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We've always stayed at Poplar Point. It's not because it's better than any others, I guess it's just out of habit. We stayed in loop G and loop H and have had a site on the water each time. So I guess we just always go back to that one. I'm sure others will give their preferences but I'm sure you really can't go wrong.
We stayed there a few weeks ago. We were at Poplar Point and had sites by the water. B60,B62,B64. B60 had the best view. B60, B62 had the best water access.
We used a group site at Vista Point in July and it was awesome. It was site 1. It had it's own little waterfront access in the back. In the front it is right across from a playground. It is also not too far from the bathrooms. Site 3 was closest to the sandy beach, but we felt like site 1 was more private and we were happy with the lake access we had there even if it wasn't sandy.
We went just our family of 4 in June and stayed at a non-reserved site in Poplar Point on the water, and that was nice enough, but the site is pretty small (officially up to 6 people). We were scheduled for Crosswinds site C024D in August, which is a double site for 12 people (we will have 7 with us, so won't fit on the standard sized sites). This site was recommended by the ranger as one of her favorite sites. However, after staying at the Vista Point group site (holds up to 30 people), and seeing that the price difference is only $2 for the weekend, we decided to change our reservation to stay at Vista Point again, even with only 7 people.
You can reserve campsites online at their website, and they have lots of pictures of each site which are also very helpful. You can also call the ranger and ask for recommendations.
Something to keep in mind, some of the campground areas require that you have at least 24 hour advance registration for many of their sites. We tried to just go and pick a spot at one of them (Poplar Point I believe) and there was only one small area at that one where you didn't need reservations despite almost all sites being unoccupied.
We ended up going to the Parker's Creek campground instead and it was very nice, I highly recommend it! The waterfront sites have excellent lake access with none of the marshiness that some of the campsites on the other side had. They were also fairly spread out and nicely shaded. We will definitely stay at Parker's Creek again, it seemed to have the nicest sites.
One other thing, depending on the mood of the person at the campsite check-in booth, you may or may not be allowed to scope out the sites before choosing & paying for one. So, it's a good idea to look at the maps online and have some idea of which spots are good. When we went, we were hoping to find a site away from other campers since it was our first time taking the dog (weren't sure if she'd bark at nearby people)... the woman gave us hell for wanting to drive in & take a look before reserving one.
Oh that's right - we tried to go to Poplar Point but ended up at Parker's Creek!
The people I talked to said it was fine to go in and look around. They said that you would pay the day rate of I think $6 at the gate, but if you come back within 30 minutes that you could have it refunded, like a deposit.
Oh that's right - we tried to go to Poplar Point but ended up at Parker's Creek!
The people I talked to said it was fine to go in and look around. They said that you would pay the day rate of I think $6 at the gate, but if you come back within 30 minutes that you could have it refunded, like a deposit.
Yeah, the lady at Poplar Point was fine with that... the militant woman at Parker's Creek was NOT and it took a good 5 minutes of convincing for her to let us pick a spot and come back to pay for it.
I chalk it up as some sort of weird NC camping quirk. Camping at the outer banks once I actually got chased down by a "federal officer" (as he identified himself) in a golf cart... I thought they had waived us through to pick out a spot, apparently you had to pay before checking out the sites. Ooops!
FWIW, I asked a ranger if I could drive in and have a look one day and he had no problem at all with it. I didn't pay anything. I made it clear that I wasn't camping then, but just driving in and checking it out. He was very friendly and welcoming.
FWIW, I asked a ranger if I could drive in and have a look one day and he had no problem at all with it. I didn't pay anything. I made it clear that I wasn't camping then, but just driving in and checking it out. He was very friendly and welcoming.
Yes, and if I gave the impress that people aren't nice or it's a PITA to camp there, that's NOT the case. They just have rules that they enforce strictly..... and they are different than most of the campground rules I've encountered elsewhere where you just drive in and pay/check-in later.
The upside to them somewhat limiting people from scoping out sites is that you don't have random cars circling the campground loops constantly searching for that perfect spot.
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