Linville Gorge area car camping

jeepinmatt

jeepinmatt

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Mar 24, 2005
Location
Stanley, NC
Planning on heading up ton the Linville Gorge/Table Rock area next weekend to do some camping. I've backpacked the gorge many times, but never car camped there. Is there any good car camping on the easy side? I'd like to be near the table rock parking area, but not sure if that's even a possibility. Also open to camping the west side on old NC105, but plan to day hike Table Rock, and driving from West side to east side wastes a lot of time.
 
FS Rd off 181N near mm17 on the right heads down towards Wilson creek and all the other dirt roads between 181 and 321. Lots of sites in there. You can also go in near Jonas Ridge, don't recall there being many sites up in that area though. I have a great map of the whole area if you want to borrow it. I'm sure you're aware of all the sites on old 105.
 
What @GONOVRIT said, close friend has a cabin just off 181 near the Marathon station. The FS roads around Linville Gorge are hard to beat, lots of road side spots and tons of trails down to the river floor.
 
GONOVRIT said:
I have a great map of the whole area if you want to borrow it. I'm sure you're aware of all the sites on old 105.
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Thanks, which map is it? I already have the NatGeo one that shows a larger area and also a smaller more detailed topo that basically just shows the wilderness area and all the trails.

I'm actually not familiar with the 105 side. I haven't been over there in at least 10 years, and that was in the dark, in the snow, after a 4 day backpacking trip. Is there good camping there?
 
Sounds like the same map. There are some nice spots right along the road on 105 over looking the gorge.
 
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White Creek Fire Burning in Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, 75 Acres on Friday - High Country Press

This is from 1:00 pm today.

Cliffs Notes:
"The U.S. Forest Service has issued an emergency closure for the Shortoff Trail (Trail #235) and the Mountains to Sea Trail (Trail #440) from Old Highway 105 at Pinnacles to the Table Rock Picnic Area. The public is asked to avoid the area. Fire managers are looking at a larger area closure that would include the southern portion of the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area. Information on the larger closure is expected to be released later today."
 
You could see the smoke of the fire real well from Morganton.

We ended up camping on the west side off Old NC 105, just north of Laurel Knob. It rained about 1/2" from when we got there until about 9:30 saturday morning, then cleared up real nice for the rest of the weekend.
 
So lightning struck March 6 and smoldered for ten days until March 16? This really seems like a stretch.
 
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braxton357 said:
That looks awesome, and as far as food goes, car camping is definitely superior. Next time you're in town you should stop by.
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Yeah, it was probably better eating than at home (don't tell the wife I said that!)
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i didnt check the date and thought someone was going camping this weekend.... came to post that its on fire again... small buddy said 10ish acres but where its at its got the room to get big. Oh well hippies gotta learn one way or the other about burning. Feds cant get approval to do controlled burns because of asheville people so now its gonna be a big fire.
 
braxton357 said:
Only ended up burning 3 acres, they already have it out--pretty solid job by the usfs. Just as important as controlling the brush is controlling dipshits that leave a burning campfire.
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Kinda, but have you ever tried to start a forest fire? It's not as easy as most people think.
 
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