River Creek Camp Ground, Rutherfordton

Campground is broken into two distinct areas; large, RV and fifth-wheel sites up on the hill and individual tent and small pop-up sites below. The riverfront sites all featured 20 and 30-foot long covered canopies, which were great when the weather turned wet. We had heavy rain on the first night and they released water from the dam upstream, offering us a great view of the rushing river. Docks at each campsite took you out over the river. All tent sites had electricity and water, some 30amp and some simply 120. Brown trout and carp were visible from the riverbank, but very elusive to fishing. The bathhouses were located up by the main officer and were all very clean, but only had three showers and four toilets per side - a little busy in the mornings, so we had to take shower times into account. The campground is pet-friendly with a pet exercise area, motorcycle ramp for taking your bike on and off your truck/trailer, playground for the kiddies, arcade with video games, pool tables and access to nearby hiking trails and grocery stores. The campground shop featured ice cream, a smattering of groceries, camp fuel, propane refills, $8 wheelbarrow loads of firewood and very weak coffee. The couple running the campground was very, very friendly and offered great suggestions for food and activities. You're less than five minutes from Lake Lure and the constant drone of traffic at the other campsites - Chimney Rock is just a little bit past Lake Lure. Buy your tickets at the campground store for a discount. If you're looking for an off-the-main-drag campground next to the river, this is a recommended site for tent and small pop-up campers. The big rig RV sites looked very close together, with no buffering between the sites - all sites appeared to feature water, sewer, TV cable, 30amp. Most of the sites appear to be long-term, with large 5th wheelers and trailer occupying the nicely covered, garage-like sites on the upper portion of the campground.