Stargazing

Oak Island Campground

52 RV Sites, 2 Onsite RV/Trailers

Oak Island Campground in Southport, NC, offers 54 full-hookup back-in RV sites with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 50 feet. Sites come in four categories — deluxe full-hookup, premium full-hookup, and two named sites, Flounder and Wahoo — all carrying water, sewer, and electric with site-delivered WiFi. The campground is rated big rig friendly. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a boutique shop, on-site dining, a pavilion, a community fire pit, and cabins cover the rest. Pets are welcome, with a dog park. Creek frontage, beach access, corn hole, live music, and coastal dark sky for stargazing fill the grounds, with swimming, fishing, boating, and picnicking. Southport is a postcard-pretty waterfront town just south of Wilmington on the Brunswick County coast, and the campground sits within a mile of the beach. The Southport trolley, the ferry, the Oak Island Lighthouse, and downtown are all close. Rates by site category are on the booking page. Summer on the Brunswick coast books early — deluxe and premium sites go first.

from $77/night

Dogwood Family Campground

52 RV Sites

Dogwood Family Campground in Newport, North Carolina, offers 52 full-hookup RV sites with 20, 30, and 50-amp service and rigs accepted up to 110 feet on a big-rig-friendly layout — one of the most generous length allowances on the Crystal Coast. Sites are numbered individually, including pond and pond view categories, on a Dark Sky Friendly property open all year. Fifty-two sites carry water, sewer, and electric on 20, 30, and 50-amp in back-in and pull-through configurations, sized to 110 feet, with site WiFi. Categories are listed site by site — including pond back-ins and pond view back-ins — so you can pick your exact spot rather than a general type. RV storage, firewood, and a playground handle the practical side. The property is deliberately quiet and dark. A pond sits on the grounds for fishing, walking trails run the coastal plain forest, and corn hole and birding fill the rest. The Dark Sky Friendly designation is the distinguishing feature — genuine stargazing on a coast where light pollution usually washes it out. Pets are welcome. Newport sits at the inland edge of the Crystal Coast in Carteret County, which gives the campground unusual dual access: the Croatan National Forest's freshwater recreation and wildlife begin immediately north, while Beaufort's waterfront and the Cape Lookout National Seashore's barrier island beaches are 15 minutes east. A beach and state park are nearby. Open year-round, with summer beach traffic the peak and mild shoulder seasons drawing steady demand. Reserve ahead for warm-weather weekends.

from $59/night

Outside Inn Campground

25 RV Sites, 1 Glamping Site, 1 Onsite RV/Trailer

Outside Inn Campground in Santee, SC, offers 25 RV sites and 2 glamping units, with 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 70 feet. Sites are named for where they sit and sized individually: Farm Back-In full-hookup sites to 42 feet, Forest Back-In to 38 feet, Farm View and Forest Pull-Thru sites to 70 feet, Farm View Pull-Thru Buddy sites to 70 feet for two rigs traveling together, a Back-Out full-hookup site to 28 feet, and one water-and-electric back-in to 30 feet. Full-hookup sites carry 30/50-amp power, fresh water, and sewer. The campground was built to save as many trees as possible, which means no two sites are the same size — read the individual site descriptions, and you can lock in a specific site at booking if you have one in mind. Laundry, a bathhouse with showers, a general store, and firewood cover the rest. Open all year, big rig friendly, pets welcome. The farm is what makes this one different. Guests meet a Highland cow, goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits, and chickens, with nearly two miles of walking trails across 55 acres, a playground, birding, hiking, biking, stargazing, and planned activities. Santee sits near Lake Marion in the South Carolina Lowcountry, with a state park, a national park unit, and golf all close. Nightly rates run roughly $45 to $69, with discounts for weekly and monthly stays. The two glamping units, The Canopy and The Homesteader, are one-of-one — book those early.

from $45/night

Frisco Oceanfront RV Resort

Frisco Oceanfront RV Resort on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, offers full-hookup back-in RV sites on the Outer Banks, with water, sewer, and electric and site WiFi on a big-rig-friendly layout. An outdoor pool, mini-golf, beach access, and walking trails serve an LGBTIQA+ friendly property adjacent to Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Sites carry water, sewer, and electric with site WiFi in back-in configurations. Contact the resort to confirm amp service and length limits for your rig — the published site records are incomplete, and on a barrier island it is worth confirming before you tow out. Cabins round out the lodging. A dump station, restrooms, and showers handle the practical side. The resort is direct about the setting: you are on Hatteras Island, things move slower here in a good way, and conveniences are spread out — plan ahead and you will have the best trip. An outdoor pool and mini-golf anchor the property, with beach access, walking trails, and a dog-friendly policy filling the rest. Surfing, snorkeling, paddle boarding, canoeing, kayaking, boating, swimming, fishing, biking, hiking, and horseback riding all run nearby, with exceptional stargazing under genuinely dark island skies. Hatteras Island is where the Atlantic and Pamlico Sound converge in the most dynamic coastal environment on the East Coast. Cape Hatteras National Seashore protects 70 miles of wild beach, the lighthouse is close, and the sound side offers some of the best kiteboarding and windsurfing anywhere. Summer is decisively the season on the Outer Banks. Reserve well ahead.

from $75/night

Smith Mountain Campground

18 RV Sites, 2 Tent Sites

Smith Mountain Campground in Penhook, VA, offers 20 full-hookup RV sites and 2 tent sites, with 30 and 50-amp service and room for rigs up to 50 feet. Sites come in three categories — back-in 30-amp water-and-electric, back-in 30/50-amp, and pull-thru 30/50-amp — with full-hookup sites carrying water, sewer, and electric plus a fire pit and picnic table. A bathhouse with showers, a general store, firewood, a dump station, a recreation center, and cabins cover the rest. Pets are welcome. A stocked fishing pond, private hiking trails, a pavilion, sport courts, bocce, corn hole, horseshoes, a playground, and creek frontage fill the family-owned grounds, with boating, picnicking, and dark-sky stargazing. Penhook sits on Liberty Road in the Blue Ridge foothills of Franklin County, less than five miles from the nearest public boat launch on Smith Mountain Lake, with the Booker T. Washington Monument, The Homeplace Vineyard, and The Coves Amphitheater all close. Rates for sites and cabins are on the booking page. Twenty sites near Smith Mountain Lake fill quickly in summer, so reserve ahead.

from $35/night

Growing Faith Farms

Enjoy all that nature has to offer at our mountainview glamping retreat. Growing Faith Farms is a small farm and glamping retreat located in the Brushy Mountains of NC. We are about 30 minutes from Boone, 15 minutes from Wilkesboro or Lenoir, and 90 minutes from Charlotte. Owned and operated by Joseph and Christina Angott, Growing Faith Farms was established in 2021 to introduce people from all walks of life to a slower pace. There is so much history and beauty in these mountains just waiting to be explored. Come visit and see where humanity and heritage unite to form a magical connection with the land and nature in a unique experience.

from $30/night