Badin Lake 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–$40Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 34All of them booked ahead
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 7 notices
In the agency’s own words
Badin Lake Campground borders the lakeshore and sits within a shaded forest, offering a year-round retreat for swimmers, boaters and anglers in central North Carolina's Uwharrie National Forest. Badin Lake Recreation Area is a hub for the area's outdoor activities, and the campground offers spacious, waterfront sites for both RV and tent campers. 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 for bass, bream, crappie and catfish on the water. Anglers and boaters have the convenience of a boat ramp 2 miles from the campground. 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
The campground has two loops of non-electric sites, some of which lie on the shore. Each site is near drinking water and is equipped with a table, grill, lantern post, campfire ring and tent pad. Flush toilets and showers are located in both loops. No dump station is available. The upper loop sites #23-35 are unavailable from January 1 to March 12, 2020.
Natural Features
The campground lies in a dense forest of pines and hardwoods 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 discounts. Single Sites = $20/night; Double Sites = $40/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. With pass, the total fee with discounts: Single Site $10 campsite fee .
Campsites 17 and 19 are always non-reservable for first come/first serve campers who have to pay camping fees on-site. No electricity, water or sewer site hookups at this facility. Alcohol is Prohibited Fireworks are Prohibited
Everything else this campground posts · 4
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.
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
- 34 · 1 tent-only
- Hookups
- None
- Longest rig
- 40 ft
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- ACCESSIBLE FLUSH TOILETS on 6 of 34 campsite records
- Showers
- Accessible Showers
- ACCESSIBLE SHOWERS on 6 of 34 campsite records
- Drinking water
- Yes
- ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 6 of 34 campsite records
- Boat ramp
- Yes
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake
- Boating
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Swimming
- Water sports
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 73rd darkest of 84 in NC
- Bortle 4
Full this Saturdayread 16:40 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 32 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 25 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 16:40 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 · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $20–$40 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 16:40 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
34 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 34 mapped sitesAll 34 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 34 of the 34 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. 34 of the 34 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 | 22 ft | 129 ft | 242 ft | 346 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 002 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 79 ft | 201 ft | 247 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 003 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 80 ft | 210 ft | 265 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 004 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | 74 ft | 231 ft | 198 ft | $20–$40 |
| LOWER LOOP | 005 | tent only nonelectric | 73 ft | 163 ft | 166 ft | $20 | ||
| LOWER LOOP | 006 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 49 ft | 163 ft | 97 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 007 | standard nonelectric | 25 ft | 49 ft | 157 ft | 76 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 008 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | yes | 82 ft | 290 ft | 179 ft | $20–$40 |
| LOWER LOOP | 009 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 53 ft | 208 ft | 49 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 010 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | yes | 89 ft | 252 ft | 85 ft | $20–$40 |
| LOWER LOOP | 011 | standard nonelectric | 53 ft | 219 ft | 80 ft | $20–$40 | ||
| LOWER LOOP | 013 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 79 ft | 194 ft | 115 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 014 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 80 ft | 144 ft | 222 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 015 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 98 ft | 137 ft | 302 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 016 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 104 ft | 109 ft | 402 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 017 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 80 ft | 223 ft | 170 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 018 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 58 ft | 125 ft | 461 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 019 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 120 ft | 226 ft | 331 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 020 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 58 ft | 162 ft | 470 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 021 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 79 ft | 203 ft | 266 ft | $20–$40 | |
| LOWER LOOP | 022 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 69 ft | 109 ft | 464 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 023 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 70 ft | 328 ft | 727 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 024 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 70 ft | 276 ft | 714 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 025 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 70 ft | 208 ft | 629 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 026 | standard nonelectric | 54 ft | 176 ft | 653 ft | $20–$40 | ||
| UPPER LOOP | 027 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 54 ft | 142 ft | 598 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 028 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 62 ft | 133 ft | 654 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 029 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 62 ft | 162 ft | 711 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 030 | standard nonelectric | 62 ft | 209 ft | 773 ft | $20–$40 | ||
| UPPER LOOP | 031 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 61 ft | 291 ft | 816 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 032 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 61 ft | 231 ft | 861 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 033 | standard nonelectric | 26 ft | 56 ft | 321 ft | 845 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 034 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 51 ft | 344 ft | 867 ft | $20–$40 | |
| UPPER LOOP | 035 | standard nonelectric | 16 ft | 51 ft | 304 ft | 894 ft | $20–$40 |
25 of 34 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Badin Lake Group CampUwharrie National Forest · 0.4 mi
Arrowhead CampgroundUwharrie National Forest · 0.8 mi
Canebrake Horse CampUwharrie National Forest · 1.8 miArt Lilley CampgroundUwharrie National Forest · 2.8 miUwharrie Hunt CampUwharrie National Forest · 3.3 miWest Morris Mtn. CampgroundUwharrie National Forest · 5.0 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 right, then make a quick left and travel about 1 mile 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
Badin Lake 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 Badin Lake Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina
Dear Mark Harris, I’m a constituent in North Carolina’s 8th district. I tried to camp at Badin Lake Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 34 sites at Badin Lake Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 32 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. Badin Lake Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Badin Lake 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 Badin Lake 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 Badin Lake Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina
Dear Ted Budd, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Badin Lake Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 34 sites at Badin Lake Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 32 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. Badin Lake Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Badin Lake 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 Badin Lake 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 Badin Lake Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina
Dear Thom Tillis, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Badin Lake Campground, Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina, and couldn’t. All 34 sites at Badin Lake Campground are reservable, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 32 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. Badin Lake Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Badin Lake 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 Badin Lake Campground (Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina) via campanac.com