National Forests in North Carolina
Camp here — National Forests in North Carolina
120 camps mapped in this forest, 84 of them free. Tap one for its topo and aerial, the weather, the water, and how far you will be from fuel and a shower.
- FreeMacon County
- FreeUnicoi County
- FreeMcDowell County
- FeeBuncombe County
- FreeYates Place Camp
- FreeUSFS dispersed camp — NC
- FreeCamp 7
- FreeCamp 5
Where dispersed camping is listed — National Forests in North Carolina
The Forest Service lists dispersed camping as an activity at these 27 places. That is the agency saying it is allowed somewhere in the area — not a campsite we have mapped, and not a spot we can put a pin on. Read their page, then check the district for the rules that apply on the day.
- Badin Horse Camp or Old Horse Camp
This is a primitive camping area where people camp in self contained RV/Horse Trailers. It is located in an open field with tie outs for the horses. No amenities available. Campers must take their trash with them or take it to…
the Forest Service page for it → - Catfish Area
Catfish Lake Boat Launch and Waterfowl Impoundment
the Forest Service page for it → - Catfish Lake Boat Launch
Catfish Lake offers a small boat ramp and dispersed camping area. The lake is shallow and therefore only flat bottom boats should be on it.
the Forest Service page for it → - Catfish Waterfowl Impoundment
The Catfish Waterfowl Impoundment is located in the Croatan National Forest and managed by North Carolina Wildlife commission and the USFS. It is approximately 800 acres in size on what was a drained farm before the USFS acquired…
the Forest Service page for it → - Chattooga Wild and Scenic River
The Chattooga River originates in the mountains of western North Carolina and runs 57 miles from North Carolina into Georgia and South Carolina. Designated as a Wild and Scenic River the Chattooga River corridor includes 15,432…
the Forest Service page for it → - Cheoah Ranger District
The Cheoah Ranger District has 120,500 acres in Graham and Swain Counties. These lands surround four large mountain reservoirs and contain numerous streams. Fishing, boating, whitewater rafting, hunting, hiking, and viewing fall…
the Forest Service page for it → - Croatan National Forest
Welcome to the Croatan National Forest, one of four National Forests in North Carolina and the only true coastal forest in the East. The Croatan National Forest's 160,000 acres have pine forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs and…
the Forest Service page for it → - Fires Creek Hunters Camp
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the Forest Service page for it → - Fires Creek Recreation Area
This remote area offers excellent trout fishing, picnicking, hiking, horseback riding, and camping. The 25-mile Rim Trail in the Fires Creek Backcountry Area, is a hiking trail, however, some trail sections are open to horses. As…
the Forest Service page for it → - Grandfather Ranger District
The lands that make up the Grandfather Ranger District are those public lands that run from the McDowell/Buncombe county line on Black Mountain just east of Asheville over to US 321 between Lenoir and Blowing Rock. The Blue Ridge…
the Forest Service page for it → - Great Lake Boat Launch
Great Lake is located in the Croatan National Forest. It has boat access for shallow-bottomed boats.
the Forest Service page for it → - Harmon Den Area
Harmon Den is on the Appalachian Ranger District in the vicinity of exit 7 off of I-40. The area is a haven for hikers and horseback riders. It offers 54.5 miles of trails with 14 miles of trails designated for horseback riding…
the Forest Service page for it → - Hurricane Creek Horse & Primitive Campground
This primitive camping area is located in the midst of a multitude of trails for hikers and horseback riders. A horse camp Is available with stalls. A vault toilet and fire rings are available. Access to horse trails is available…
the Forest Service page for it → - Joyce Kilmer Road NCSR #1134
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the Forest Service page for it → - Long Point Boat Launch
This site is open year-round. Primitive camping is available, along with opportunities to fish and boat (shallow launch). There are no amenities at this site.
the Forest Service page for it → - Nantahala National Forest
Welcome to the Nantahala National Forest! The Nantahala National Forest lies in the mountain and valleys of southwestern North Carolina. The largest of North Carolina's four National Forests, the Nantahala encompasses 531,148…
the Forest Service page for it → - Neusiok Area
Neusiok Trails and Pine Cliff Picnic Area
the Forest Service page for it → - Overflow Horse Camp
Overflow Horse Camp is an open field with horse tie outs. There is no water or bathroom available.
the Forest Service page for it → - Oyster Point Campground
Oyster Point Campground is situated on the Intercoastal Waterway and is the trailhead for the 21-mile Neusiok Trail. The trail meanders through cypress swamps, loblolly pines and vast bogs of thick vegetation. Oyster Point's…
the Forest Service page for it → - Panthertown Valley Backcountry Area
Panthertown Valley, referred to as the Yosemite of the East, lies on the eastern continental divide in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. With more than 25 miles of designated trails in this 6,300 acre backcountry area…
the Forest Service page for it → - Pisgah National Forest
The Pisgah National Forest is a land of mile-high peaks, cascading waterfalls, and heavily forested slopes. Comprised of over 500,000 acres, the Pisgah is primarily a hardwood forest with whitewater rivers, waterfalls and…
the Forest Service page for it → - Pisgah Ranger District
The Pisgah Ranger District is home to many waterfalls, scenic views, and miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails. Bordering Transylvania, Buncombe, and Haywood Counties, Pisgah Ranger District is a short drive from…
the Forest Service page for it → - Santeetlah Lake
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the Forest Service page for it → - Shining Rock Wilderness
Designated as a Wilderness Area in September of 1964, Shining Rock encompasses over 18,000 acres. This area has elevations varying from 3300 to over 6,000 feet, lies on the north slope of the Pisgah Ledge, a northeasterly…
the Forest Service page for it → - Snowbird Backcountry Area
A bit larger than 8,000 acres, the Snowbird Area is protected as a Wilderness Study Area. Frequently used by fishermen, and less so by backpackers, this roadless area encompasses the entire upper watershed of the creek, including…
the Forest Service page for it → - Uwharrie National Forest
Uwharrie National Forest is 51,850 acres in Montgomery, Randolph & Davidson Counties. Uwharrie National Forest map Ranger District Office, 789 Biscoe Road, Troy, NC 27371, (910) 576-6391, uwharrie@usda.gov . America the Beautiful…
the Forest Service page for it → - Wolf Laurel Hunters Camp FDR#81F
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the Forest Service page for it →
Where the camps cluster
The place
National Forests in North Carolina is really an administrative umbrella over four separate forests, and they could hardly be more different from one another. Add them up and you get roughly 1.25 million acres of National Forest System land (the outer 'proclamation' boundary drawn on the map is far larger, but most of that is private land woven in between). At one end are the Blue Ridge and Smoky high country of Pisgah and Nantahala -- steep, wet, blue-hazed mountains that climb to the highest ground in the eastern United States and press right up to the Tennessee line. In the middle of the state sit the low, ancient, worn-down knobs of the Uwharrie. And out on the coast lies Croatan, a flat mosaic of longleaf pine, blackwater, and boggy 'pocosin' that the Forest Service calls the only true coastal national forest in the East. It's a single unit that runs, in effect, from the mountains to the sea. One honest note: Hurricane Helene hit these western mountains hard in late 2024, and some roads, trails, and campgrounds were still recovering well afterward -- check current conditions before you count on a route.
History
The mountain forests here were among the first national forests in the eastern US, and they trace back to a real piece of American conservation history. In the 1890s George Vanderbilt hired Gifford Pinchot -- and later the German forester Carl Schenck -- to manage the woodlands of his Biltmore Estate near Asheville as a working, scientifically run forest, and in 1898 Schenck opened the Biltmore Forest School there, the first school of forestry in the country. That ground is preserved today as the Cradle of Forestry in America. After the 1911 Weeks Act finally let the federal government buy land for national forests in the East, Pisgah was formally established in 1916, with a core tract of Vanderbilt's 'Pisgah Forest' -- sold by Edith Vanderbilt after George's death -- at its heart, and it grew from there through many more purchases; Nantahala followed a few years later. Long before any of that, this was the heart of the Cherokee homeland: the name Nantahala is usually translated from Cherokee as 'land of the noonday sun,' for a gorge so deep and narrow that the sun only reaches the bottom in the middle of the day. The Uwharrie, by contrast, is the youngster of the group, established in 1961.
Wildlife & plants
These are strong black-bear mountains -- the southern Appalachians hold a healthy population, and a bear wandering through camp is a real possibility, so keep a clean camp and hang or lock up your food. You'll share the woods with white-tailed deer and wild turkey, and up on the cold high peaks with northern species that feel out of place this far south. The clear headwater streams hold brook trout -- the only trout native to these southern mountains (the rainbows and browns were brought in later) -- and the southern Appalachians are famous as one of the richest places on Earth for salamanders, with more kinds than almost anywhere. Peregrine falcons nest on the cliffs of Linville Gorge, which brings seasonal climbing closures. The plant life shifts wildly with elevation and region: rhododendron and mountain laurel grow into thickets so dense that locals call them 'laurel hells,' flame azalea lights up the slopes in early summer, and the very highest ridges wear dark islands of red spruce and Fraser fir -- a little piece of Canada stranded in the South. Down on the Croatan coast the botany turns strange and wonderful, with longleaf pine, insect-eating pitcher plants, and the wild Venus flytrap.
Notable features
The crown of the whole region is Mount Mitchell -- at about 6,684 feet the highest peak east of the Mississippi River -- which is a state park almost completely surrounded by Pisgah National Forest. Nearby, Linville Gorge, a rugged chasm dropping as much as about 2,000 feet to the Linville River, is often nicknamed the 'Grand Canyon of the East' and is one of the wildest gorges in the region. Over in Nantahala, the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest protects one of the largest stands of old-growth left in the East -- towering tulip poplars centuries old -- named for the soldier-poet who wrote 'Trees.' The forests are stitched together by big-name routes: the Appalachian Trail runs through the Nantahala and Pisgah high country, and the Blue Ridge Parkway (run by the Park Service) threads along their edge. Other landmarks draw crowds of their own -- the sheer granite dome of Looking Glass Rock, the natural water slide at Sliding Rock (a busy, fee day-use spot, not a quiet secret), and Whitewater Falls, a plunge of around 411 feet often called the tallest waterfall east of the Rockies.
Camps are sourced from public U.S. Forest Service recreation data and have not been personally visited. Roads shown are Forest Service passenger-car routes (maintenance level 3–5) and may be seasonal or gated. Always confirm access, fees and fire rules with the ranger district before you go. Found a fee where we show free? Tell us on the contact page.