Pet Friendly

Cabins By The Creek

4 RV Sites

In the rugged Appalachian terrain of Summers County, Cabins by the Creek occupies a quiet stretch of Pipestem Creek where the water's constant murmur provides the kind of ambient backdrop that no campground sound machine can reproduce. The property offers a compact but well-considered mix of cabin rentals and full-hookup RV sites, giving travelers a choice between sleeping close to the earth or resting inside well-appointed lodging with modern comforts. The surrounding landscape is nothing short of spectacular—a mosaic of forested ridges, limestone bluffs, and clear Appalachian streams that funnel into the New River drainage just to the west. RV sites feature full hookups with electric, water, and sewer connections alongside complimentary Wi-Fi, and the grounds include charcoal grills and fire pits that invite long evenings under a brilliantly clear Appalachian sky. Cabin guests settle into accommodations that balance rustic aesthetics with modern convenience, including the basics needed for a comfortable multi-night stay in one of America's most underappreciated mountain regions. The creek runs close enough to most sites to lend its sound to every morning and evening, and the peaceful, intimate atmosphere rewards those who choose to slow down after miles on the road. A grill at each site makes outdoor cooking the natural complement to streamside evenings. Pipestem Creek drains a watershed of old-growth cove forests and Appalachian hollows, its cold, clear water supporting wild trout and the streamside wildlife—wood thrush, cerulean warbler, and native wildflowers—that signals a genuinely healthy mountain ecosystem. Bluestone State Park and its reservoir lie close at hand, offering boating, fishing, and lake swimming hemmed by forested ridgelines. New River Gorge National Park, just to the northwest, provides world-class whitewater rafting, miles of technical rock climbing on the Endless Wall, and the iconic New River Gorge Bridge—the longest single-arch steel span in the Western Hemisphere. Pipestem Resort State Park, a 15-minute drive up the mountain, anchors the broader area with its aerial tram descending 1,000 feet into the gorge, a championship golf course, tennis courts, horseback riding, and the Mountain Creek Lodge accessible only by tram or river trail. The Greenbrier Valley, stretching toward White Sulphur Springs about 40 miles southeast, adds historic resort grandeur, Lewisburg's award-winning arts scene, and Lost World Caverns to the regional day-trip menu. The New River's Class V whitewater draws international kayakers and rafters to the area throughout the spring flood season. Summer and early fall represent the sweet spot for Cabins by the Creek—warm enough for swimming in Bluestone Lake and dry enough for technical climbing and ridge hiking in the National Park. Spring flooding along the New River creates the highest adrenaline rafting conditions and draws adventure travelers from across the Eastern Seaboard. The property operates through the warm-season camping window, so checking current availability before planning your Appalachian escape is recommended—particularly for fall leaf-season weekends, which fill fast across the entire New River corridor.

Lake Ridge RV Resort

84 RV Sites, 20 Cabins, 7 Tent Sites

Lake Ridge RV Resort in Hillsville, Virginia, offers 84 RV sites, 20 cabins, and seven tent sites on a lake in Carroll County's Blue Ridge Mountains, with 30 and 50-amp full-hookup service and rigs accepted to 65 feet. An outdoor pool with water slides, a clubhouse, and a full activity calendar make this a family resort rather than an overnight stop. Sites run from back-in and deluxe back-in with 30-amp water and electric to VIP back-in and pull-through options and super pull-throughs with 50-amp, all sized for rigs to 65 feet. Twenty cabins serve guests traveling without a rig, and seven tent sites cover simpler camping. A general store, snack bar, laundry, propane fills and exchange, and a dump station handle the practical side, and WiFi reaches the property. On-site recreation is extensive. An outdoor pool with water slides anchors the summer, with a lake on the property for fishing, boating, paddle boats, and paddle boarding. Sports courts, basketball, horseshoes, shuffleboard, and gaga ball spread across the grounds, with an arcade and clubhouse indoors and a playground, pavilion, dog park, and walking trails besides. Golf cart rentals make the resort easy to cross, and planned activities run through the season. Pets are welcome. Hillsville sits near the Blue Ridge Parkway close to the Virginia–North Carolina line. Galax and its Old Fiddlers' Convention, the New River Trail State Park, and Grayson Highlands State Park are all close. Roanoke and Winston-Salem are each about 75 minutes; Virginia Tech is 52 miles. The resort runs the Blue Ridge season, with summer families and October foliage driving peak demand. Reserve ahead for both, and check pool and slide operating dates when booking shoulder-season stays.

Wood Mountain Campground

6 RV Sites, 16 Tent Sites, 4 Glamping Sites

Wood Mountain Campground in Glen Jean, West Virginia, offers six full-hookup RV sites, 16 tent sites, and four glamping sites on a hilltop directly off Highway 19, at the heart of New River Gorge National Park and Preserve. Sites carry 30 and 50-amp with water and sewer, sized to 35 feet, with fire pits, picnic tables, and BBQ pits. Six sites run in standard and premium full-hookup configurations carrying water, sewer, and electric on 30 and 50-amp, sized to 35 feet — note the 35-foot cap before booking a larger rig. Sixteen tent sites and four glamping sites round out the accommodations, alongside two-bedroom cabins with fully equipped kitchens and large covered porches. Restrooms, showers, and site WiFi handle the practical side. The hilltop position gives views across the surrounding forested ridgelines, and a disc golf course, barn, pavilion, corn hole, and picnicking areas fill the grounds. The operators put it plainly: this is West Virginia, where there are more trees than people, and guests who want to keep to themselves are as welcome as those who want to chat. Pets are welcome. Glen Jean sits directly across from both the Summit Bechtel Reserve — one of the largest scouting and outdoor education facilities in the world — and the national park's administrative hub, which puts this about as close to the action as any private property in the gorge. River outfitters and the town of Fayetteville are a short drive, and a creek and mountain terrain surround the property. Summer whitewater season and October foliage drive demand in the gorge. With six RV sites, reserve as early as you can.

from $24/night

Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing

11 RV Sites

Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing in New Castle, Virginia, offers 11 dry-camping RV sites and cabin accommodations on an adventure property in Craig County, with a high ropes course, disc golf, kayak and bike rentals, and a hot tub. Sites take rigs to 45 feet with fire pits and picnic tables. One thing to know upfront: the campground spots are dry camping with no hookups. Eleven pull-through RV sites operate without hookups, sized to 45 feet, with fire pits and picnic tables. Portable toilets serve the sites, and a bathhouse provides flushing toilets and hot showers. Cabins offer enclosed lodging for guests who would rather not camp. A general store covers basics and firewood is available. From May through November, the Outpost opens Friday evenings through Sunday morning for food and drinks, including beer and wine. Adventure programming is what sets this property apart. A high ropes and adventure course provides aerial challenge elements almost never found at a campground, and a disc golf course, bike rentals, and kayak rentals fill the rest of the day. Trails, a pond, and a creek run the property for swimming, fishing, canoeing, and mountain biking. Volleyball, horseshoes, corn hole, and a pavilion round out the on-site recreation, with planned activities through the season and strong birding in the surrounding forest. Pets are welcome. New Castle sits in Craig County, Virginia's least-populated county, in the ridge-and-valley country of the Jefferson National Forest. Craig Creek's cold, clear water runs nearby, and the surrounding Allegheny highlands carry extensive trail access. The property serves both family recreation guests and corporate and group retreats. The May-to-November window is when food service runs and the adventure programming is at full strength — plan dry camping supplies accordingly, and book group dates well ahead.

from $45/night

Bear Mountain Cabins & Campgrounds

32 RV Sites, 10 Tent Sites

Bear Mountain Cabins and Campgrounds sits at 130 Laurel Creek Road in Fayetteville, West Virginia, one mile from the New River Gorge and three to four minutes from the historic downtown of one of the Appalachians' most outdoor-focused communities. The bear mountain cabins and campground property is the closest private camping facility to the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve—a designation the National Park Service granted to what was already the region's premier adventure destination—placing guests within genuine proximity to the gorge's bridge, rafting, rock climbing, and hiking infrastructure. Accommodation at Bear Mountain covers a wide spectrum: full hookup RV sites with electric and water ($43/night) or full sewer ($52/night) serve traveling campers, while a range of cabin options serve visitors who prefer enclosed accommodation. Amish-built cabins sleeping five and Upper Meadow log cabins with fireplaces sleeping five are available for couples and smaller families, while the two-story Cheat Log Cabin sleeps up to nine guests with a fully equipped kitchen, wood-burning fireplace, and wraparound porch—a genuine mountain house rental rather than a camping cabin. The general store stocks snacks, firewood, and hand-dipped ice cream, multiple playgrounds serve families, a dump station handles RV logistics, and showers and laundry are available seasonally. Fayetteville, West Virginia, is a small Appalachian town that has transformed over the past three decades into one of the East Coast's premier outdoor recreation communities—a Main Street lined with outfitters, restaurants, and breweries serving a visitor base drawn primarily by the gorge and its whitewater rivers. The New River Gorge Bridge, completed in 1977, is the longest single-span steel arch bridge in the Western Hemisphere, stretching 3,030 feet across a gorge 876 feet above the New River. Each October, Bridge Day draws hundreds of thousands of visitors for BASE jumping and rappelling off the bridge structure in one of the largest extreme sports events in the world. The New River itself is a geological curiosity—one of the oldest rivers in North America, flowing north rather than south, through a gorge that predates the Appalachian Mountains themselves. Whitewater rafting on the New River's lower gorge section offers Class III to V rapids in scenery of towering sandstone cliffs and old-growth river corridor, and the Gauley River, about 40 minutes away, delivers some of the most demanding commercial rafting in the eastern United States when the Corps of Engineers releases water in autumn. Over 100 miles of hiking trails, 80-plus rock climbing routes, and mountain biking on the Grandview Rim Trail system round out the active recreation options. Bear Mountain operates year-round, making it accessible for the popular spring rafting season, peak summer hiking, fall Bridge Day festivities, and winter climbing when the gorge crowds thin considerably. The campground's 1-mile proximity to the park entrance positions it as the most convenient private base for full gorge immersion, and the combination of RV sites, cabins, and larger cabin-houses makes it the rare campground that can accommodate solo travelers, couples, and large family groups in the same visit.

from $30/night

Ray's Campground

4 RV Sites, 9 Cabins, 20 Tent Sites

Ray's Campground in Hico, West Virginia, offers four RV sites with 30-amp electric service, nine cabins, and 20 tent sites at the center of the New River Gorge region, with rigs accepted to 40 feet. The accommodation mix across RV, cabin, and tent is the point — flexible lodging in one of the East's most concentrated adventure destinations. Four back-in sites carry 30-amp electric only, sized to 40 feet — note there are no water or sewer hookups at the sites, so arrive self-contained and plan tank capacity. Nine cabins carry most of the inventory and provide enclosed lodging, and 20 tent sites cover simpler camping. Restrooms, showers, and firewood handle the practical side. Two vehicles are allowed per site, with an extra vehicle fee of $5 per night on arrival. Pets are welcome. The campground keeps its infrastructure deliberately simple, which suits guests who spend their days on the river and the rock. The surrounding gorge does the work. Hico sits in Fayette County in southern West Virginia, where the New River has carved one of the oldest and most dramatic gorges in the Appalachians over hundreds of millions of years. World-class whitewater rafting runs beside world-class rock climbing terrain, and the scale of the gorge itself earned the region national park designation in 2020. River outfitters, climbing access, and Fayetteville are all close. The campground serves the New River Gorge season. Summer whitewater and October foliage drive the heaviest demand, and Bridge Day in October fills lodging across the entire region. Reserve well ahead for any fall weekend.

from $20/night

Halesford Harbour Resort

1 Cabin, 25 Condos

On 41 acres of Smith Mountain Lake shoreline in Moneta, Virginia—on the private reservoir that Appalachian Power created in 1966 when it dammed the Roanoke River in Bedford and Franklin Counties and inadvertently created one of the most beloved recreational lakes in the American South—Halesford Harbour Resort combines 133 luxury RV campsites, a 24-room inn, the Jake's Place restaurant serving craft beers and American fare, a saltwater pool, waterslide, boat launch and marina, a paradise boardwalk, and the complete lakefront resort experience for guests who want Smith Mountain Lake from both a waterside berth and a resort-quality camping platform. The resort's professional event team and regular activities programming create the community feel that distinguishes Halesford Harbour from a campground that merely happens to be near a lake. RV sites on full hookup service sit within the 41-acre property alongside the inn's 24 guest rooms, creating the mixed accommodation model that allows traveling groups to split between RV and hotel-style lodging without separating properties. A saltwater pool operating Memorial Day through Labor Day, a waterslide, beach area, basketball court, playground, and the paradise boardwalk provide the on-site recreation alongside the marina's boat launch, boat rentals through Bridgewater Marina, boat storage, and boat docks. Jake's Place restaurant provides on-property dining with a craft beer selection, children's menu, and pets' menu—a detail that reflects the resort's commitment to the traveling family experience. WiFi, laundry, a pavilion with gas grills and picnic tables, and the dump station complete the practical infrastructure. Smith Mountain Lake covers 20,600 acres of Bedford, Pittsylvania, and Franklin County terrain in the Virginia Piedmont's Blue Ridge foothills, with 500 miles of shoreline in the rolling hardwood landscape that characterizes southwest Virginia's rural character. The lake's depth—reaching 250 feet at its deepest in the main channel—and the clarity of the Roanoke River inflow create the water quality that supports one of Virginia's premier striped bass fisheries, alongside the largemouth bass, crappie, and blue catfish that attract recreational anglers and competitive tournament fishers throughout the warm-weather season. The Smith Mountain Lake State Park on the lake's north shore provides hiking trails, a swim beach, and boat access for the day-visitor population that the lake's regional drawing power sustains. The Blue Ridge Parkway, America's most visited unit of the National Park Service and the most scenic motor route in the eastern United States, runs through the mountains 20 to 30 miles west of the lake—providing access to the Peaks of Otter visitor center, the Roanoke Valley overlooks, and the complete Blue Ridge hiking and scenic drive inventory that makes the Parkway one of the most rewarding road trips in the American East. Downtown Roanoke, the region's urban center, is approximately 35 miles northwest with its revitalized downtown, the Taubman Museum of Art, and the outdoor recreation culture anchored by the Roanoke Valley Greenway system. Halesford Harbour operates year-round on Smith Mountain Lake, with the summer season generating the highest marina activity and the event team's most ambitious activities programming. The spring striped bass spawn draws serious anglers to the lake from across the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, and the fall bass fishing in the lake's coves and creek arms is consistently productive. Reserve your RV site or inn room at Halesford Harbour and let Smith Mountain Lake's warm Virginia water and the resort's boardwalk, restaurant, and marina make this Blue Ridge foothills stop one of your most memorable mid-Atlantic camping destinations.

from $99/night

Phoenix Mountain Campground

9 RV Sites

Phoenix Mountain Campground in Lansing, North Carolina, offers nine full-hookup RV sites with water, sewer, and electric service on 30 and 50-amp, taking rigs up to 60 feet, steps from the New River in Ashe County. Site WiFi reaches the campground. At nine sites, this is a deliberately small operation in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina's northwestern corner. Nine full-hookup sites offer 30 and 50-amp service with water and sewer, accommodating rigs to 60 feet in back-in configurations. WiFi reaches the sites. The small site count is the point: guests get river frontage and quiet rather than a programmed resort, and the campground fills accordingly. The New River is the property's defining feature. Sites sit adjacent to its clear, rocky-bottom flow, putting guests within walking distance for morning fishing, afternoon paddling, and evening time by the water. Fishing, kayaking, canoeing, paddle boats, and boating all run from the property, and picnicking areas serve daytime use. The surrounding hills and river corridor make for exceptional birding — warblers and vireos in the canopy, waterthrushes along the stream edges, raptors on the ridgeline thermals. Pets are welcome. The New River is a National Wild and Scenic River and among the oldest rivers on Earth, an ancient drainage that predates the Appalachians and still runs north and west against them. Lansing's revitalized downtown is walkable and close by, with Pie on the Mountain, Old Orchard Creek General Store, and Molley Chomper Cidery among the local draws. The campground runs through the Ashe County mountain season, with summer river recreation and October foliage driving demand. With only nine sites, weekends book out well in advance — reserve early for any summer or fall stay.

from $65/night

Roaring River Vineyards

7 RV Sites

from $25/night

Indian Heritage RV Park

46 RV Sites, 1 Cabin, 12 Tent Sites

At 184 Tensbury Drive in Martinsville, Virginia—in Henry County on the Smith River in the Virginia Piedmont where the Blue Ridge's eastern foothills create the transition between the Appalachian mountain terrain and the rolling agricultural landscape of central Virginia, and where the Smith River's cold-water trout fishery below Philpott Dam has made the Martinsville area one of the most productive and least-crowded trout fishing destinations on the Virginia Blue Ridge corridor—Indian Heritage RV Park provides 60 full hookup sites, tent sites, and three cabins on the Smith River's wooded bank in the year-round operation that makes the park accessible for trout fishing across the winter catch-and-release season as well as the open spring and summer schedule. The Smith River running beside the park, the trout fishery, and the wooded campsite character define a property whose amenity list matters considerably less than its river position. Sixty full hookup RV sites with 30 and 50-amp electric, water, and sewer in both back-in and pull-through configurations accommodate the full range of RV types and driver experience levels. Three tent sites provide the primitive camping option. Three cabin rentals—including a spacious structure with three bedrooms, one and a half baths, and DirecTV satellite service—serve the long-term guest population that Martinsville's extended-stay employment and visit market supports, with the cabins providing the furnished comfort that multi-week stays require. Three bathhouses maintained at regular sanitation standards serve the campground's shared hygiene infrastructure, with laundry facilities in the largest bathhouse for extended-stay guests' practical needs. Fire rings at individual sites provide the evening campfire that wooded riverbank camping makes most atmospheric. The park's direct Smith River access—from a wooded bank where the river's cold, clear water is audible from the sites—is the amenity that no bathhouse or hookup count can quantify. The Smith River below Philpott Dam provides one of the finest tailwater trout fisheries in the mid-Atlantic states. The dam's cold-water release from the bottom of Philpott Reservoir maintains the temperature that rainbow and brown trout require in a Virginia Piedmont river whose ambient temperature would otherwise be too warm for cold-water fish in summer. The result is a year-round trout fishery in a scenic, wooded river corridor that receives considerably less fishing pressure than the more famous Virginia trout streams of the Shenandoah Valley, giving Indian Heritage's Smith River frontage a fishing quality that reputation hasn't yet overwhelmed with demand. Martinsville's additional attractions extend the campground's utility as a base beyond the single-purpose trout fishing visit. Martinsville Speedway—one of the oldest NASCAR tracks in continuous operation, producing some of the most physically demanding short-track racing in the professional series schedule—hosts NASCAR Cup Series events in spring and fall that fill Henry County's accommodations completely in the event weekends. Philpott Lake, accessible 20 minutes west, provides the warm-water boating and bass fishing alternative for guests whose interests extend beyond the Smith River's trout. The Blue Ridge Parkway—accessible within the broader Henry County region—provides the Blue Ridge overlook and trail access that the Piedmont's proximity to the mountain makes available as a half-day drive. Indian Heritage RV Park is open year-round in Martinsville's four-season Piedmont climate. The trout fishing season's year-round character, the NASCAR race weekends, and the fall foliage season create three distinct demand periods. Reserve well in advance for NASCAR race weekends, pack the fly rod for the Smith River morning, and let Henry County's wooded river position earn the mid-Atlantic trout fishing reputation that the campground's bank access makes specific and immediate.

from $34/night

Smith Mountain Campground

20 RV Sites, 2 Tent Sites

On Liberty Road in Penhook, Virginia—in the rolling Blue Ridge foothills of Franklin County less than five miles from the nearest public boat launch on Smith Mountain Lake—Smith Mountain Campground operates as a family-owned RV facility with full hookup sites, a stocked fishing pond, private hiking trail, and the quiet country character that the lake region's residential neighborhoods have preserved across the decades since Appalachian Power dammed the Roanoke River to create what has become Virginia's second-largest lake and the surrounding community's defining natural asset. The campground's private pond, four-unit bathhouse with individual tiled rooms, and boat parking give guests who came to fish and be near the water the specific combination of amenities that lake-country camping specifically demands. Full hookup sites with 30 and 50-amp electric, water, and sewer connections, picnic tables, and fire rings serve both back-in and pull-through configurations across the property's site inventory, and complimentary high-speed WiFi keeps connected guests online through the site footprint. A four-unit private bathhouse with individually tiled rooms—each containing a shower, sink, toilet, and electrical outlet—provides a level of bathroom privacy that the typical campground shower-house arrangement doesn't supply. A dedicated laundry facility handles the practical needs of extended stays. Dedicated boat parking accommodates the trailered watercraft that lake-bound guests consistently arrive with, and a pavilion available for private reservation serves the group gathering needs of family reunions and organized camping events. A playground and outdoor recreation area serve families with younger campers and children in tow. The private hiking trail and stocked fishing pond are the property's most distinctive natural amenities—giving guests who want to fish without launching a boat an on-property option that the lake's five-mile distance doesn't otherwise provide. Smith Mountain Lake's character—a 20,600-acre reservoir on the Roanoke and Blackwater Rivers at the base of the Blue Ridge, with 500 miles of wooded shoreline and an elevation of 795 feet—provides the fishing and boating programming that organizes the Franklin County camping calendar from spring through fall. Striped bass, largemouth bass, crappie, and bluegill populate the lake in numbers and quality that have established Smith Mountain Lake among Virginia's premier fishing destinations, and the shoreline's development as a residential and resort community has produced a marina and restaurant infrastructure that gives boating guests on-water dining access that few Virginia lakes match. Smith Mountain Lake State Park, on the Halesford Arm of the lake's western reach, provides the hiking, swimming beach, boat rental, and educational programming that bring non-boating visitors specifically to the state park when a day on the water doesn't require owning a vessel. The park's mountain bike trails and the lake's kayaking and paddleboarding resources extend the recreational programming beyond powerboating into the quieter water-access categories. Roanoke—Virginia's largest city in the western part of the state, with the Taubman Museum of Art, the Virginia Museum of Transportation, and the Blue Ridge Parkway access via the Roanoke Valley—is accessible for the urban cultural programming that a lakeside camping base supplements naturally. Smith Mountain Campground is open seasonally through the Virginia camping calendar, with the prime season running from April through October when Smith Mountain Lake's fishing, boating, and outdoor recreation are at their most active. Fall foliage on the Blue Ridge foothills surrounding the lake creates one of the most visually rewarding shoulder-season camping opportunities in western Virginia. Reserve your site with boat parking early for the spring bass season and let the Franklin County lake country earn the reputation that Virginia's recreational community has assigned to it for decades.

from $35/night

Cold Springs at Little Pond Mountain Campground

5 RV Sites

High in the Blue Ridge highlands of Johnson County, where Tennessee reaches its northeastern corner against the borders of Virginia and North Carolina, Cold Springs at Little Pond Mountain Campground occupies some of the most remote and scenically compelling terrain in the state. Mountain City serves as the county seat and gateway community for a landscape of high ridges, cold-water streams, and forested hollows that flow into the headwaters of the South Fork Holston River—country that rewards slow driving, deliberate hiking, and the kind of unhurried camping that this purpose-built campground is designed to support. Full hookup sites with electric, water, and sewer connections ensure comfortable stays even at this elevation, and the pet-friendly policy welcomes four-legged travel companions throughout the grounds. Full utility service with reliable electric, water, and sewer hookups and internet access keeps guests connected despite the remote mountain address, and the intimate scale of the facility ensures that guests are treated as individuals rather than site numbers. The surrounding terrain of Little Pond Mountain provides a natural buffer that delivers genuine quiet after dark in a region where light pollution is among the lowest in the Eastern United States. The cold spring water characteristic of this high-elevation watershed gives the campground its name and its signature character—a refreshing reminder that this corner of Tennessee sits in one of the Southern Appalachians' most unspoiled drainages. Watauga Lake, one of TVA's most spectacular man-made reservoirs and a genuinely well-kept secret compared to Tennessee's crowded central plateau lakes, lies within easy reach and provides exceptional fishing for rainbow and brown trout, smallmouth bass, and walleye in water of unusual clarity and depth. The Cherokee National Forest blankets the surrounding ridge country with hundreds of miles of hiking and backpacking trails, including sections of the Appalachian Trail that traverse the high ridges just north of Mountain City near the Virginia state line. Backbone Rock, where Tennessee Highway 133 passes through a bluff in a 20-foot hand-carved tunnel—the shortest tunnel on any US highway—provides one of the trail corridor's most photogenic and unusual encounters. The Virginia Creeper Trail, one of the most celebrated rail-trail paths in the Southern Appalachians, begins in Abingdon, Virginia, just 30 miles north—a renowned downhill cruise through mountain farmland and historic trestle bridges that attracts cyclists from across the region. Boone, North Carolina, anchors the outdoor recreation and college-town culture of the High Country about 45 minutes south, with hiking access to the Blue Ridge Parkway, Grandfather Mountain, and Elk Knob State Natural Area. The New River, one of North America's oldest rivers, flows through nearby Ashe County and provides scenic floating, tubing, and fishing on the same cold water that has occupied this valley since before the Appalachians were mountains. Johnson County's high elevation delivers cool summer temperatures that make this a favored retreat for lowland campers escaping the July and August heat of Tennessee's cities and flatlands. Fall brings spectacular foliage to the surrounding ridges in mid-October, drawing leaf-peeping visitors who find the Blue Ridge highlands at their most dramatic and the campground at its most atmospheric. Check current availability before planning your high-country Tennessee escape, and reserve ahead for peak fall foliage weekends when accommodations throughout the entire tri-state corner of Appalachia fill ahead of schedule.