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There is no air conditioning. The facilities are communal (if at all). There may be running water — nearby. Dinner is do-it-your-self, over a fire, caveman style. Oh, and there...

It costs an estimated $4 million to $6 million to build a mile of four-lane highway in a rural area. How much does it cost to build a mile of...

An all-day drinking buddy that’s built for the wild, the new rambler lowball is over-engineered for the simplest of uses. Check out a few of our staff favorites. 1. Coffee...

It will happen, mark our words. Sometime during the January thaw, when the glow of the holidays has faded and the reality of a long winter sets in, you’ll suddenly...

You don’t associate November with camping. But you should. Cooler temperatures and crisp air make for inspiring days on the trail, quiet calm in a canoe, or the simple thrill...

This is the fourth and final installment in our Save Your Summer series, an attempt to help you salvage a summer of adventure. Check out our previous pieces on Hiking,...

Don’t fall victim to the popular assumption that just because you’re going to the mountains, it will be cooler. While it is true that for every 1,000 feet of elevation...

Shenandoah National Park Milepost 57.5, Skyline Drive Loft Mountain with roughly 200 sites is the largest campground in the Shenandoah National Park; about 20 miles to the north is Lewis...

14239 Douthat State Park Road Millboro This 4,493-acre oasis is a destination park. For starters, its 43 miles of trail are open to hiking and mountain biking; especially for the...

How do you keep an 18,000-acre state park secret — so secret it doesn’t even show up on Google Maps? Hiding it in a surprisingly open area south of Morganton...

There are several winter camping options at New River State Park, a linear park following its namesake river and known for one thing: paddling. The Wagoner Road Access has 10...

The trails in this section of the Pisgah District of the Pisgah National Forest are open to hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding. From here, you can hike up to...

Perhaps you’ve been driving down a gravel road in one of our four fine National Forests — Croatan, Uwharrie, Pisgah, and in the case of Ammons Branch, Nantahala — and...

Located on the southern shores of Lake Joacassee, this would seem the ideal winter getaway for paddlers interested in exploring the the lake’s many fingers. And it is — for...

The Big Ivy Area — “big ivy” is what the locals call mountain laurel — is one of those areas you may have scoped out on a map — the...

Looking for a cheap mountain getaway this winter? Highlands and Panthertown Valley are not much more than 10 miles from the roadside campsites along Blue Valley Road. Primitive, yes, but...

Johnny Malloy, in his “The Best in Tent Camping: The Carolinas” (see below), writes evocatively of this primitive escape on the edge of the Ellicott Rock Wilderness: “The Chattooga runs...

Davidson River is a great winter campground for several reasons. One, the gate is open late, allowing you to spend those long, cold, dark winter nights in town. Two, there’s...