Arrowhead Campground
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $20–$54Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 49All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
Arrowhead Campground lies in the Badin Lake Recreation Area, a hub for outdoor activities in central North Carolina's Uwharrie National Forest. The variety of sites in the campground offer a comfortable stay for both RV and tent campers. The facility is open year-round and provides easy access to hiking, off-road vehicle riding, horseback riding, mountain biking, fishing and boating. Keep reading
Recreation
Badin Lake Recreation Area offers many ways for campers to enjoy the lake. Popular activities include picnicking on the shore or swimming, boating or fishing on the water. About 40 miles of non-motorized trails are available for horseback riding, mountain biking and hiking, as well as 17 miles of motorized trails for off-road vehicle riding. The surrounding land offers both big and small game hunting.
Facilities
Campsites are organized into one large loop with plenty of space for RVs or tents at each site. A few tent-only sites are situated on a smaller loop to the side of the main campground. Electrical hookups (50-amp, 30-amp or 110-volt outlets) are available at sites 12-45. Most sites are accessible. Sites are equipped with picnic tables, tent pads, lantern posts and campfire rings with grills. The facility also provides hot showers and flush toilets. A dump station is located across from the pay station. A campground host is available for visitor assistance.
Natural Features
The campground lies in a dense forest of pine, oak and hickory near the shore of 5,000-acre Badin Lake. Winter temperatures range from the low 30s to upper 50s, while summer brings temperatures in the upper 80s and 90s and high humidity. The weather is pleasant in spring and fall, with high temperatures in the 60s and 70s.
Nearby Attractions
A theme park with a petting zoo, nature center and mini golf course lies just under an hour away and makes a fun day trip for families.
What the agency tells you
Throughout the year the Uwharrie National Forest performs prescribed burns. Some of these burns will be next to and around this recreation facility and may cause smokey conditions during the actual burning and for the days following the burns. Sometimes we do not make a decision until the very morning that we will be able to do the burn due to weather and staffing. If you have questions about the prescribed burning possibility please call the Uwharrie National Forest Ranger District office at 910-576-6391 for updated information.
Rates do not reflect pass discounts. Single Sites = $27/night; Double Sites = $54/night. For Access or Senior Access Pass card holders, discounts only apply on the campsite fee on single sites. A person with an Access or Senior Access Pass can only get a discount on the actual campsite they are camping in. The pass holder cannot get discounts on multiple sites for the same dates. No discount on double sites. No discount off of electrical surcharge and are only on single sites. Electrical hookup surcharges are not discounted. With pass, the total fee with discounts: Single Site $10 campsite fee + $7 surcharge = $17. Campers must pay electric surcharge at all sites with electric hookups, whether or not they use electricity. There are no water or sewer hookups at this campground. There is a dump station for potable water fill-up and dumping of gray water.
Campsites 20 and 31 are always non-reservable for first come/first serve campers who have to pay camping fees on-site. Campsites 43, 44 and 45 are paved but if camper uses tents, air mattresses are recommended. Campsites 1 through 11 and 46 through 50 are non-electric sites. Campsites 12 through 45 are electric sites.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Off-highway vehicles allowed on designated trails only from Apr. 1 to Dec. 15; trail passes required for these trails. Unlicensed vehicles must be trailered to the motorized trail trailheads to access these trails.
Consideration of fellow campers is appreciated; for safety purposes, please keep off-highway vehicle use (including golf carts, dirt bikes, and other unlicensed vehicles) to designated roads and trails outside of the campground. Keep children and pets under control in the campground. Do Not approach people's campsites or pets without their permission.
Alcohol is Prohibited Fireworks are Prohibited
If tent camping, tents can be set up in the wooded area around and next to their campsite and not encroaching into other campsites. Must follow directions from camp hosts.
Click here to learn more about the National Forests in North Carolina
Don't Move Firewood : Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 49 · 6 tent-only
- Hookups
- 33 electric
- Longest rig
- 45 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 48
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…facility also provides hot showers and flush toilets. A dump station is located across from the pay…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “The facility also provides hot showers and flush toilets.”
- Dump station
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Biking
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 71st darkest of 84 in NC
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 16:20 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 46 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 36 are free on Wed, Oct 21. read 16:20 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
Watch for a cancellation
Watch this campground
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 17
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $20–$54 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 16:20 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
49 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 48 mapped sitesAll 49 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 48 of the 49 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 49 of the 49 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| LOWER LOOP | 001 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | yes | 98 ft | 973 ft | 392 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 002 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 98 ft | 988 ft | 350 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 003 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | 115 ft | 1,110 ft | 468 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 004 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | yes | 115 ft | 1,189 ft | 515 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 005 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | yes | 112 ft | 1,098 ft | 394 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 006 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | yes | $20–$40 | ||||
| LOWER LOOP | 007 | standard nonelectric | 45 ft | yes | 112 ft | 997 ft | 298 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 008 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | 102 ft | 1,034 ft | 335 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 009 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | yes | 85 ft | 919 ft | 216 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 010 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | 102 ft | 970 ft | 298 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 011 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | yes | 85 ft | 856 ft | 171 ft | $20–$40 | |
| TENT LOOP | 046 | tent only nonelectric | 17 ft | yes | 69 ft | 608 ft | 122 ft | $20 | |
| TENT LOOP | 047 | tent only nonelectric | 17 ft | yes | 66 ft | 533 ft | 172 ft | $20 | |
| TENT LOOP | 048 | tent only nonelectric | 17 ft | yes | 69 ft | 609 ft | 176 ft | $20 | |
| TENT LOOP | 049 | tent only nonelectric | 17 ft | yes | 70 ft | 576 ft | 246 ft | $20 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 012 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | yes | 84 ft | 892 ft | 334 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 013 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | yes | 74 ft | 801 ft | 278 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 014 | standard electric | 20 ft | 30 amp | yes | 74 ft | 775 ft | 349 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 015 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | yes | 82 ft | 828 ft | 398 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 016 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | yes | 82 ft | 717 ft | 427 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 017 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | yes | 82 ft | 786 ft | 477 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 018 | standard electric | 20 ft | 30 amp | yes | 87 ft | 802 ft | 556 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 019 | standard electric | 12 ft | 30 amp | yes | 112 ft | 715 ft | 651 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 020 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | yes | 116 ft | 626 ft | 618 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 021 | tent only electric | 28 ft | 30 amp | yes | 99 ft | 615 ft | 735 ft | $27 |
| UPPER LOOP | 023 | tent only electric | 30 amp | 97 ft | 530 ft | 819 ft | $27 | ||
| UPPER LOOP | 024 | standard electric | 12 ft | 30 amp | yes | 78 ft | 434 ft | 863 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 025 | standard electric | 24 ft | 30 amp | yes | 78 ft | 389 ft | 808 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 026 | standard electric | 36 ft | 30 amp | yes | 75 ft | 431 ft | 745 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 027 | standard electric | 38 ft | 30 amp | yes | 75 ft | 445 ft | 683 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 028 | standard electric | 28 ft | 50 amp | yes | 71 ft | 474 ft | 596 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 029 | standard electric | 30 ft | 50 amp | yes | 71 ft | 513 ft | 528 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 030 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | yes | 80 ft | 592 ft | 463 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 031 | standard electric | 38 ft | 50 amp | yes | 83 ft | 533 ft | 433 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 032 | standard electric | 24 ft | 50 amp | yes | 42 ft | 602 ft | 401 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 033 | standard electric | 24 ft | 50 amp | yes | 73 ft | 537 ft | 373 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 034 | standard electric | 24 ft | 50 amp | yes | 41 ft | 624 ft | 361 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 035 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | yes | 41 ft | 625 ft | 326 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 036 | standard electric | 34 ft | 50 amp | yes | 73 ft | 490 ft | 341 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 037 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | yes | 61 ft | 573 ft | 291 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 038 | standard electric | 38 ft | 50 amp | yes | 89 ft | 474 ft | 271 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 039 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | yes | 61 ft | 557 ft | 243 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 040 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | yes | 66 ft | 512 ft | 201 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 041 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | yes | 51 ft | 568 ft | 187 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 042 | standard electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | yes | 51 ft | 607 ft | 136 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 043 | standard electric | 30 ft | 50 amp | yes | 23 ft | 632 ft | 171 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 044 | standard electric | 26 ft | 50 amp | yes | 23 ft | 654 ft | 157 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 045 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | yes | 87 ft | 724 ft | 214 ft | $27–$54 |
| UPPER LOOP | 050 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | yes | 129 ft | 712 ft | under 10 ft | $20–$40 |
25 of 49 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Badin Lake CampgroundUwharrie National Forest · 0.8 mi
Badin Lake Group CampUwharrie National Forest · 0.9 mi
Canebrake Horse CampUwharrie National Forest · 1.2 miArt Lilley CampgroundUwharrie National Forest · 2.1 miUwharrie Hunt CampUwharrie National Forest · 2.7 miWest Morris Mtn. CampgroundUwharrie National Forest · 4.4 miFrom Troy, North Carolina, take State Highway 109 north for approximately 10 miles. Turn left onto Mullinix Road (County Highway 1154), and travel approximately 1.5 miles to a stop sign and "T" intersection. Turn right, and go approximately 2 miles to another stop sign and "T" intersection. Turn left and travel about 2 miles, following the signs to the campground.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Badin, NC
Typical weather
Typical October night 50°F, day 73°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 31°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
who answers for it · a letter you can send
Who answers for this land
Arrowhead Campground is in North Carolina’s 8th congressional district. Its representative, Mark Harris (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →
Who can change it · 3
Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.
- The member who votes the moneyMark HarrisU.S. Representative · North Carolina’s 8th district
- Your senator, on the same appropriationTed BuddU.S. Senator · North Carolina
- Your senator, on the same appropriationThom TillisU.S. Senator · North Carolina
Read the draft, or change the wording
For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Arrowhead Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina
Dear Mark Harris, I’m a constituent in North Carolina’s 8th district. I tried to camp at Arrowhead Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 49 sites at Arrowhead Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 46 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Arrowhead Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Arrowhead Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Arrowhead Campground (Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Arrowhead Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina
Dear Ted Budd, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Arrowhead Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 49 sites at Arrowhead Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 46 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Arrowhead Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Arrowhead Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Arrowhead Campground (Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina) via campanac.com
Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.
Subject Walk-up camping at Arrowhead Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina
Dear Thom Tillis, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Arrowhead Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 49 sites at Arrowhead Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 46 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Arrowhead Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Arrowhead Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund. The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them. Sent about Arrowhead Campground (Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina) via campanac.com