Camping in the Southern US

Camping at Grayson Highlands State Park, Virginia

2011-02-11T16:07:00.000-05:00

Grayson Highlands is our family's favorite place to camp/hike. It is one of the most scenic places we have been. It is a place to truly appreciate nature. We will definitely stay there again!

Grayson Highlands is located in the Jefferson National Forest. It is between Independence and Damascus on US 58. US 58 has a couple of very tight curves if you are hauling a long trailer (we saw a semi-truck having major difficulty getting through one). Once inside the park, the roads are no problem.

The campsites are dirt/gravel with picnic tables, a grill, and a fire ring. The roads through the campground are paved. Most sites are wooded. When we stayed there in August 2009 our site was fairly private with lots of trees on either side. The campground was clean and so was our site. There is a camp store at the entrance to the campground that has basic supplies and souvenirs (some nice t-shirts!). There are no sewer hook-ups, but there is a dump station (37 sites are electric/water and 32 have no hookups). We used the showers there and the bath house was very clean.

Things to do:

There are 9 hiking trails that range from 0.75 miles to 3.7 miles. The Appalachian Trail cuts through the park. We hiked on 4 trails and part of the Appalachian Trail (followed it out of the park for a little while). Two trails have waterfalls (we only hiked on one of those - Cabin Creek Trail). There are also horse trails (and a horse camping area).
There is a herd of wild ponies that roam the park. Though the rangers ask you not to get close to them, they will walk right up to you. There is a pony auction every fall to reduce the herd number.
There are trout streams within the park for fishing.
The visitor center showcases some of the area culture and has wildlife info. The trail heads for 2 trails are behind the center. There are ranger programs for children, guided hikes, evening programs and demonstrations.
Pick blueberries (in season)!
The Rhododendron Trail is loaded with blueberry bushes and people were out there on Sunday with buckets picking them. There were plenty to go around. Each bush we walked up to seemed to have plenty - we didn't have any buckets, but we ate our share!

The website (listed below) gives more details on area things to do and has park maps along with current camping rates.

Reservations can be made online or by calling (see website for info and phone number).

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/gra.shtml

Photos are copyrighted and are not to be downloaded or copied.

Camping at Raccoon Holler Campground, Jefferson, NC

2011-01-24T09:50:00.002-05:00

This campground is one of our family favorites. We try to visit every year (sometimes twice!). Raccoon Holler is located in Jefferson, NC near Glendale Springs. It is just off the Blue Ridge Parkway between mileposts 257 and 258. We drive there using Hwy 16.

The majority of the sites are wooded. The campground roads are paved and the sites are gravel. There are a lot of good sites to choose from - we prefer to camp on what I think is called Road 6 (the last road on the left at the top of the hill). When we were there in our pop-up, we stayed in several different areas and sites and can't complain about any of them. They have full hook-up, water and electric, and a couple of primitive tent areas. The bath houses are clean.

There is a strong family atmosphere at Raccoon Holler. There are a lot of seasonal campers and they welcome the "weekenders". They have a Sunday worship service in the recreation center with quite a few in attendance.

There is a small playground and a sand volleyball court. If you enjoy fishing, they have a 5 acre stocked fishing lake. On site is a nicely stocked camp store. There is also a game room with video games and ping pong. They also have shuffle board - we often have a family tournament.

Nearby things to do --

Blue Ridge Parkway - beautiful views, hiking trails - we enjoyed the Cascades Trail at milepost 271.9. It's a 0.5 mile loop that leads to some falls.
Church of the Frescoes - http://www.ecva.org/exhibition/acs/commun_1.html
3 miles from the New River - we have canoed with Zaloo's Canoes (http://www.zaloos.com/)

Raccoon Holler only accepts cash or checks - no credit cards (as of this writing). See the website below for current prices and for making reservations.

http://www.raccoonholler.com/

Update:
We visited this campground again in October 2011 -- just as nice as it always has been. They have updated their office and added corn hole in the shuffleboard area. We played A LOT of corn hole! We also went back to the Cascades Trail - it is located in the EB Jeffress Park at Milepost 272 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Mountains-to-Sea trail crosses through the park (look for posts marked MST with a hiker symbol).

Welcome to my new blog!

2011-01-19T23:07:00.000-05:00

What I hope to accomplish with this blog is to share some info I've learned over the years while RV camping. If you're new to RVing, I will have some helpful hints to get you started - if you've been camping for a long time, I'll share some info on campgrounds that we have been to. This info will be from a "Mom" perspective - what families can do while camping, family-friendly campgrounds, campground cleanliness, recipes, etc. I'll share links to the campgrounds (if they have a web-site) and post some pictures. We tend to camp mostly in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Our family started camping in 2000 with a pop-up camper. Our youngest child was 5 years old at the time. We "upgraded" to a travel trailer in 2003 (a real bathroom inside!). As a family of 4, we have had many fun experiences camping and hiking and have some favorite places to visit - some campgrounds we try to visit every year. I am so glad my children have had these experiences (some weren't so pleasant at the moment, but we laugh about them now - they usually involved a canoe). I know they will remember these trips for years to come and hopefully take their children camping someday.