Basin Cove Backcountry Camping
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:39 UTC
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 8All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Basin Cove backcountry is a primitive camp located in historic Basin Cove at Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.. Multiple trails allow access to the primitive campground. Click to see a map Doughton Park Hiking Trails Overnight parking for backcountry is permitted at designated areas. From the parkway, the trails descend over 1500 feet into the Basin Cove Area. Easiest trail is the Grassy Gap Fire Road entrance from Longbottom Road. This year-round campground has eight campsites each with individual fire rings, lantern post, and food storage boxes. No pit toilet or privy exists. Note particularly that surface water is unsafe. Water from natural sources must be purified by boiling or filtering and disinfecting. Thunderstorms are common along the escarpment. Cell phones most likely do not work in the area. Multiple creeks provide fishing opportunities. Keep reading
Recreation
Doughton Park trails system offers more than 28 miles of hiking trails. From the campsites, trails ascend 1,500 feet to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The most difficult trail up to the parkway is the Bluff’s primitive trail. The easiest route in and out of the campsite is at Longbottom Road via the Grassy Gap Fire Road.
Facilities
This year-round backcountry camping area has eight campsites each with individual fire rings, lantern post, and food storage boxes. No pit toilet or privy exists so be prepared to dispose of waste properly. Note: Surface water is unsafe. Water from natural sources must be purified by boiling or filtering and disinfecting.
Natural Features
Basin Cove was a thriving community of over 50 families from 1863 to 1916. Two stalled tropic storms dumped 22.2 inches of rain during a 3-day period in 1916, causing massive mudslides that wiped out all but 1 and half homes. Remnants of homesites and graves are scattered throughout the area. The 3.5-mile Caudill Cabin trail leads the only existing cabin. The campground is situated among a mixed hardwood and conifer forest with multiple creeks. Special Parkway water regulations apply in Basin Cove. Fishing Black Bears inhabit the 6,000 plus acres of public land. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (828) 276-2300.
Nearby Attractions
Stone Mountain State Park Stone Mountain State Park Alleghany County Alleghany County Wilkes County Wilkes County New River New River
What the agency tells you
Backcountry Use Regulations 1. A backcountry camping permit is required for all overnight use and must be in your possession at all times. Note: No more than six (6) people are allowed to occupy any one campsite. 2. Camping outside of the designated sites is prohibited. 3. Campfires are allowed only inside the government provided fire grill. Only wood that is dead and down on the ground may be collected for use as firewood. The cutting of standing trees, whether live or dead is prohibited. The use of camp stoves is encouraged. All fires may be banned during periods of high fire danger. 4. All trash must be carried out upon vacating the site. Do not leave litter or cans in the fire rings. DO NOT burn or bury any trash. 5. Historic and archeological resources are protected by federal law. The damaging, defacing or removal of these resources is prohibited. 6. Natural resources are protected by federal law. Do not disturb or remove any animal or plant life. 7. Hunting and trapping are prohibited. Fishing is subject to state and federal laws and limits. 8. Persons who can legally possess firearms under federal, state, and local laws are able to possess firearms on the Blue Ridge Parkway, subject to the laws of the state they are in at the time. It is the visitor's responsibility to understand and comply with all applicable state (North Carolina and/or Virginia) and federal firearms laws. Firearms should not be considered a wildlife protection strategy. The discharge and/or use of firearms remains prohibited at all times. 9. Pets must be on a 6 foot maximum leash at all times while in the park. Horseback camping is not permitted. Horses are allowed on the Grassy Gap Fire Road during the day. 10. All human waste must be buried at least 6 inches deep and at least 100 feet from any stream. Pack out all diapers, tampons, and sanitary napkins in a sealed plastic bag. 11. Campsite improvements such as bough beds and trenching around tents is prohibited, as is the use of nails or spikes in trees for clotheslines, shelter construction or hanging lanterns. 12. Bathing or washing dishes or utensils in streams is prohibited. All unprotected water should be treated before consuming. 13. Food and other scented items must be in bear-proof containers, stored in park provided bear boxes (if available) or hung in a tree at least 10 feet above the ground and 4 feet from the trunk of the tree.
Do not print your permit until you have confirmed you will be completing your backcountry trip. Once the permit has been printed you can not cancel or modify the reservation.
Permits must be printed and carried on your person. You must write the permit number on a sheet of paper and place it on the dash of all vehicles covered by the permit.
Everything else this campground posts · 3
This is Black Bear Country, practice Bear Safety and store all food, toiletry items and anything with a scent properly. Bear Safety on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Cell phones most likely do not work in the area.
Check InTime is 3PM and Check Out Time is 12 Noon.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 8 · 8 walk-in
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Around the campground
- On the water
- River, Creek
- Birding
- Fishing
- Hiking
14 of 16 site-nights open this Friday and Saturdayread 15:39 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Watch for a cancellation
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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 · 25
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 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 15:39 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
8 sites
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Doughton Park CampgroundBlue Ridge Parkway · 2.7 mi
Fish Dam Creek Park18 mi
W. Kerr Scott Visitor Assistance Center Conference Room18 mi
Fort Hamby Park19 mi
Bandits Roost19 mi
Warrior Creek21 miGrassy Gap Fire Road on Long Bottom Road is the shortest and easiest route into the backcountry.
Long Bottom Road from Blue Ridge parkway
· From the Blue Ridge Parkway, Head South on NC 18 for 6.2 miles.
· Turn Left on Longbottom Road and go 6.4 miles to a small Bridge with Black & Yellow Marker signs.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sparta, NC
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 71°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 27°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
Who answers for this land
Basin Cove Backcountry Camping is in North Carolina’s 5th congressional district. Its representative, Virginia Foxx (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →