails. Half the sites will be used by tents - the others split between popups, TT, and big rigs.

You don't need to reserve a site - in June when I arrived on Saturday I had to wait about 2 hours (first time ever) - but other days you usually go right in.

My kids are 9, 7, and 4 - and they look forward to going there more than when we do go to (what I call) the Amusement Park Campgrounds.

Sorry - I meant to put this in earlier - during the summer they do have all kinds of activities for children (mostly to learn about nature).

Thank you for the info. We have only camped in our TT once without full hookups and it was for a weekend. Can you give me some tips on how to utilize the tanks so that we can venture out to the beautiful state parks of NC and SC.

The good thing about the state parks of SC is they do have water and elec - but no sewer. I've never stayed at a state park in NC, only federal, and there were no hookups. You can fill your water tank when you first pull in. They are several taps in each loop - I have extra hoses in case I need to re-fill during the week.

So you want to make sure you don't fill your gray and black water tanks during the week (I've never had a problem with the black water, but have filled the gray water up before). You can get a portable tank (about 25 gallons) that can attach to your hitch or you can manually walk it over to dump. Be careful at Edisto Island, SC - the dump station is several miles down the road. You want to avoid showers (well, in the trailer - do bathe in the bath house ) in these situations, and be very careful washing dishes during the week. What I do then is just get the water I need to wash dishes at each meal from one of the taps and wash them in a tub outside.

If there's no elec, you want to make sure you're staying somewhere that's cool enough that you don't need A/C (and Pisgah is just perfect in the summer for that). The opposite end of that equation is times you will need the heat. If you're running the heater heavily during the week, you're going to drain the battery (and go through some propane if it's really cold). I take an extra battery when I go somewhere w/o elec, and have a solar charger to try and help the batteries during the week.

Other things to watch for that can drain the battery - 12 volt fans. I mounted two in my trailer (it's a hybrid, and running the fans through the bedrooms gets rid of the condensation on our canvas), and have discovered that they really use the juice if left on for awhile. Another trick I've learned if to leave the water pump off, and only turn it on to build the pressure back up when needed. The pump seems to really draw hard when it's getting to the cut off point. I've noticed that if the battery is real low, the water pump never reaches pressure, and keeps pulling (undetectable to my hearing) until the battery is gone.

Propane seems to only go fast with the heater - regular cooking and running the fridge doesn't seem to use too much.

Enjoy - it takes a little extra effort w/o hookups, but when that storm comes through, you 'll be glad you're not in a tent (especially if you have kids and it rains for several days).

One trick I use to get water in provincial/state/national parks when it's too far to use hoses is a garden watering can with the "shower" type head removed. This way I have to walk a couple of times, but who doesn't need exercise? It's very easy to fill the tank with the long spout of the can, and as it's usually toward the end of our stay I don't need more than a couple of gallons anyway.