Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins is a combination of camping locations and cabins that are located near the city of Spruce Pine in North Carolina. Spruce Pine, which is about 17 minutes away from the campgrounds, is located about an hour south of the border between North Carolina and Tennessee. Locations at Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins include the office building, acts as the camp store, a game room, and a recreation hall. There are 122 total sites that can be rented by guests, including RV spaces, tent sites, and cabins. On occasion the campsite will host a movie night, invite food trucks to their property, or have live musicians playing on the weekends. The property is found inside the Blue Ridge Mountain Range, allowing for guests to access many hiking trails within the vicinity. The property is open seasonally from March to January.
Available for rent are 71 RV sites, 27 campsites for tents, 14 camping cabins, and ten furnished cabins. The RV locations are all gravel, and the tent sites don't have grass. The tent spaces have water and electricity, and most of the RV sites, excluding about five of them, have full hook-ups with water, electrical, and sewage. Every outdoor area has a picnic table and a fire pit. The camping cabins have beds with no linens not provided, heating and air conditioning, electricity, and water on the outside. Furnished cabins come with the necessities for a temporary stay, including a full kitchen, private bathroom, and beds with linens, and several of them also have an indoor jacuzzi or outdoor fire pit.
There are a total of roughly 15 miles of hiking trails that are spread out over the land owned by the business. Also located on the 100 acres of land is a small lake that can be used for swimming and fishing. Visitors are able to use the recreational hall, which has an assortment of activities such as ping-pong tables, cornhole, and shuffleboard. The manager explains that "occasionally we will have a movie night on the weekends." Also on the premise is a game room. In the game room, there are coin-operated arcade games, a pool table, and air hockey. The main building doubles as both the office and the camp store. At the store, patrons can purchase things like food items, souvenirs, apparel, toiletry needs, firewood, ice, RV needs, and more. There are also a volleyball and basketball court located on-site.
Sports equipment and DVDs can be rented for 10 dollars, but when the patron brings the items rented back, they will get their money back. Golf carts can also be rented from the establishment. Fishing at the lake is catch-and-release only, but there is no requirement for a fishing license.
Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins is located outside of Spruce Pine, which means that the property is surrounded by a vast amount of foliage. Visitors can walk along the hiking trails or spend time at the lake. There are several waterfalls that can be seen on the hiking trails, and even one at the lake that is man-made. According to the manager, the Cascade Trail is one of the more popular paths that a number of visitors come to hike.
Spruce Pine is the closest town to the campgrounds and offers a number of different attractions, activities, and eateries. The North Toe River flows through the city and is a popular location for guests to go fly fishing. Linville Falls is a waterfall and local attraction that is separate from Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins and offers a broader range of hiking trails. White water rafting and tubing down the rivers are a couple of other notorious activities, and gem mining is one activity that is unique to the area.
While Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins is located a considerable distance from the town, there are still several places that guests can go to for food. In downtown Spruce Pine is a coffee shop that serves lunch and breakfast called DT's Coffee Shop. Bierdock Brewery is a place that specializes in alcoholic beverages. CJ's Barbecue serves barbecued goods, but they also have a food truck that may sometimes make an appearance at the property when the food trucks are invited in.
The manager explains that the goal of the property is to be a world-class destination. She wants her guests to feel relaxed and welcomed when they arrive. She says, "when guests come here, and they're paying money to stay here, we want them to have the best experience possible." Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins may celebrate a number of holidays with the guests staying there. During the major holidays like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day, the campground will host a golf cart parade where guests can rent a golf cart or bring and use their own and decorate it to celebrate the holiday. During the weekend of Halloween, they will do trick-or-treating around the main buildings and have other Halloween-themed games. One event that they have begun doing every year is a fishing tournament on Labor Day weekend where first, second, and third place can win prizes. Every so often, on Fridays or Saturdays, they may host a movie night, though that is an event that occurs inconsistently. Sometimes, food trucks will make an appearance at the property, allowing guests to buy different kinds of food. Also, on occasion, the campsite may host live musicians.
Guests also have the capability to set up and host their own events. The manager mentions that there is a group that has a tradition of coming to Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins for almost 50 years. People will also come up for family reunions, where the visitors may rent out a number of sites or cabins for their families during their stay.
There are a number of policies and rules that the asks their guests to abide by. Quiet time is from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. The manager explains that they take this rule very seriously and that they "are not a party campground." Another important policy that the business has is that guests cannot bring their own firewood. According to the North Carolina law, it must be wood harvested within 50 miles of the location, and it must be treated. They do this to protect the local trees from infection of outdoor plant life. ATVs and remote-controlled vehicles are not allowed. Every building is to be smoke-free, though visitors are able to smoke outside if they would like. Any alcohol on the property needs to be covered to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere. Some of the cabins are not pet-friendly, although pets are allowed elsewhere on the property. The only areas that are restricted to pets are the bathhouses and in the office and camp store.
The manager of Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins explains that the company welcomes recommendations, suggestions, and constructive criticism to help make their place of business better. The property has received a number of reviews from past patrons, with a number of the reviews mentioning the quality of the rooms' and sites' upkeep, as well as the quality of care that was provided by the staff. One recent guest left a review that reads, "This campground is such a gem. They provided wonderful customer service. The staff was very friendly, and the campground was very clean and tidy."
Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins has been an operating campground since 1961. The previous owners were in charge of the property until they sold it to the current owners in 2016. The current owners came from Illinois. They moved when they decided they wanted to take on a property that offered camping locations in the mountains. When they came across Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins for sale, they made the decision to purchase it and continue its upkeep.
The current owners have done a large number of renovations to the establishment ever since they purchased it from the previous owners. They have done a total renovation of the three bathhouses that are located across the grounds. The camp store and office have had some rework and improvements added over time. Also, the roads leading into and throughout the campsite have been paved to make them safer and more accessible for RVs that are coming or leaving. The whole of Area A was revamped and redone, allowing them to convert the lot from a handful of campsites to 17 new RV locations. There are plans in the future to add a few more RV units and do other updates to improve the property and ensure its upkeep.
The manager of the property explains that she enjoys the surroundings and the location of Bear Den Campground & Creekside Cabins. She lives on the property and mentions that she is happy with the campground's appearance. During the summertime, the temperature is typically warmer, with the highs tending to be in the upper 80s and the lows being around the mid-70s. The manager also mentions that there are much fewer mosquitos than one would guess, especially during the summer months.
600 Bear Den Mountain Road
Spruce Pine, North Carolina 28777
United States
Campground
Deb
Moody
