Pettigrew State Park

We stayed here for 3 nights in mid-October of 2023. I selected oursite out in the grassy, less-treed area for our portable solar panels. The lower numbered sites are tucked within the trees and offer more privacy. Site 1 is best for tents or maybe a van - I would not want to back a trailer in to it due to trees & tree roots.
Our site was just a back in on the grass next to a picnic table & firering. The sites are just open areas that you back in on a bit of a raised area - there are some lower drainage areas to watch for when backing.
Rangers were nice, there is a launch ramp, nice trails, easy, flat walking, a bit of a boardwalk and the old plantation next door. I walked & enjoyed the trails and walking around the plantation (the history here - whoa... take the time to read the signs). Women's showers: the one with the extra curtain would not get hot, so I moved to the other, smashed a couple of bugs, figured out the push button thing and got nice hot water, but it didn't drain well, was standing in 1.5" of water with a couple of dead bugs by the end... adventures in campground showers! The campground is a simple campground - the park is quite nice! I thought it was a great place to walk and had some very interesting info & history.

This is an older & small campground; there are only 13 sites. Half of the sites are set back into the woods & the other half back up to woods but are otherwise in a field. The wooded sites are beautiful. Sites 3, 5 & 6 are particularly nice; site 1 is very short in length. The field sites are not constricted by length or width. The bath house is quite old. However, it is acceptable. I have used some bath houses where I just have to grin & bear it. I did not need to do that here. It is a very easy walk to Somerset Place [https://historicsites.nc.gov/all-sites/somerset-place]. I wanted to stay at this campground to see and appreciate Lake Phelps. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Phelps].While staying here we also went into Columbia and visited the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge [https://www.fws.gov/refuge/pocosin-lakes/visit-us/locations/walter-b-jones-sr-center-for-the-sounds-and-pocosin-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge-headquarters]. We did the boardwalk. Such interesting terrain. One day we had lunch at Barnyard Betsy - Cheesesteaks & Hoagies. [https://barnyardbetsy.com/] Creswell is a teeny-tiny town with at least 2 good places to eat. I had a cheesesteak & my husband had a hoagie. Both were absolutely delicious & too large to eat unless you are very hungry.. This place is a must-stop. Across the street is a coffee shop. The days we were there it closed at 2p & we did not have a chance to go -- Big Blue 252 Coffee Bar.

Pettigrew State Park in Creswell, North Carolina has a small, primitive (no water, electric, dump and the RV sites are dirt) campground located on Lake Phelps.

While the sites sit among old growth forest, it was a warm and humid summer day when we camped here requiring us to run our generator for a bit until the sun got down after dinner. Because there's no electricity offered, I'd recommend camping in the park in cooler months, but there's hiking and swimming in beautiful Lake Phelps. The campground does offer restrooms with showers which are older, but relatively clean.

The park is in a remote farming area in eastern North Carolina. We used it as a way point on our way to the Salina on Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks.