Raven Rock State Park is developing its first campground accessible to vehicles and may offer car, RV and cabin camping by the end of the year.
A news release said last week that the Mountain Laurel bike loop at the Harnett County park has been closed for construction of a campground with 15 tent campsites, nine RV sites, six camper cabins (like the one in an N.C. State Parks photo below), and a bathhouse. The park currently offers backpack camping and group camping with vault toilets about 2.5 miles into the park and paddle-in canoe camping.
Raven Rock is northeast of Lillington off of U.S. 421 and is known for its 150-foot rock bluffs along the Cape Fear River, which may be reached by easy trails. The park offers about 22 miles of trails (counting the closed bike loop), as well as picnicking and a visitors center. A satellite section of the park across the river offers 8 miles of hiking and bridle trails.
The Mountain Laurel Loop Trail is a 6.6-mile easy biking and hiking trail with parking on Moccasin Branch Road east of the main park entrance. The news release says, “The loop will re-open near the end of the year when the construction is complete.”
The $1.125 million to build the campground comes from the $2.4 billion 2016 Connect NC bond referendum, which includes about $75 million for 45 state parks projects across the state.
The N.C. State Parks system has been adding camper cabins to parks in recent years and now offers camper cabins to the public at Carolina Beach and Cliffs of the Neuse state parks, larger cabins at Hanging Rock and Morrow Mountain state parks, and cabins for certified groups at Singletary Lake and William B. Umstead state parks.
- See Our Directory of Camping in State Parks in North Carolina.
With Raven Rock’s only bike trail closed, the parks system advises that new bike trails will open soon at Carvers Creek State Park in Spring Lake, and that there are bike trails at Umstead State Park and Falls Lake State Recreation Area in Raleigh, Harris Lake County Park and Lake Crabtree County Park in Wake County, and at Badin Lake Recreation Area and Woodrun Trails in the Uhwarrie National Forest near Troy.
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