Julian Price Memorial Park — Attraction in Blowing Rock

To be in such a golden location, Julian Price Campground was a huge disappointment. A) The tent pads are entirely too small. B) The bathrooms were absolutely atrocious - I'm not going to elaborate, but if you have to do anything other than hover to pee, you're going to be disgusted. I'd much rather poop in a hole in the woods, but there's nowhere within the campground to have privacy to do so.

**There are no showers here, and being an experienced primitive camper, that was fine with me, but a lot of people were sore about it. This is not the fault of the campground, though, because this is mentioned on their webpage.

C) The campground was EXTRA loud at night. Maybe touristy people that stop off the parkway don't understand quiet times at campgrounds, but it was ridiculous, and the quiet time was not enforced AT ALL. D) You can't swim in the lake - which is highly upsetting to people like me that love to kayak and hop in to cool off. This is not mentioned ANYWHERE on their webpage. Had I known up front, I would have been fine with that. E) The trail around the lake was so poorly maintained that we couldn't even walk the entire circle, otherwise we would have been knee deep in stinky swamp mud. (Don't advertise a beautiful lake hike when you can't even hike the entirety of the trail) F) The roads within the campground were full of potholes and the grass was super high in places. Come on, MOW! G) The staff was stiff, unfriendly and just short. There was no 'southern hospitality' with these rude folks.

Overall - this campground needs a...

Julian Price Memorial Park is an absolutely spectacular park right outside of the town of Blowing Rock off the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are several places you need to stop along your scenic drive, and I would say this is one of them. It’s stunning in autumn, but still incredibly beautiful in summertime. Julian Price Memorial Park features Price Lake, a picturesque mountain lake where visitors can walk around the perimeter on trails, kayak, and more (with free parking, as an added bonus). There are restrooms (port-a-potties) and really neat rock outcroppings you can walk to that allow for some privacy away from where others are walking.

There are also numerous campgrounds nearby with all the amenities you’d need, and many more hiking trails within the park itself. Just down the road from the lake is Wylie Creek that has tons of parking, grills, and beautiful creeks that run all throughout the area for kids to play in. If you visit on a holiday like 4th or July or Memorial Day, you’ll see hundreds of people all gathered together with their families, having BBQs, kids playing in the rivers, and it’s just a really nice time.

There are many different places worth seeing here at the Julian Price Memorial Park, so your best bet is to book a couple of nights at a hotel near Blowing Rock, and then explore both west and east on the Blue Ridge Parkway to see all of what the Appalachian Mountains have in store for you. This is one of the most beautiful areas in the entire...

Totally loved our camping experience here. We have a pretty large tent, (10 person Coleman) and were concerned about being able to place it on the tent pads. When I called to reserve, I was given the suggestion to choose from a couple of different sites in D loop. Looking at pictures on the internet just doesn't help much. So, we took a chance and booked site D10. It worked out perfectly for us. It's on nice level ground, and the concrete for the pad was worn down just enough on one side that our tent fit just fine. The only downside to the site, was that the picnic table was at the level for a small child, not an adult. It was almost like sitting on the ground.The campground is beautiful, and clean, and well maintained. Being directly off the Blue ridge parkway, made this even better, as it is in such a convenient location to go check out some beautiful sights. The showers were clean, however there was no soap provided in the bathrooms to wash your hands. The campground is amass with tall trees, and the way the wind howls through the trees at night, is like mother nature singing you a lullaby. We also witnessed a few deer lollygagging through the campground while we were there. Will definitely return if wherever in...