USFS Wolf Ford Horse Camp

Do NOT follow your GPS. Make sure to use the directions from the reservation site. Campground is tight & has no water (took 105 gallons & it was more than enough for my 2 horses) but we had a great time, our group was the only horse campers the rest were non horse patrons. The trail was difficult to find, not marked well, but didn’t see anything dangerous/treacherous not even the river crossing was bad on the trail we rode, so don’t let that scare you away because these reviews had me nervous, a truck could drive half of what we rode, but don’t know which trail we rode either since there’s no signage. Would have liked to seen the other trails other posters are speaking of. Agree with others, lots of mtn bike traffic, there was a 200+ bike race when we went and our horses were bike broke by the end of the weekend. Most were polite & of course yielded to us. Scenery was beautiful, wish we knew our way around so we could have checked out the trails better. I agree the forest service needs to do a better job of marking the trails and NCDOT needs to put a SIGN on the road heading up the mtn on the east side, that’s says NO TRAILERS because it was INSANE and once you’re in it there’s no turning back for like 8miles of sharp curves, one lane road & bridges, better hope you’re a solid driver. All in all it was worth the trip, just map your route to camp, & get a trail map app or something before you go. Phone signal was shotty but typical of being in the mountains.

Horse Riders beware: camp is primitive but nice, no water source. Trails are poorly marked and poorly kept. South Mill River trail is DANGEROUS. Multiple deep, swift River crossings AND water crossings added due to downed trees - there are no markings where you need to ford and make your own path back to the trail, finding places to do so are treacherous. Most of the trail is overgrown. Horse Cove Gap is DIFFICULT, not moderate. Sure-footed horses are a must as its exceptionally narrow, rooted and rocky. Brandy Creek from Yellow Gap rd is poorly marked, we could not find it. While the scenery was gorgeous, this area is not well suited for horses. Caters to mountain bikes. I'm not even sure why they bother to offer a designated equine campground when the trails are so dangerous. Had I been inexperienced, South Mill River was a recipe for serious injury. Trail should be closed until repaired.

BEWARE: South Mill River multi use trail is not very well marked or used after the branch off to trail number 147. Trail is overgrown with trees down in multiple places across the trail. Very treacherous river crossings at some points and very steep, slippery slopes. RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK, DANGEROUS TRAIL. We were gone from the campground almost 9 hours because of the terrain, and returned well after dark. Horse cove gap trail should be marked as advanced. Campground itself isn’t bad, recommend both front and hind shoes on horses.

We had a pretty pleasant stay, that being said, we were mountain biking and not here with horses. I do see the lack of water being an issue if you have a horse. Otherwise the sites were nice and suited well for us. We had 3 cars parked and still had plenty of room.

I’ve never camped anywhere where people are so wildly inconsiderate and rude. EVERY campsite with dogs had them off leash, running into other people’s sites and being disruptive. OUR OWN LEASHED DOG was charged at and subsequently injured. This isn’t your farm - you chose to camp at a forest campground and you should abide by the simple safety rules that are set in place. Keep your flea-infested animals on a leash and on your site. Otherwise, small campground with minimal privacy. Outhouse was very well maintained during our stay. Campsite (#5) was very overgrown and covered in poison ivy - weeds were so tall it rendered most of the campsite unusable. This site was not a very flat/level site, just as an FYI. It was okay for our rooftop tent. No check-in/ranger station. This place feels like a total chaotic free-for-all. Most people staying here are just inconsiderate in general - riding horses right through other’s campsites, letting horses and dogs run loose and not doing anything when dogs are out chasing vehicles and other dogs, very rude to people camping sans horses. Would never camp here again.

This review is my experience , others may vary. The 3 mile route on the Forest Service road to the campground is a little rough in spots. No problem for an SUV, but might be problematic for low riding cars. The campground itself is simple yet well laid out. The sites offer 'some' privacy but buffering is minimal. Tent pads aren't clearly marked. Your choice is either rough grass or large gravel. Some sites have metal fire pits with grills, 4A did not. Bathrooms were clean but do not have water or lights. There are no lights in the campground, which is nice, so bring your own. The campground is near several trails like the Pink Beds and only 15 minutes from the Cradle of Forestry. It's a remote little campground one would expect to be quiet and relaxing as it doesn't seem conducive for family camping with small children. But we were wrong. When we arrived on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend I was disheartened to see our site was right next to, what appeared to be, several families with many small children. It was quickly apparent that the children were not being monitored nor having their volume level regulated. The kids screamed consistently from mid afternoon until about 10pm. There was also an unleashed dog that ran up to our site and barked aggressively before we heard some small feigns of apology. We eventually decided to turn on the car stereo in order to try to hear something more appealing. It did little to offset their volume. After the children bedded down adults at the site 2 down were splitting wood incessantly after 11pm. I actually got up to check thinking a bear was getting into something. But it was just adults around a very large fire. The next morning the children were up around 730am and the screaming commenced. We took a break to go hike the Pink Beds. When we returned we noticed the campground had filled with more people. More families with even more small children and dogs. Most notable was a small bird dog who's piercing yelp went on for hours with no reprimand. We had some friends visit later in the evening who quickly commented on the audio assault of the surrounding campers. Luckily we had a break when we took the Blue Ghost tour at the Cradle of Forestry. It was late enough when we returned that most of the kids were already asleep. The only annoyance were the adults across the campground that decided to slam their car doors close to a dozen times around midnight. The next day beckoned rain so we decided to pull up camp and go back home. My point is this. The age of campground etiquette is over. People simply have no respect for their fellow campers and act as if they rented the entire campground for themselves. Granted, this was a holiday weekend but that shouldn't really matter. We thought, based on reviews, that the only sounds we might hear would be horses and the creek. Thankfully there were no horses as they surely would've been stressed from sensory overload. We never had a chance to hear the creek. Anyone considering this campground may want to take holidays into account if you're looking for a quite and relaxing weekend. This is not our first experience with holidays at National Park campgrounds. We thought this time would be different. It was not. The age of campground etiquette, in my opinion, is officially over. If your family wants to camp with your friends and their kids please take the other campers into consideration. They don't need to hear your kids screaming for hours. They don't need to hear every word of your conversation. They don't need to stand guard over their vehicle while your kids swat rocks in your direction. They don't need to guard their food from your unleashed dogs. Just try to be considerate. Otherwise you're just ruining someone else's experience. Some people, like me, wish to camp to be able to get away from noise and people. Don't be so selfish to think that the campground is just for you.