Our friend Jo found this campground just looking at a map of the area we wanted to end up at.  She saw Croatan National Forrest and thought “maybe they have camping there” so she looked it up and sure enough – there was a campground!

We originally booked for sites 2 and 3.  Looking at a site map, it is difficult to know if you are actually going to like the sites you choose, but we figured when we got there we could always change if we wanted to.  In theory that is true, but be careful if you ever go b/c once you make your reservation and pay for it, it is not an easy process to change them.

We decided on sites 38/40, which is a double site.  Since Bill and I have our car, we decided to pull into the spot (which made unhooking the truck impossible) so our door sides could face one another.  We purchased an “America the Beautiful” pass which they accept for 50% off the campground fee of $12 per night.  There is also a $5 per night fee for electric, which is not discounted.  In order to change site #’s and also use our newly purchased America the Beautiful pass, we had to cancel our current reservation and book a new one.  It got very complicated and we ended up just putting a check in the box near the entrance.  It was well worth the small hassle and we ended up paying $11 per night for a total of 27 nights. It took a few phone calls but we did eventually get a credit back on our credit cards for our initial reservation.  At National Forests there is a 14 day limit, but the campground was not busy and our host said the double sites are rarely used, so we felt that since we weren’t stopping anyone else from getting a spot (the usual reason for the 14 day limit) we extended our stay.  My advice for anyone trying to book for a National Park, especially in the slower season, book for just the initial night or two then pick a site when you arrive.

We LOVED this campground.  The location was great, right on the river, and a small but very nice beach.  Spring was coming alive while we were there, dogwood trees, redbud trees and everything else blooming all around us!  It was also very quiet and peaceful.

This campground only offers electric hook-ups, no water or sewer on site, but very nearby and convenient.  As I mentioned in my blog post, you can deal with the bit of hassle to pay only $11 per night.  There is no wifi, but our Verizon signal was strong.  There aren’t any of the other usual amenities like a pool or laundry.  There is a great laundromat nearby in Havelock called Wash House.  There are bathhouses that have great showers, which I used once on the day Jo helped me dye my hair.

If you go there, tell Ray (if he is still CG host – but he didn’t look like he was going anywhere) that Kelly, Bill, Jo and Craig sent you!  And tell him hello for us!

This is a total “Like ‘Em” and we would stay again!