Wife and I had rare day off together. Actually I had day off and she worked night shift from 1 am till 11 am. When she got home we took off and drove to Cliffs of the Neuse State Park here in NC. We decided a few months ago we would check out all the North Carolina State Parks ( as time and travel plans permit) group camp sites and investigate how suitable they would be for group hangs. This state park has a really nice view overlooking the Neuse River and some group camp sites. Stopped off at visitors center and checked it out, it was great because it had AC on and its hot and humid outside today.
Then drove over to family campground and I showed her site I hung at one time. Most of the sites at the family campground are hammock friendly, i.e. they have trees suitable for hanging hammocks from plus they have water and a bathhouse with showers located in middle of camp sites.
Then we went in search of the group camp sites. You actually have to leave the park and head north a few hundred yards and turn off onto a dirt road. After a mile on the dirt road we reached the group sites. This dirt road is a single lane and more suited for a vehicle with high ground clearance and while we made it in wife's Ford Focus I would hate to try it during or right after a heavy rain. There is a large parking lot and a two pit toilets which were nice and clean but no water. There is water located next to the path leading to site 3. There were several trash cans broken up into paper, plastic ect for recycling. First time I have seen this at a group site. Sites 1, 2 and 3 are right next to each other and there is nothing to tell where one stops and the next starts. Site 4 was off to its self and appeared to the smallest of the 4 sites. You could also see that since it was down hill from the parking lot that any rain water drains right thru the site, not good.
Sites 1, 2 and 3 are located side by side and each have 4 picnic tables, a couple of poles for hanging lanterns from, a rock fire pit and a cast iron grill. More important are the trees. These 3 site have lots and lots of trees for hanging hammocks. We gave up counting and as there so many possible hanging sites. Wife and I agreed that if one holds a hang here you want to get site 1, 2 and 3 together. They are also right next to the parking lot so you would not have to lug your gear more than a couple hundred feet depending on which two trees you picked. I did notice a few small skeeters buzzing around me but they were too lazy to land and try to bit me.
There are hiking trails that take you back to the cliffs overlook. There is also a swimming lake that is open in the summertime.
If the dirt road you have to take was in better shape I would say this would be an excellent place for a group hang. The access road is the real limiting factor for having a group hang at this location.
I took pictures on my new smart phone but so far I am not smart enough to send them to the computer.
From park info on group site....
Where park service says "Parking lot is small, groups will need to carpool.", I believe this is due to the condition of the access road as the parking lot is actually a good size parking lot and can hold a 2 to 3 dozen cars with no problem.
- Facility: 4 Primitive group campsites. Available to non-profit organizations. Each site has picnic tables and a fire ring. There are two enclosed pit-toilets and potable water shared by the sites.
- Location: Group Camp Road, Entrance is outside park's main entrance.
- Accommodates: 4 sites, can accommodate 15-25 people at each site. Parking lot is small, groups will need to carpool.
- Nearby Amenities: None.
- Available: Year-round.
- Reservations Required: Yes.
- Accessible: No.
Primitive Group Camping Fees
- Unimproved campsites with pit privies (composting or vault toilets, etc.) --- Per day $13 minimum. $2 additional per day for every person over the minimum number of campers.
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