The Mount Pisgah campground is located along the Blue Ridge Parkway just south of Asheville, North Carolina in the beautiful Pisgah National Forest.
It is a great option for staying if you’re visiting the western North Carolina Appalachian mountains.
Blue Ridge Parkway
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469 mile scenic road from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina.
It is a gorgeous drive with stunning long-range views of the mountains from which the Great Smoky Mountains get their name.
Staying along the parkway in this campground is a wonderful way to stay up close and personal in this scenic area.
There are 25 tunnels along the North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and one tunnel in Virginia.
We didn’t have any trouble fitting with our Airstream travel trailer, but make sure your rig will fit with no problems to avoid a catastrophe!
The National Park Service maintains a list of tunnel heights for this section of the Blue Ridge Parkway on its website.
The shortest tunnel is Bunches Bald at 10 feet 6 inches.
You can download a parkway map from that website for alternative routes if your RV is too tall to fit in a particular tunnel.
Mount Pisgah Campground
Mount Pisgah Campground has both RV and tent sites available along several loops.
There are 62 RV sites and 64 tent campsites available. Of these, 72 campsites can be reserved in advance, using the online reservation system.
If you arrive without a reservation, you can choose any open campsite, with the exception of the ones marked with an “R” for being a reservable campsite.
When you enter the campground, you’ll be greeted by the ranger station.
There’s also a campground host located at the beginning of the A loop should you need assistance if a ranger isn’t present.
The ranger station has maps of the campground and facilities, along with information about ranger-led activities, hiking trails, and other things to do in the area.
When we visited in June 2019, they had ranger-led activities each Saturday at 7:30 PM.
These included details about the role of pollinators (i.e. bees) on the Blue Ridge Parkway; the return of elk to western North Carolina through a reintroduction program; and a program that explains how you can hear trees talking when you walk in the woods.
This is bear country, as the sign in the campground indicates, so it’s important to keep your campsite free of anything that might attract wildlife.
Tent campers are provided with bear-proof storage bins to store their food and other camping supplies.
Campground Loops
The campground has four campsite loops:
- Loop A is for RVs and travel trailers
- Loop B is for vans and popup trailers
- Loop C and D are for for tents only
We stayed in loop A in campsite A12, which has a mix of pull-through and back-in sites.
However, we found that many of the back-in campsites do not include separate space to park a tow vehicle.
For example, we had reserved a site but found that only our 27 foot Airstream trailer would fit, but not our pickup truck.
The campground host said it was fine for us to switch to an available site and let the ranger know so that they could open up our reserved site for someone else.
So a few tips on the campsites in Mount Pisgah campground:
- Campsite lengths vary significantly. Be sure to check out the length details for each campsite and peruse photos of the individual campsite online before reserving a site.
- A second tip is that we found that many of the campsites to be incredibly not level. Bring lots of leveling blocks. We had to lower our Airstream’s jack to its lowest point, even with using all of our leveling blocks.
- While loop A is reserved for RVs and travel trailers, there are several larger and really nice campsites in loop B that would fit an RV up to about 30 feet long.
- We found that AT&T cell service did not work in loop A, but it did work in several of the other loops, as well as by the ranger station.
Campground Amenities
This is dry camping.
There are no electrical, water, or sewer connections at individual campsites.
This is fine for a few days for most people, as you can use generators in loops A and B, but not in loops C and D where the tents are.
We used our solar panel which worked great as well.
Campground Bathrooms
There are bathrooms in all loops, but showers are only available in loops B and C.
The bathrooms have flush toilets, and water pumps are also located around the campground.
Water, Trash and Dump Station
There is potable water and a dump station located at the beginning of loop A in the campground.
Here you can get fresh water and dump your RV’s tanks.
There are plenty of trash cans and water pumps located throughout the campground so you can dispose of your trash in bear-proof trashcans and get water as needed.
Mount Pisgah campground has several walking trails located throughout the campground making it easy to get around from your campsite to the bathrooms and other locations.
Campsite Picnic Table
Each campsite comes with a private picnic area with a picnic table and fire ring.
Most campsite picnic areas were private retreats among the trees, such as the one steps down from our campsite at site A12.
We were even visited by a cute rabbit in our picnic area. He wasn’t too concerned about us and hung around for a while.
Basically across the street from the campground is a camp store and the Pisgah Inn, which also has a restaurant and great views of the mountains.
If you need supplies or a hot meal, it’s an easy walk from the campground.
Hiking Trails from the Mount Pisgah Campground
One of the best things about the campground is that you can hike directly from your campsite to many fantastic trails in the area.
At the entrance to the campground, there is a map of the local trails. The ranger station also has maps and other trail information available.
This photo is a little bright, so it’s difficult to see, but there are several trails leading right from the Mount Pisgah campground.
There’s the Mt Pisgah trail which leads to the top of Mount Pisgah which the campground is named after, and the Frying Pan trail which leads in the opposite direction to another viewpoint.
Both trails are directly accessible with signs pointing to them near the ranger station in the campground.
Mount Pisgah Trail
We hiked the approximately 3 miles each way to the top of Mount Pisgah from the campground.
It is a beautiful hike, and highly recommended.
You can see Mount Pisgah from the campground. It’s one of the most recognizable mountains in the Asheville area.
You can shorten the hike by driving to the Mount Pisgah picnic area, but the first part of the trail from the campground is easy and very scenic.
It passes in between the Blue Ridge Parkway and the tent campsites as it meanders through an incredibly green forest.
This part of the hike is relatively flat and easy.
Once you pass the Mount Pisgah picnic area, the trail begins its ascent to the top of Mount Pisgah.
The trail is not overly steep, but it is a climb that involves many steps built out of rocks.
We saw people of all ages and physical abilities hiking the trail, so although it is not flat at this point, it is doable for most people who take their time.
Once you get to the top where the radio tower is, you’ll be rewarded with fantastic views of the surrounding mountains.
There’s a platform built up there perfect for taking in the views.
While cell phone access in the Mount Pisgah campground is spotty and does not work well in loop A, you’ll get great cell phone coverage at the top of Mount Pisgah!
You can see all the way into Asheville from the top of the mountain.
Final Thoughts on the Mount Pisgah Campground
We loved staying at the Mount Pisgah campground.
It lacks full hookups but is peaceful. Its location is perfect for the Blue Ridge Parkway. Enjoy the area’s hiking trails too.
We drove the scenic drive into Asheville and enjoyed the fun mountain vibes of this engaging town.
The Mount Pisgah campground was a perfect launching point for enjoying the Pisgah National Forest on the south side of Asheville.
