Established campgrounds that welcome vehicle-based travelers, from public campgrounds on the way to somewhere to private camps worth a stay of their own.
Rich Mountain Road, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
We’re working on adding the latest campgrounds in North Carolina here.
In the meantime, BLM campgrounds are already on the public land map, with the fees and stay limits the agency publishes and a link to each one.
Five of them carry a federal designation: the Blue Ridge Parkway and Newfound Gap Road as All-American Roads, plus the Cherohala Skyway, Forest Heritage and Outer Banks routes
Acres in the Uwharrie, the only motorized trail system in the Piedmont 14
53,011
Approximately, across Montgomery, Randolph and Davidson counties. The forest’s About the Area page gives 51,546
Public and private land the Wildlife Resources Commission manages for hunting, trapping, fishing and other wildlife-associated recreation
Camping on public land in North Carolina
Our build of the federal recreation database counts 69 federal campgrounds in the state a vehicle can reach: 37 Forest Service, 27 National Park Service and five Army Corps of Engineers, with 61 bookable in advance. The forest rule is 14 days or less in any 30-day period, and you may not move within 10 miles to restart it. Someone must be present the first night and a designated camp unit takes two vehicles.
Seasons close a lot of this. Pisgah Ranger District campgrounds shut from the end of November to mid-March, and Cheoah campgrounds from November 1 to April 14.
Developed campgrounds have numbered sites, toilets, often water, usually a fee and sometimes reservations. They are the easy night on the way to somewhere.
Dispersed camping means no facilities and no fee. It is allowed on much Bureau of Land Management and National Forest land, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether you can have a fire.
Private campgrounds and ranch stays add showers, laundry and hookups: the reset day in the middle of a long trip.
How to find a good one
The managing agency's own page is the only source for current status.
01Check the agency page for closures, fire restrictions and water before you drive in.
02Check the stay limit. Many public lands use fourteen days within a set period, but it varies by office.
03Check vehicle length limits and the condition of the access road.
04Arrive before dark, and have a second option.
Camp so it stays open
Most closures of dispersed areas follow the same pattern of trash, new fire rings and driving off the track.
01Use sites that already exist rather than making new ones.
02Pack out everything, including human waste where it is required.
03Have fires only where and when they are allowed, and drown them.
04Leave gates as you found them.
Questions people ask
Is dispersed camping legal?
On much BLM and National Forest land, yes, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether fires are allowed. Rules are set by the local office and change with conditions, so check before you go. The public land map shows who manages the ground.
How long can I stay?
Many public lands use a 14-day limit within a set period, but it varies by office and by area. The campground details on the public land map show the stay limit the BLM publishes for each site.
Do I need a reservation?
For popular developed campgrounds in season, often. Many public campgrounds are first come, first served. Recreation.gov handles reservations for most federal campgrounds that take them.
How high is North Carolina?
From Nags Head at 5 feet to Mount Mitchell at 6,684.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,0004,0006,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
BooneWatauga County town on US 321 and US 421, the highest of the sixteen towns here, near the Parkway around Grandfather Mountain and Price Lake.3,218 ft
BurnsvilleYancey County seat and the mailing town for Mount Mitchell State Park on NC 128. Last services before the Black Mountains.2,823 ft
WaynesvilleHaywood County seat on US 23 and US 276, between the Parkway’s high Balsams section and the Cataloochee side of the national park.2,748 ft
BrevardTransylvania County seat at the foot of the Pisgah Ranger District. The Forest Heritage byway and the Davidson River corridor both start from US 276 just north of town.2,225 ft
AshevilleWhere I-40 meets I-26 beside the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Parkway drops to 35 miles per hour through the corridor here, and the Pisgah National Forest supervisor’s office is in town.2,128 ft
FranklinMacon County seat and home of the Nantahala Ranger District office. Wayah Road and Forest Service Road 69 to the Wayah Bald tower leave from the west side.2,121 ft
RobbinsvilleGraham County seat and the North Carolina end of the Cherohala Skyway. Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and the Cheoah district office are both close by.2,044 ft
CherokeeMilepost 469, the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the North Carolina entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park on US 441.1,981 ft
Bryson CitySwain County seat on US 19 at the Nantahala Gorge end. Deep Creek and the Lakeview Drive side of the national park are reached from here.1,732 ft
MurphyFar southwestern corner on US 64 and US 19, with the Tusquitee Ranger District office. The Nantahala’s lowest ground, on the Hiwassee River, is in this county.1,597 ft
MorgantonBurke County seat on I-40 below Linville Gorge. The usual fuel and supply stop for the Brown Mountain OHV trail system and the Wilson Creek country.1,159 ft
TroyMontgomery County seat and the site of the Uwharrie ranger district office. The Badin Lake OHV trail complex is reached from here.657 ft
BeaufortCarteret County seat across the water from Shackleford Banks. The Harkers Island visitor centre and the Core Banks vehicle ferries are a short drive east.10 ft
BuxtonHatteras Island village at the elbow of the cape, beside the Cape Point ramps and the seashore’s busiest beach driving routes.10 ft
New BernCraven County seat at the head of the Neuse River estuary and the northern gateway to the Croatan National Forest.10 ft
Nags HeadNorthern Outer Banks town on NC 12 where the Outer Banks Scenic Byway begins. The last full-service stop before Hatteras Island.5 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Mount MitchellThe highest point east of the Mississippi River. A paved state road, NC 128, reaches a parking area just below the summit6,684 ft
Kuwohi RoadNewfound Gap on US 441 west along the state line ridge to the Kuwohi parking area6,644 ft
Richland BalsamHaywood County, above the Parkway’s high stretch through the Balsams. Our own measurement at the USGS point6,408 ft
Waterrock KnobHaywood County. Its access road off the Parkway is one of the two places the compendium drops the speed limit to 256,290 ft
Black Balsam KnobHaywood County, in the Shining Rock country above the Forest Heritage byway. Our own measurement at the USGS point6,209 ft
Grandfather MountainAvery County, beside the Parkway at the Linn Cove Viaduct. Our own measurement at the USGS point5,919 ft
Wayah Bald Road, Forest Service Road 69Wayah Road west of Franklin up to the Wayah Bald tower5,342 ft
Cheoah BaldSwain County, above the Nantahala Gorge. Measured by us on the elevation surface, since no agency publishes a figure for it5,054 ft
Max Patch MountainMadison County, against the Tennessee line in the Harmon Den area. Camping and fires are prohibited here4,627 ft
Brown Mountain OHV Trail SystemThe Grandfather Ranger District above Morganton and Collettsville2,741 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
