The Pineola — Hotel in Newland

This is a very nice campground. Has a decent store, bar, band playing at night, nice grounds, neat & clean . Now the problem.... roaming BIG dogs from the house right next to campground. I saw a big white dog rummaging around a site when we pulled in & another sitting on the front porch of the house. We parked & set up after a long drive. I leashed my 2 dogs out to go out & pee. Immediately a large brown labradoodle ran straight at us! One of my dogs will fight to the death to defend me. I dragged my dogs back to Rv to avoid a dog fight. Put my dogs away while my husband chased the dog away with a big stick. Then I walked around checking out the situation. As I got closer to the house (still in campground) 4 dogs (3 BIG) came out from the bushes charging at me barking. I turned my back ready to get bit or knocked down but the dogs stopped 1ft away. I called management. The explanation I got was they were stray dogs. They come & go. There's nothing they could do! That's bull! Those dogs are clearly not strays & very comfortable roaming the campground daily. They were all on the neighbor's property near the house lounging around. I believe most of the dogs live there.

I was completely stressed out knowing our dogs need to go out numerous times a day and I have to worry about a multiple dog fight. I wanted to leave but we just set up & we were tired. Eventually after my husband checked we walked the property with our dogs(mostly in front) away from that house with big sticks in our hands. Then before we go to bed we take the dogs out. At 10:30pm we opened the RV door & there was a big white dog sitting 10ft away waiting in the dark! So dogs could not go out again! There was no way I would risk 4 dogs running at us in the dark. I was SO stressed out about this. Good thing we only stayed 1 night. It is ridiculous for management to say they can do NOTHING! If they can't control the dogs then put up a fence along the dirt access road to keep them out! There's rules we have to follow when we bring our dogs to any campground. Why in the world would the campground put campers or their dogs in possible danger while the situation is completely against those rules?? Regardless of whether those dogs are nice or not everyone doesn't likes dogs. I can assume people don't want the dogs sniffing around their grills & food. Pooping on sites. As nice as this campground was, it was a horrible experience. I do NOT recommend...

Compared to many of the places we have stayed, this is unique property. I'm not aware of many properties that offer such a variety of lodging options. With seemingly everything from tent sites to luxury camper rental (tent sites, tiny-house trailer, vintage camper, top of the line motor coach, cabins, as well as traditional motel rooms all in the same location, what other lodging could you want? There's even a treehouse for guest use! Very conveniently located to all things "Linville" and to Grandfather Mountain, and to the Blue Ridge Parkway access, its easy to overlook the distances to a grocery store. (Speaking of which, you might want to bring your favorite breakfast foods and snack along with you). Boone is within 35-40 minutes drive, passing Linville, Sugar Mountain, and Seven Devils along the way. The owner/host/staff are all pleasant, hands-on folk, quick with a smile, and as laid back as the saying embroidered on their throw pillows advising "you're now on mountain time." It's not a complete "unplug from the world" kind of place, but it's not hard to do so here, should you choose. We stayed in a second floor room. It was clean, well kept, comfortable, and quiet. Setup is similar to most motel rooms, two beds, tv, wifi, refrigerator, microwave and hair dryer, with room access outside. Walkways and staircases are covered, but not enclosed. Check in was interesting. We were arriving late, so we adhere to their request that we call and advise them of that detail. Arrangements were made to accommodate us without question. Checkout was merely dropping our key (yes, they still use physical keys) in the drop box. It doesn't get any easier. Our room and the property matched the photos on the website in every detail. Definitely a place we have noted...

Mike and Cheryl here. We have a 44 foot Class A RV. Here is my review of The Pineola. I am conflicted with how to rate the campground. There are many good things, but there are some bad. Road to: Overall good, but a little narrow, twisty and hilly at times. The road next to The Pineola (Turtle Lane) is under construction and is in terrible condition. Road inside: The gravel portion is terrible. Lots of potholes and mud holes. Trees: All well trimmed. Check in: Nice size office right at entrance. The problem is, its not clear on where to turn in. Turtle road or the motel parking. Guest should be informed before arriving on where to turn and stop to check in. Parking: Medium size parking area, but you are competing with motel guest. Seasonal campers: No. Signage: good Site 15: Gravel pad, but level. Had table and fire pit. Very private. View: View of pond, and the field. Site spacing: Good but only for my site. Other sites are fairly close. The do have 4 premium sites with covered patio. Nice but still close to each other. Bathhouse: Nice. Laundry room: Small but nice. Swimming pool: None. Club house: Yes. They have a very nice tavern and an outside deck where they have music on Friday and Saturday. Very nice. Fitness area: no. Grounds: Good. TV: None. Wifi: Did not use. So here is the bad:

1. Fire pit had trash from previous campers. No one cleans up between campers.
2. Pot holes and mud holes on gravel road inside and outside of campground.
3. Pond is a retention pond that had trash in it. I removed all the trash I could.
4. The neighbors allow there dogs to roam the campground doing their business. The dogs are kept outside, even in bad weather. Travel Far, Dream Big,...