punkTREKS

@ Falls Lake

You see me rollin’ ….

When we lived in the Triangle, we used to go camping as often as we could at the Falls Lake State Recreation Area and we always stayed at the Holly Point Campground. Some friends had asked us to go camping with them one weekend and it was beautiful, so we always went back! All of the camping spots are in the woods, under shade trees and covered in pine needles. This place SMELLS like camping. You can swim in the lake, have a campfire and hike. We were so excited to go back to this campground because there aren’t any others like it! But, as luck would have it – it was closing for renovations the VERY day we were arriving. Argh! So, instead we had to book the other campground at Falls Lake which we had never been to before and which was just opening after its renovations the VERY day we were arriving – the old switcheroo, it seemed. So, we got to test out a new campground.

Like Holly Point, the sites are water and electric only with a dump station at the front of the park. The campground has trails and lake access and tall shade trees with plenty of pine needles. There were more than enough sites for large RVs like ours although there are definitely some low branches. The sites are somewhat-leveled-out gravel and the one we were in was HUGE with a whole lower back area closer to the lake with a fire ring and a picnic table. While State Parks can be difficult to get to (often not right off the highway coupled with smaller and winding access roads), they also feel the most like “camping”. The Falls Lake campgrounds both feel this way – plenty of trees, outdoor access, campfires and lots of space. We really enjoyed this campground although we didn’t have an evening with a campfire because it was SO HOT (even in early June).

Tips:

• Plan your route in. The roads are twisty, have very little shoulder in some areas and are full of people who know exactly where they’re going and drive like they’re an hour late. Google also likes to take you on whatever fun new route its algorithm has picked out – so, check the truck map to make sure your route is good for your rig (especially if you’re driving something on the chunkier side, like we are now).
• How many days are you staying and how much can your grey and black tanks hold? Plan your water usage and / or extra time to go dump in the middle of your stay accordingly. We stayed for 4 nights and decided to do a mid-stay dump just because we weren’t thrilled with the shower-house situation (mud-covered floors, small showers, dark shower curtains on which you couldn’t see if there were any spiders before getting into the shower) and wanted to shower in our own rig instead.
• If you are staying in the campground, you do not have to pay the day use fee to get into the State Park (as of writing this at least). This is NOT TRUE for all State Parks though. Sometimes you have to pay the entry fee on the first day and then, once you get your car tag you can go in and out as you please. This rule seems to change everywhere we go and we can never be sure – it even changes from time to time at parks we stay at quite often. It always seems to be a surprise, so it is a good rule of thumb just to double check before you go or to be prepared to pay the entry fee just in case. And if they don’t charge you, then that’s money in the bank!