Permits are required, and can be obtained at the ranger station located at the north end of the park. This is a very heavily-used area, but the farther south you go, the less traffic you'll encounter. My biggest issue with car capming there is that in most spots you really can't get more than a few yards off the road, so the steady flow of cars leaves a layer of dust on your entire campsite. You can travel it in a 2WD no problem, but make sure you have reasonable clearance as there are some nasty ruts. That road is called the Kistler Memorial Highway, but don't be fooled by the highway s anything but. In the past, permits were only required for backpacking-in camping as they wanted to know when and where to start looking for you if you went missing. Have tried for years, but so far unsuccessful. There are pull-off campsites, similar to what you described, within the sounds of the Falls or go further along the gorge towards Wiseman's Overlook and try to catch the Brown Mountain Lights phenomenom.
You access it off of the Blue Ridge Parkway by getting back onto US 221, turning at the Rock House restaurant, then turning onto the Forest Service road that goes to Wiseman's Overlook. My favorite place is along the Wilderness Road beside of Linville Falls. The only way to really get away from the crowds here and enjoy real camping is to go backpacking. I just can't bring myself to pay $14 per night for the right to pitch a tent just a few feet from some huge RV and surrounded by other "campers". You still won't find the kind of solitude you're accustomed to in the Rockies, but its something. That said, one area I've seen some of this going on is in the Wilson Creek area of Pisgah National Forest north of Morganton. You just don't find it much in the east, and even where its allowed its not so easy due to the thick vegetation in our forests. That sort of camping is one of the things I miss the most about living out west.
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Let me know if you want more directions on how to find it. But still, it may be worth a look for you. The only problem for me is that you are often literally camping right along the gravel road and so you will deal with some vehicle traffic coming close to your campsite. It is just like you described - drive up, and pick your spot. This is an old forest service gravel road that people camp along all the time. Mitchell that leads down toward the town of Old Fort at interstate 40. There is also a road off of the Parkway near Mt. Additionally, Doughton offers some great primitive camping if you want to backpack in somewhere. Now, down and across the Parkway they do have an RV section which does get busier - but the tent section is nice (and I like how it is nowhere near any loud RV's). Because of this it actually doesn't ever get very crowded on the tent side. I think for your tastes you might like Doughton Park (kind of near the town of Sparta if you are looking at a map) - it is primitive in that there are no bath houses - only pit toilets. You will have to plan to camp at designated park service campgrounds or one of the private ones along the way - and do plan ahead because they can be few and far between. If you have any experience with this stuff, I'd like to hear from you.Īfraid you won't find that kind of camping opportunity off the Blue Ridge Parkway, as Asheville Native said much of the land off the parkway is private. We want to take off for a few days and a weekend down the BRP in April.just drive with no real agenda.and stop and camp when we feel like it. Anything else between VA and Cherokee, NC? It seems to me that there are a bunch of strategically placed "established" campgrounds.where you pay $14 for your little parking space, a fire ring, a sleeping platform, and access to water and a toilet.īut are there unestablished "dispersed" or "primitive" camping situations like the ones I described out west? Or is it all very strictly monitored via these established campgrounds? Uwharrie National Forest looks like it might have what I'm looking for. I don't have a lot of background (yet) with the Blue Ridge Parkway. That kind of stuff is all over UT, CO, WY, etc. Out west, we drive a 4x4 up an unpaved forest service road into the middle of nowhere, find a pullout with a fire ring where someone had camped previously, and set up camp.
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