Lake Powhatan
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- Taking bookingsSites offered on 30 of the next 30 nights read 15:47 UTC
- A night
- $37–$130Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 8371 on recreation.gov
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 13 notices
In the agency’s own words
Glamping sites are now available at Lake Powhatan! Experience nature and outdoor recreation without sacrificing the comforts and luxuries of home. Choose one of 12 custom designed, fully furnished canvas platform tents in the heart of the national forest for your next mountain adventure, only 10 minutes from downtown Asheville, NC. Learn more about glamping near Asheville . To book your glamping site, click here . Located just minutes from the popular city of Asheville, North Carolina, Lake Powhatan has something for everyone. The campground is convenient to a variety of cultural and natural attractions, including art and music venues, shopping and dining in Asheville, scenic driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway, numerous hiking trails and lakeside recreation. Keep reading
Recreation
Visitors have a number of different activities to choose from. Kids love the lake's sandy swimming beach and anglers enjoy the calm waters for trout fishing. The French Broad River, popular for fishing, is also nearby. Note that use of personal watercraft is STRICTLY PROHIBITED in the lake due to potential introduction of foreign material to the Lake Powhatan riprarian ecosystem. The forest is known for its hiking and mountain biking trails, several of which are located near the campground.
Facilities
The shaded, private campsites are organized into four loops, all within walking distance of the lake. The facility provides picnic tables, tent pads, lantern posts and campfire rings with grills, in addition to restrooms with hot showers and flush toilets. A few sites have full hookups. 12 glamping tents are available in the upper Hardtimes Loop. Campers can purchase ice and firewood from the gatehouse.
Natural Features
The campground is situated in a heavily wooded area on the banks of Lake Powhatan in the Appalachian Mountains of western North Carolina. The elevation is 2,200 feet. The surrounding land boasts mile-high peaks, cascading waterfalls and slopes thickly forested with hardwoods and conifers.
Nearby Attractions
Among the more popular nearby destinations are Sliding Rock, Looking Glass Falls, the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, The NC Arboretum and the Biltmore Estate. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (828) 577-7278.
Charges & Cancellations
Any cancellations must be taken care of directly with recreation.gov. Note that this facility does not provide refunds for No Shows or incliment weather.
What the agency tells you
Check-In Process: Winter Gatehouse Hours (Nov. 15-March 24): 10am-5pm. - During gatehouse hours, stop at the gatehouse to be checked in by a camphost. They will provide you with a map and review the rules. - Outside the gatehouse hours, stop at the gatehouse to grab a map. Please review the campground rules on the back of the map.
Check-in: 2 pm Check-out: 12 noon
Quiet hours are from 10:00 pm - 7:00 am.
Everything else this campground posts · 10
Generators are not allowed between the hours of 8pm-8am, and may only run for up to 4 hours at a time.
Lake Powhatan is located in black bear territory. Visitors are expected to keep all smellable items locked away inside a camper or locked vehicle. Visitors who do not comply with this rule may be asked to leave the facility due to an increased risk of public safety.
Pets are allowed on-site and must be supervised for the duration of your stay. All pets must be kept on-leash or contained for the duration of your stay. Pets are not allowed on the beach. Dog fences are not permitted by the USFS.
Limit 8 people and 2 vehicles for single sites and 16 people plus 4 vehicles for double sites; $5 daily extra vehicle fee collected upon arrival
Swimming area open from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m., Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Campground hosts can be found by clearly marked sites. Hosts are present to provide assistance to visitors should the need arise.
Fires are only permitted within established fire rings. DO NOT burn material which could contain metal objects such as nails, screws, etc...
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.
This campground is managed by Naventure.
Firewood and ice available for purchase during gatehouse hours.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 83 · 23 tent-only
- Hookups
- 21 electric, 19 water, 19 sewer
- Longest rig
- 50 ft
- Paved pads
- 19 of 83
- Accessible sites
- 1
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Flush Toilets
- “…to restrooms with hot showers and flush toilets. A few sites have full hookups. 12 glamping tents…”
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “The facility provides picnic tables, tent pads, lantern posts and campfire rings with grills, in addition to restrooms with hot showers and flush toilets.”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Waterfall, Lake, River, Beach
- Backpacking
- Birding
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Mountain biking
- Mushroom Picking
- Picnicking
- Stargazing
- Swimming
- Water access
- Night sky · 81st darkest of 84 in NC
- Bortle 4
- Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 15 km away
- Patchy color
Full this Saturdayread 15:47 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
3 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:38 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 71 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 27 are free on Mon, Oct 19. read 15:47 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.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
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 · 20
What you actually pay
“$5 daily extra vehicle fee collected upon arrival” · the U.S. Forest Service’s own agency notice
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $37–$130 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking, plus the agency’s published $10 weekend rate on Friday and Saturday. 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.
“Any cancellations must be taken care of directly with recreation.gov. Note that this facility does not provide refunds for No Shows or incliment weather.” · this campground’s own no-show terms
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 · 7
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 3
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:38 UTC
- Lake Powhatan GlampingPisgah National Game Refuge · 0.0 mi · 1 of 23 site-nights open
- Davidson RiverPisgah National Forest · 15 mi · 2 of 264 site-nights open
- Harmon Den CampgroundPisgah National Forest · 27 mi · 6 of 38 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 15:47 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
84 records · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 71 mapped sitesAll 84 records
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 83 of the 84 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. 83 of the 84 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
Measured shade is NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC) read at the site’s own coordinate, 27% canopy or more, and only for the sites the agency gave no Shade value. It never changes the agency’s own shaded count beside it.
| Bent Creek | 022 | tent only nonelectric | 85 ft | 546 ft | 1,357 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Bent Creek | 023 | type not stated | 40 ft | 50 amp | 528 ft | 1,379 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Bent Creek | 024 | tent only nonelectric | 85 ft | 478 ft | 1,364 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Bent Creek | 025 | tent only nonelectric | 27 ft | 399 ft | 1,285 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Bent Creek | 026 | rv electric | 28 ft | 50/30/50 amp | 27 ft | 387 ft | 1,259 ft | $52 | |
| Bent Creek | 027 | tent only nonelectric | 124 ft | 348 ft | 1,364 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Bent Creek | 028/029 | standard nonelectric | 136 ft | 428 ft | 1,565 ft | $37–$104 | |||
| Bent Creek | 030 | tent only nonelectric | 58 ft | 333 ft | 1,633 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Bent Creek | 031 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 58 ft | 350 ft | 1,608 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Bent Creek | 032 | tent only nonelectric | 63 ft | 379 ft | 1,582 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Bent Creek | 033 | tent only nonelectric | 41 ft | 454 ft | 1,515 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Bent Creek | 034 | tent only nonelectric | 41 ft | 430 ft | 1,536 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Bent Creek | 035 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/30/50 amp | 86 ft | 521 ft | 1,445 ft | $46–$130 | |
| Big John | 001 | type not stated | 30 ft | 50 amp | 560 ft | 1,248 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Big John | 002 | type not stated | 40 ft | 50 amp | 541 ft | 1,279 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Big John | 003 | type not stated | 40 ft | 50 amp | 478 ft | 1,286 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Big John | 004 | standard electric | 36 ft | 50/30/50/20 amp | 122 ft | 423 ft | 1,306 ft | $46–$130 | |
| Big John | 005 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/50/30/20 amp | 122 ft | 301 ft | 1,318 ft | $46–$130 | |
| Big John | 006 | type not stated | 35 ft | 50 amp | 273 ft | 1,247 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Big John | 006A | standard nonelectric | yes | 46 ft | 321 ft | 1,165 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 007 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 46 ft | 344 ftLedford Branch | 1,122 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 008 | tent only nonelectric | 90 ft | 294 ftLedford Branch | 1,030 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Big John | 009 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 46 ft | 301 ftLedford Branch | 913 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 010 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 46 ft | 296 ftLedford Branch | 954 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 011 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 19 ft | 274 ft | 836 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 012 | standard nonelectric | 50 ft | 19 ft | 273 ft | 818 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 013 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 69 ft | 206 ft | 812 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 014 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 111 ft | 136 ft | 841 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 015 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 92 ft | 165 ft | 910 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 016 | tent only nonelectric | 69 ft | 234 ft | 970 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Big John | 017 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 27 ft | 324 ft | 1,045 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 018 | tent only nonelectric | 27 ft | 299 ft | 1,025 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Big John | 019 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 13 ft | 385 ft | 1,087 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 020 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 13 ft | 392 ft | 1,098 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Big John | 021 | standard electric | 40 ft | 50/50/30/20 amp | 67 ft | 459 ft | 1,160 ft | $46–$130 | |
| Hard Times | 058 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 60 ft | 243 ft | 2,321 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 059 | tent only nonelectric | 60 ft | 290 ft | 2,271 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 060 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 61 ft | 284 ft | 2,257 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 061 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 61 ft | 259 ft | 2,228 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 062 | type not stated | 40 ft | 50 amp | 282 ft | 2,248 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Hard Times | 063 | tent only nonelectric | 26 ft | 296 ft | 2,260 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 064 | tent only nonelectric | 26 ft | 285 ft | 2,249 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 065 | tent only nonelectric | 73 ft | 283 ft | 2,246 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 066 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 73 ft | 282 ft | 2,273 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 067 | standard nonelectric | 34 ft | 17 ft | 217 ft | 2,283 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 068 | tent only nonelectric | 17 ft | 209 ft | 2,267 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 069 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 82 ft | 165 ft | 2,304 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 070 | standard nonelectric | 35 ft | 45 ft | 139 ft | 2,337 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 071 | standard nonelectric | 36 ft | 45 ft | 116 ft | 2,368 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 072 | standard nonelectric | 40 ft | 115 ft | 64 ft | 2,454 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 079 | type not stated | 36 ft | 50 amp | 181 ft | 2,793 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Hard Times | 087 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 119 ft | 187 ft | 2,479 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 088 | tent only nonelectric | 61 ft | 316 ft | 2,448 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 089 | tent only nonelectric | 22 ft | 32 ft | 286 ft | 2,458 ft | $37–$74 | ||
| Hard Times | 090 | tent only nonelectric | 32 ft | 285 ft | 2,437 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 091 | tent only nonelectric | 61 ft | 241 ft | 2,450 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 092 | tent only nonelectric | 61 ft | 213 ft | 2,455 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Hard Times | 093 | type not stated | 36 ft | 50 amp | 240 ft | 2,429 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Hard Times | 094 | standard nonelectric | 32 ft | 32 ft | 215 ft | 2,407 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 095 | standard nonelectric | 28 ft | 13 ft | 219 ft | 2,390 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 096 | standard nonelectric | 30 ft | 13 ft | 219 ft | 2,385 ft | $37–$104 | ||
| Hard Times | 097 | tent only nonelectric | 51 ft | 181 ft | 2,409 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| LAKE POWHATAN | XXX | unnamed record | 30 ft | $46–$52 | |||||
| Lakeside | 036 | rv electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 39 ft | 264 ft | 837 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 036A | rv electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 85 ft | 225 ft | 860 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 037 | rv electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 39 ft | 287 ft | 832 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 038 | rv electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 67 ft | 287 ft | 784 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 039 | rv electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 122 ft | 226 ft | 878 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 040 | type not stated | 40 ft | 50 amp | 296 ft | 1,035 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Lakeside | 041 | rv electric | 35 ft | 30/50 amp | 52 ft | 326 ft | 1,084 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 042 | rv electric | 28 ft | 30/50 amp | 52 ft | 346 ft | 1,125 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 043 | type not stated | 25 ft | 50 amp | 348 ft | 1,165 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Lakeside | 044 | rv electric | 40 ft | 30/50 amp | 80 ft | 306 ft | 1,196 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 046 | rv electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 33 ft | 214 ft | 1,274 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 048 | rv electric | 35 ft | 50 amp | 128 ft | 199 ft | 1,400 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 049 | type not stated | 32 ft | 50 amp | 295 ft | 1,405 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Lakeside | 050 | tent only nonelectric | 87 ft | 268 ft | 1,408 ft | $37–$74 | |||
| Lakeside | 051 | rv electric | 25 ft | 50 amp | 87 ft | 207 ft | 1,359 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 052 | rv electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 73 ft | 158 ft | 1,295 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 053 | rv electric | 40 ft | 50/20/30/50 amp | 73 ft | 148 ft | 1,229 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 055 | rv electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 52 ft | 116 ft | 1,112 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 056 | rv electric | 40 ft | 50 amp | 52 ft | 114 ft | 1,059 ft | $52 | |
| Lakeside | 057 | type not stated | 40 ft | 50 amp | 139 ft | 994 ft | $46–$52 | ||
| Lakeside | 45/47 | rv electric | 40 ft | 20/30/50 amp | 33 ft | 219 ft | 1,286 ft | $52 |
The agency files 1 more record here that isn’t a site for the night. It types it MANAGEMENT rather than a campsite. It’s in the table above, marked for what it is, and it isn’t counted as a site.
25 of 84 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Lake Powhatan GlampingPisgah National Game Refuge · 0.0 mi
Wash Creek Horse CampPisgah National Forest · 4.3 mi
North Mills RiverPisgah National Forest · 5.2 mi
Mount Pisgah CampgroundBlue Ridge Parkway · 9.0 mi
Wolf Ford Horse CampPisgah National Game Refuge · 9.4 mi
White Pine South Group CampPisgah National Game Refuge · 14 miFrom Asheville, take I-26 to exit 33. Go south approximately 2 miles on State Route 191 to the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area sign. Turn right and follow 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 Bent Creek, NC
Typical weather
Typical October night 42°F, day 68°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 25°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
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Lake Powhatan is in North Carolina’s 11th congressional district. Its representative, Chuck Edwards (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 moneyChuck EdwardsU.S. Representative · North Carolina’s 11th 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 Lake Powhatan, Pisgah National Game Refuge, North Carolina
Dear Chuck Edwards, I’m a constituent in North Carolina’s 11th district. I tried to camp at Lake Powhatan, Pisgah National Game Refuge, North Carolina, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 71 of the 83 campsites the agency files at Lake Powhatan, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 71 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. Lake Powhatan keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Powhatan. 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 Lake Powhatan (Pisgah National Game Refuge, 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 Lake Powhatan, Pisgah National Game Refuge, North Carolina
Dear Ted Budd, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Lake Powhatan, Pisgah National Game Refuge, North Carolina, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 71 of the 83 campsites the agency files at Lake Powhatan, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 71 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. Lake Powhatan keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Powhatan. 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 Lake Powhatan (Pisgah National Game Refuge, 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 Lake Powhatan, Pisgah National Game Refuge, North Carolina
Dear Thom Tillis, I’m a constituent in North Carolina. I tried to camp at Lake Powhatan, Pisgah National Game Refuge, North Carolina, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 71 of the 83 campsites the agency files at Lake Powhatan, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 71 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. Lake Powhatan keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Powhatan. 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 Lake Powhatan (Pisgah National Game Refuge, North Carolina) via campanac.com