Truck camping? Mountain spot with a view?

22Rimfire

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My wife and I are looking at doing some truck camping. I currently live northeast of Raleigh but have always loved the mountains. We have rented AirBnBs several times in the West Jefferson /Todd area and love it. We like that it’s about an a hour and a half closer than Asheville is to our house. I have a Tundra and picked up one of the truck tents off amazon. We went to REI yesterday and got one of the Exped Mega mat Duo air beds. My wife has back issues so I bought the best air bed/pad I could find. Long term we would like to buy some property in the WJ area or a small cabin for weekend getaways. For now though we want to continue exploring the area before making a purchase of that size.

In college I spent quite a bit of time in the Nantahala NF just west of Asheville. To go where I used to spend time is 5 hours each way.

Does anyone know of any good places to truck camp near WJ or similar area? Really want to stay in the mountains since it’s cooler there. I’m a sucker for a good view as well. When it’s 95+ here in Raleigh I definitely don’t want to be trying to sleep in weather that hot.

Any and all truck camping tips would be great as well. We also are taking two weeks off in September and are thinking about taking a trip somewhere to camp. Don’t mind driving 1000 miles to different states if it’s worth the drive.

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A little further west than you are looking but look at Table Rock picnic area. I used to run up there a bunch on weekends to car camp or hike in a little and camp. Plenty of places along the forest road to pull off and the picnic area at the top has a decent sized parking lot. I haven’t been there in 10 years or so. Thinking about running up there with my kids in the next couple weeks. Last time I took my wife camping there in October and we got about 4 inches of snow out of no where.
 
Watch venture 4wd on YouTube. He does camping from his jeep on forest service roads. He has done several near Asheville and GSMNP. He uses Gaia gps which shows him roads to camp on and travel. Some are ruff though.
 
The best views in the smokies

https://milehighcampground.com/

As far as a drive up camp ground, yes sir. Started to post about it until I saw he was looking for something around WJ.

We wound up there after being invited up by a VHF club running a contest there years ago. Awesome place but I believe you have to reserve sites far in advance, they told us they stay booked.

There's another place just north of the VA line that I hear is really nice as well, I believe its in Grayson Highlands State Park. Edit, didn't read all the replys, beat like a rented mule on that one.
 
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My wife and I are looking at doing some truck camping. I currently live northeast of Raleigh but have always loved the mountains. We have rented AirBnBs several times in the West Jefferson /Todd area and love it. We like that it’s about an a hour and a half closer than Asheville is to our house. I have a Tundra and picked up one of the truck tents off amazon. We went to REI yesterday and got one of the Exped Mega mat Duo air beds. My wife has back issues so I bought the best air bed/pad I could find. Long term we would like to buy some property in the WJ area or a small cabin for weekend getaways. For now though we want to continue exploring the area before making a purchase of that size.

In college I spent quite a bit of time in the Nantahala NF just west of Asheville. To go where I used to spend time is 5 hours each way.

Does anyone know of any good places to truck camp near WJ or similar area? Really want to stay in the mountains since it’s cooler there. I’m a sucker for a good view as well. When it’s 95+ here in Raleigh I definitely don’t want to be trying to sleep in weather that hot.

Any and all truck camping tips would be great as well. We also are taking two weeks off in September and are thinking about taking a trip somewhere to camp. Don’t mind driving 1000 miles to different states if it’s worth the drive.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Head for Wall, SD. Park on top of the Wall just North of the entrance to Grasslands National Park. Then spend some time South of the park in the prairie dog fields. After that make your way up to Spearfish or down to Custer... Devil's Tower, WY is only a couple of hours away too...

More like 1600 miles but well worth it and easily some of the prettiest country we have in the States...

Oh, and the public land camping is all free...!
 
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Helton Creek campground is a small private campground. Helton creek runs through it and is a delayed harvest trout stream part of the year. It's tucked out of the way but not necessarily scenic at the campground.
 
As far as a drive up camp ground, yes sir. Started to post about it until I saw he was looking for something around WJ.

We wound up there after being invited up by a VHF club running a contest there years ago. Awesome place but I believe you have to reserve sites far in advance, they told us they stay booked.

There's another place just north of the VA line that I hear is really nice as well, I believe its in Grayson Highlands State Park. Edit, didn't read all the replys, beat like a rented mule on that one.


I really miss that place, by far my favorite campground.
 
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