Raven Rock State Park

Although we've visited Raven Rock State Park in the past, this was our first time staying in the campground. I wanted to explore the mountain bike trails so my wife and I decided to stay the night. I was pleasantly surprised how clean and comfortable the facilities were. The campground hosts and park rangers were very nice and helpful. Each site has plenty of space between the neighbor sites with large camping areas for tents, fire pit and picnic table. Bathrooms were new and super clean. Although the bike trails were not very technical, they were very fun and had good flow. Only had one bar for AT&T reception.

First time camping at Raven Rock. Sites are huge, flat, and lots of space between sites. We didn’t need the bath house but I’m guessing they are clean and nice. If you’re into hiking, mountain biking, or just chill’n…. this place is awesome!! Full hookups with 50/30a power. The park rangers were great and we’ll definitely be back. We’re local and always looking to get away for a quick weekend trip. The only negative thing I can say about this place is trying to get a reservation, but I guess that’s a good thing too. I wish all NC State parks offered the amenities Raven Rock offers. We would definitely use them more often if they had full hookups, and 50a power. Thanks for having us this weekend, and we’re looking forward to next time!!

A fantastic little state park. We spent four nights in site 18 with full hookups. The sites are super spacious (just an FYI, site 17, next to us, has zero shade). The staff was incredible and super attentive to the campground, although not intrusive. The hiking trails right from the campground were great too. We would definitely return. And the signs to get there were fine, they really should add one at the turn into the campground off the dirt road, but we had no problem finding it.

Very spacious and clean sites. This park is only a few years old and they did this right. Sites are level and easy to get into. Very quiet at night. Verizon cell only good for texting. We had a very enjoyable long weekend here. One important issue: DO NOT follow GPS to get here! Stay on US421 until you see the brown Raven Rock Park sign, then turn onto Raven Rock Road. DO NOT take Jim Christian road, unless you have 4WD and want to drive your rig through a creek...literally through a creek!!

The RV part of the park is fairly new and very nice. Sites are large and level, with lots of space in between the sites. However, there are only trees along the back edge so no shade for your rig at any of the sites. Rangers were very attentive and nice and patrolled a lot. Cell service is almost non existent however (Verizon). Phone says LTE, 2 bars, but we even had issues sending texts let alone using any data. Antenna TV was great. One issue that needs addressing is the lack of a sign pointing you from Moccasin Branch Rd into the park. Moccasin Branch is a gravel road, and the RV park entrance is about a half mile on your left (no sign). That road is paved. If you happen to miss this turn, the gravel road descends a hill and a stream crosses it. Impassable for most RVs. In other words, don’t miss the turn. The state park is very well maintained and has a ton of trails, with easily walkable paths.

Before getting to the "treacherous" part of this report and other "things you should know" about the campground I want to say that we would gladly return another stay. In fact we expect to.

The spaces are large. Our camper is small, 21' from stem to stern, but the driveway to our site seemed big enough to accommodate a very large rig possibly pulled by an hdt. Our site was relatively flat; leveling was quick and easy. Full hook-up include sewer. There is good privacy between sites. There are new bike trails adjacent to the campground.

As of Apr 2021 The park is new enough that signage is not fully implemented. Approach to the park is from a well-maintained gravel road named Moccasin Branch Rd. Our GPS was not aware of this road and could not direct us to the campground. As we got close to the original and beautiful Raven Rock State Park, which includes no RV sites but a small number of hike-in and canoe-in sites on the Cape Fear River, we kept our eyes out and sure enough saw a small sign pointing to RV camping, Moccasin Branch Campground, and bike trails. We took the road. It is the right road.

Not very far along we noticed a low-to-the-ground sign marked Bicycle Trails and Moccasin Branch . It was not the access route to the campground. We were so focused on the sign that we drove past the campground road which was maybe 100' before the bike trail access. Campground access was not marked at all. In fact you have to look pretty far down the campground access road to see any sign at all; we did not do that. When we reached the bike trail driveway we knew we were not at the campground but did not realize that we had passed it moments earlier. We continued down Moccasin Branch Rd until it ended, recognized that we had gone to far, turned around and eventually found the park. This would have all been fine except that at one point Moccasin Branch Rd takes you through (not over or under) a tributary to a tributary to the Cape Fear River. Approach to this water crossing is steep in both directions. It is steep enough that we stopped and debated removing the lightweight weight distribution bars from our pick-up. The water crossing itself has a mostly rock bottom with some deep cuts in the stone. We made it through but heard reports from a ranger that people had damaged the rear end of their rigs. We had a few iffy moments on one side of the hill. The street view on Google Maps does not do the angular nature of the crossing justice. Again it was steep -- both directions. I suspect they will add a sign to the campground sooner or later making our experience less likely for most people.

Verizon cell service was bad. It averaged less than 2Mb download and 0Mb upload without a cell signal booster. With the booster download improved a bit (4-5Mb, sometimes more) but upload remained at 0Mb according to speedtest.net. Upload had to be a little bit faster than 0Mb because we were able to submit search terms to a search engine and to send text-only texts. We use a Drive Reach cell booster; it is a good booster by today's standards. Cell service with the booster would have been workable for situations that did not require uploading data but unworkable for uploading even an occasional file.

This campground is so clean, it’s small so sites are limited. It was so well attended and patrolled by campground staff. The check in process is painless you simply go to your site and they come to you. Forgot your firewood no problem staff has it in their trucks. Our interactions with Liz were amazing she is so friendly and so helpful.
The trails are as awesome as the campground they are well maintained, very well marked.

No camper. No problem they have small cabins available as well.

Cell service with AT&T was limited it was a little better with Verizon.

Although there aren't many RV sites, this is a great new campground. Loads of room, clean and level sites, and it can handle big rigs. Rangers are a constant sight, and they're very friendly and helpful. Trails are nice, and not overly strenuous. Raven Rock itself is impressive. The only downside is that there is no trail yet that connects the campground to the park itself. (I haven't downgraded my rating for this because I was told they're working on it.) The only way to get to the park is by road, which is a long walk. Going by car isn't an option because the park is normally at capacity by early morning, and all cars have to stand in line. Campers are given passes so they can walk in without the wait.