Travel Cheaply! Free Camping In North Carolina

One of the complaints I hear a lot is, "I can't afford to travel". Let me call BS!

Last minute road trips are some of our favorite things to do..and CHEAPEST ways to travel!

Camping for FREE in North Carolina

     Living in Clearwater Florida, we get more than enough sun and beach time...
So when the mountains started calling us, it was an easy...and cheap...choice to make, to pack the car and head North!

     I googled FREE CAMPSITES and found some amazing free places to camp besides Curtis Creek Campground in the Black Mountain, a short distance away from Asheville, NC. Perfect!

Basics To Bring Camping

     I like to think of myself as a minimalist, so when I say basic....I mean BASIC! Here is a list of what we brought with us (and it worked perfectly).

• Tent
• Pillows
• Blankets & Sleeping bags (used unzipped sleeping bags as bed padding)
• 2 Tarps (really only used one)
• Clothes 
• 4 Mini Flashlights (2 were extras...but they came as a package on Amazon)
• 1 Cast Iron Skillet
• 1 Cooking Pot
• 1 Spatula
• 2 Reusable Plates & Bowls (1 for each person)
• 2 Reusable Spoons & Forks (1 set for each person)
• 2 Water Bottles (used these instead of cups, and were easily portable for adventures)
• 4 Gallons of Drinking Water
• Canned Foods (pop lids are easier...otherwise, make sure to bring a can opener)
• Boxed Pasta, Oatmeal, Cream of Rice
• Grab & Go Foods (things that we could eat, without cooking)
• 2 Lighters
• Biodegradable Soap
• Citronella Candles (3x)

     I'm also a crazy hippie lady...and it was going to be a Full Moon...so I brought my stones and such, to charge in Mama Earth and all the glory of the Universe!

     The one thing I had forgot during my packing, was firewood. But the local gas station, about a 10 minute drive down the mountain, had bundles of fire wood for $4.99 each. A single bundle was good for 1 decent fire, or 2 small fires.

     I bought a total of 5 bundles of fire wood for our 5 days of free camping. Some meals we cooked over the fire, and the rest we were able to eat without cooking.

     It was wonderfully fun to watch my son's excitement as we started up our first fire of the evening, as we sat around with the preparations of s'mores in our hands and thrill in our voices as we dove into the dreams of what explorations we would venture into once the sun rose again.

Now, the best way to make a vacation cheap...is find things to do for cheap...or even better, FREE!

Being, this was a "Mountain Vacation", it was easy o find free hiking trails to do...in fact there were so many different trails, waterfalls, nature preserves, and even free museums, that there was way more to do, then we could fit into the days of our Mountainous escape.

     We began our adventures exploring our very own backyard of Curtis Creek Campground in the Black Mountain of North Carolina. There did not prove to be many hiking trails, but the couple that we found, were beautiful, filled with lush nature and rushing streams of water.

     We did not pass a single hiker on the trail, which gave the expedition a sense of extra wonder and excitement...as if finding a whole new world, all to ourselves.

     We looked for fairies and listened for bears, while looking under ferns and tasting the wild blackberries. The streams were an edgy taste of excitement as we crossed without getting wet and ventured even deeper into the wilderness.

     Our second adventure took up to the top of Craggy Garden. A beautiful twisty drive up the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we parked our car and hiked the rest of the way to the top of Craggy Garden, to overlook the breath-taking Blue Ridge Mountains. 

     

     We sat at the top and enjoyed a small picnic that we had packed, or GF protein balls, dried banana slices, and some chips that my son Ayden talked me into getting, while at the gas station.

     While I took in the sea of blues, view, Ayden poked at bugs with sticks and kept yelling "I'm at the top of the world" (quote from the movie "Little Bear"). All in all, it was a perfect day!

(more pictures from our hike of "Craggy" in Blue Ridge, North Carolina)

     To further bring excitement to the day, we seemed to drive through the very tunnels from the (cheesy) film "Alien Abduction". My 4 year old son, had no clue to the hysteria in my voice, as we turned the corner of the twisty mountain road and came to the first (of 3) tunnel(s). Immediately my mind went to the scene in the movie, where the cars are crashed in the tunnel and you first see the aliens (beginning scenes of the movie...no spoiler). I then hysterically began talking about aliens and abductions, as my son looked at me like I was crazy. lol 

   

     But still...fun times! lol

     The following day we went up the same route, of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and to the same mountain of "Craggy" but this time took another path...."Douglas Falls". 

The 3.5 miles hike didn't seem too bad, and as far as we made it, it was a beautiful walk....but it wasn't easy. Unfortunately the narrow, rocky path didn't prove successful for this duo. I may never know just how close we actually got to Douglas Falls, but when my tired son had had his fill, I was relieved to turn around.

     If YOU make the venture out to Douglas Falls, here are my suggestions.

1. Bring tick repellent
2. Wear good hiking shoes
3. Don't go when it's raining and foggy
4. Pack lots of water

     The hike in itself was beautiful though and on our way back down through the mountain, we had a sweet little woodland encounter with a black bear!

Our road trip to the mountains was very successful as well as very cheap!

See more pictures from our trip at our facebook page Awaken Your Life

Our TOTAL trip cost was $165

Gas $70 To

Gas $70 From

Fire Wood $25

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www.awaken-your-life.com