Blue Bear Mountain — Hotel in Boone

Our experience began with a call to ask about water. This was prompted by a FB post I just happened to see the day before we were leaving. THERE IS NO WATER!!! If you need water, the owner will bring a water hose to your rig from a well to fill your tank, though this seemed to irritate the owner when we didn't get our water exactly at 1200 noon when we said we would - discovered a leaking water heater plug that I needed to replace first. The owner actually asked us as we were about to leave for town to retrieve a new plug, "can you hurry up, I've got some things to do". ||Before we left GA, I asked about the roads leading into the campground due to the snow and rain in the area. I was told that the dirt road was "soft in spots" but we shouldn't have an issue. I explained that we are a 16k 40' 5th wheel being pulled by a RAM 3500 4x4 with street tires. We were told to come on up, no problem. Well...there was a huge problem, the GPS refused to take us the way the owner told us to go so we had to call back the owner once in Boone, NC and get turn by turn directions. The dirt road is a single vehicle wide, washed out in several places, at least (2) 90 degree turns, runs parallel to a creek most of the way so there is no room for error. Muddy water literally runs down the middle of the road.||I am not sure who is responsible for maintaining the road but I can certainly say NO ONE takes care of this road. Once we arrived to the campground entrance, we were already in 4x4 just to travel up this horrible dirt road. We got stuck trying to navigate the entrance which was just like the road just much, much steeper and with approximately 8"-10" of mud. I had to back up out into the road, to the ditch on the opposite side and use 4x4 LOW and hold the pedal to the floor. Even then, the rig was sliding around and we just barely made the top. ||The owner met us as we pulled in and offered us water, we had brought our own as we were not told that they would provide water until we arrived. Our site, that I asked about and was told was graveled, had just enough gravel to barely qualify as graveled. Most of the site was mud. The mud on the road and up the driveway was so bad, I couldn't lower my landing gear initially because they were full of mud. I had to clean them first.||When we unhooked, I had to auto level twice due to the severe slope to one side. When finished, both tires on the door side of the rig were completely off the ground. We stayed for (2) nights and left before the 3rd night due to a severe winter storm coming that night that the owner warned us about. Due to the extremely poor road and drive, we decided that it was safer for us to cut our trip short. It should be noted that our CC was charged the full stay (5) nights with no offer of a refund, partial or full. It should also be noted that in the entire campground, we were (1) of two total campers, just (2).||Before I could raise my landing gear, I had to literally use a screwdriver and chisel the mud away from the support to raise the legs.||The owner seemed nice until we needed water and the no offer of a refund tells a different story unfortunately. This campground does offer beautiful views once there. They should be much more forthcoming with the lack of water - no where on the website does it mention NO WATER. They also need to post a video driving Long Hope Rd on their website to show people exactly what they are in for, I have a feeling that they don't because they know it would not be favorable for bookings.||Overall, we were so disappointed with the lack of transparency from the road conditions, to the campground entrance to the lack of water. Knowing these things, we never would have made the trip. A family winter vacation ruined and a $240.00 bill for...

One of my favorite parks for our 35ft RV or tent camping with my family. For RVing-- the spaces are soo comfortable. You're not crammed into spaces like sardines--you basically get your own little plot of land. Big open spaces otherwise--great for kids to play, dogs, etc. Quite a few spots are nestled right into the forest which is awesome for privacy when you want it. Picnic table and nice fire rings included. Even better, and although your intuition would tell you otherwise, there are no h20 or black h20 hookups at each site. There is one main dump station and place to get h20. It makes things feel cleaner and, if you're into it, allows you to consider conservation methods for drinking h2o and black tank. One bath house--boy, girl, family bathrooms & showers-always clean and spacious.

The site is located on top of a mountain and the drive up requires patience and some nerve if you've got something larger than 20 feet or so. Watch the gate when turning in. You're in a very rural area, so come prepared with what you need otherwise the drive back down to Boone is a slow 15-20 downhill extravaganza. There is a family dollar on the way down to town which is in "Meat Camp" which is closer--and if you're not picky, it'll do. No convenience/store on site--you can get merch like shirts and hats--but no food items.

There are hiking trails, but I would only recommend if you're "in decent shape"; however, the hike to a small fishing pond, not too far away, is super easy and enough of a hike to say you hiked.

My wife, infant and I stayed there for almost six months during the height of covid (we were full timers at the time) and there couldn't have been a better place for us. We're low-key, nature lovers and pretty self sufficient-so it was perfect for us, but it's not for anyone looking for full service, hotel-like amenities--you have to know yourself and your rig if you're gonna be happy here for more than a few days. You'd be surprised to find that one of the roughneck mountain men helping to run the place is actually the owner and designer of the park--he is a true outdoorsman and also runs his own construction company. Don't judge any of the books you see by their covers. It's a small management team and they'll quickly become good friends and like family if you can embrace the campground for what it was built to provide: closeness with nature.

I freakin...

Be warned – They encourage people to come with possible Covid and refuse to honor cancellation policies. We will be coming this weekend and may or may not be contangoes. ||||We booked two nights in a tepee, a month before, and extremely excited to kick off the summer in Boone until last Thursday my son tested positive for Covid. First time in our house - we isolated him and spent the night cleaning/desensitizing the house. ||||Friday morning, I emailed them that we would like to cancel and reschedule in early fall. Monday, I got a response, however, they canceled our trip and said no refund as there is a 10-day cancellation period for tepees, which I did but they are doing fuzzy math. Let’s see, staying 19th, 20th, let’s count together 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10. Yep, 10 days out I sent my email on June 10th. ||||I called them, they said no refund, so I told them to un-cancel it and we will be there as they refuse to refund the 260 dollars (minus a 15-dollar processing fee). I told them we were coming, she said great. ||||We have learned a lot about Covid from the CDC website. We think my son should not be contagious 24 hours before driving to the camp, yet he is still testing positive. Last night my wife tested positive (so she is in the guestroom for the next 10 days), I am starting to get the sniffles, but it could be allergies, I’ll probably test positive at camp. So, what does all this mean? They don’t honor cancellation policies, and if you have or might have Covid, come on up as we won’t refund your money, which means the cabin and tepees could have someone with Covid the night before. See you guys this weekend. But it is hard to recommend shady business practices.||||Who knows, they might see this and realize they counted wrong, and I have them 10 days notice, and I would update this. And yes, if I test positive Sunday morning before we head out, we won't go, but you can be contagious 3-4 days before a...