I know I've been away a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't done any camping. I haven't done much though, just 1 trip, but it was a good 1. Back in the fall of '09 on Noah, my oldest boy's, fall break we went to Brevard, NC. better known as "The Land of The Waterfalls". This was actually are 3rd trip to The Pisgah National Forest, and 2nd to "The Land of The Waterfalls". The 1st time to "The Land of The Waterfalls" we stayed in a cabin 1 night. We drove up, saw a couple of small waterfalls from the road, and drove back the next morning. During the night my eye swelled shut and we had to come home to see the Dr. In ’08 we camped the north side of Pisgah which I’ll blog about later. This time we found a place online that looked really good. Our 100 Acre Woods, www.our100acrewoods.com and called the folks to get directions, and make sure it's the type of place we like. We are kind of picky, small, not to crowded, clean, and secluded with sites that are not right on top of each other. As usual we showed a little later than we planned on. When we arrived the campgrounds looked great. The only down side was that you had to park and hike in to all the sites, but it was not all that far, maybe 100 yds. Which for me is perfectly fine, but Jess is not real big on hiking with gear due to her knees and back. I pulled up to the office, which is also the people’s home, and there was no one there. No campers, no staff, nobody. We walked down to where the sites were and they were a little small, but other wise great. The only problem was that we had no idea whether we should set up camp and wait for the people to get home, or just wait at the office. After much deliberation, and realizing that Jess was not all that happy with the situation we headed back into town to check it out and either find somewhere else or give them time to get home. I must say that the town folks of Brevard are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. We stopped at a welcome center, for a lack of a better term, which was already closed. That is when we met a very helpful lady who just happened to be taking a smoke break as we pulled out of the parking lot. She told us about a campground on the other side of town just inside The Pisgah National Forest. Davidson River Campgrounds which, as it turns out is probably the nicest campgrounds around. It is just a few miles out of town on Hwy 276, if I remember right. When we arrived at the gate house the hosts were very friendly and helpful. Making sure that we had plenty of fire wood and fire starter, and that we knew where the bath houses were and that sort of thing. They let us drive in before we paid and check the place out. It is a very big campground with a wide variety of site setups. RV and tents, some together in small groups, some more secluded. They had several sites right on the creek. We chose a site way off in the back in a circle that had no one else around. The creek was right across the road and the bath house was just two sites down, but through a small thicket which provided a buffer from the noise and traffic. Not that there was much of either. Davidson River is a great campground that I recommend staying at if you are in the area. And even though we didn't stay I would also recommend our 100 Acre Woods, just make sure to make a reservation and show up on time or they may not be there, and you should pack light. They do seem to prefer you make a reservation and did want us to pay a deposit over the phone, which in hid site I'm very glad we didn't
We spent 4 days just checking out the scenery which included more waterfalls than you could possibly see or even want to see in 1 vacation. They were beautiful however and worth the trip. There are waterfalls for everyone. Plenty right on the road where you just park and take pictures, some required only a short hike, and there were some for the more avid hikers.
You should also visit The Cradle of Forestry just a few miles out of town past Davidson River. Especially if you have children, mine loved it and it was probably the highlight of their trip. Even though everyone we talked to told us to go there, I didn't put much stock in it. Don't get me wrong, it's not the grandest thing in the world but they had a good little museum with stuffed animals and a scavenger hunt that the boys loved. There is a helicopter simulator ride of a forest fire that is kind of neat.
There are 2 hiking paths that take you threw an old forestry school, where they used to train forest rangers back in the 17 and 1800's. A homestead, bunkhouse, school house, and a church, I think, are still standing.
When we were there they had an 1800's period campground reenactment going on that showed the types of gear they used to use and how they cooked, and what they did to past the time. They were using old style canvas tents with straw bedding, old bed rolls and that sort of thing. There were about 15 or 20 people in all, men and women, who were actually camping there for the week. They talked with us and answered questions from the boys and stuff like that. We also spent an afternoon in downtown Brevard. It is a small town that has not just dried up. All the old store fronts are still occupied, and not with tourist crap either. There were a few tourist trap stores, but only 1 or 2. They have a great toy store down town with all kinds of cool stuff that the boys loved. We also went back to the welcome center to see what all was around. The lady there was extra nice and helpful, providing us with maps to all the local waterfalls and attractions. It was one of the better trips that we have had and I was very pleased with the campgrounds, the people, and the activities for the whole family. It was 1 of those vacations that was actually relaxing. I did not want to leave and come home. I highly recommend
