Cascade Lake Recreation Area

[BOBSMITH]

My wife and I had never stayed at a campground with full hookups. We wanted to do some hiking in DuPont State Forest here in North Carolina and also have a place to take our canoe out on a lake. So we found Cascade Lake Recreation Area which lies beside DuPont State Forest, has a lake, and full hookups.

We tried to book a site that had its own dock lakeside, but the woman taking reservations was so addled that we were unable to do this. So we settled for a site across the road from the lake.

When we arrived, we discovered that, despite having preregistered and reserved a site, we had to go through a lengthy check-in, exacerbated by other campers coming into the office for various things. One man wanted to rent a paddle boat for his family to kick around the lake. But the woman renting the boats had to spend several minutes warning the fellow about weight limits and that he might wish to have only part of his family on the boat at one time while the others watched...you get the idea. After a while it became obvious that she was an officious jerk, and this was just the beginning.

Finally, they go us checked in. But we weren't allowed to just drive to our site using our campground map. No. We had to wait for an "escort". But there weren't any "escorts" available. So we sat there waiting for fifteen minutes while they went to find some "official" to "escort" us to our campsite. In the meantime, other campers arriving to check in were piling up at the gate (this place is strictly gated with guards at the gate). So they began to ask people to pull off to the side of the road. One guy, in his brand new trailer, parked where they told him to, and succeeded in damaging his trailer. He was understandably livid.

Finally, about 30 minutes after our arrival, a guy in a golf car arrived to "escort" us to our site. This took about one minute.

Over the course of the next few days we watched these camp employees coming and going in their little golf carts being a batch of officious jerks.

The campground itself is okay, I have to say. But because of the stupidity of the folk running it, the many onerous rules, and the rudeness of the the swarm of Camp employees, we will never go back. Nor can we recommend it for those reasons.

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<div align="center">No trees. Fire ring was a pile of rocks.</div>

[Al and Cindy K]

Hi Bob, sorry to hear you had such a bad experience and we've had enough of them in the past that we haven't stayed in a private campground in several years. Boondocking and camping on public lands are definitely much less of a hassle.

We've never actually camped at Cascade Lake but did book reservations there a couple of years back when they were hosting an 'egg' get together. Due to a death in our family, we had to cancel at the last minute so I called and advised them of the circumstances. Athough it never even crossed my mind to ask for any sort of refund due to the lack of advance notice I was able to give, a few days later we received a sympathy card from the owners and a check for the full amount of our deposit. I'd suggest advising them (the owners) of your concerns as they may not be aware of the actions of some employees.

We're heading for Nantahala or Pisgah over the 4th and planning to find some remote area to chill in for a few days. Maybe see you folks around some time.

Al & Cindy

[BOBSMITH]

I've been told my friends who have stayed there in the past that things were not so bad when they were there. Could be just a bunch of jerks with petty power. Who knows?

I do know that from now on I'll be staying in a National Forest campground or boondocking at a National Forest roadside site when I'm in that area.