Deb and I faced a minor problem as we began driving north along the Blue Ridge Parkway in late April of 2007: Most of the parkway's campgrounds don't open until mid-May, so we needed to look elsewhere for campsites.
The Davidson River Campground in the Pisgah National Forest offered a soothing solution to our problem after our first day's drive.
This 160-site campground is located about 10 miles off the parkway just outside the booming Asheville, NC, suburb of Brevard.
Its grounds stretch for about a mile along the banks of the Davidson River, which flows out of the mountains along the parkway.
We arrived toward the end of a clear, warm Sunday afternoon to find hundreds of day visitors wading, swimming, fishing, picknicking and generally enjoying the clean and scenic river. As day gave way to evening, the park emptied.
The campground has eight loops. A couple directly on the river were rather busy, but the other loops were nearly empty. The loop we stayed in had about 30 campsites, four of which were occupied.
We chose a heavily wooded site backing onto a small creek. Sites in the loop were very spacious and would seem private even if the campground were more full. With the loop fairly deserted, we enjoyed one of the quietest nights I've spent in a developed campground.
An unusual aspect of this campground is its proximity to Brevard. This town is growing by leaps and bounds thanks to nearby Asheville, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Pisgah National Forest. Less than two miles from our campground were chain restaurants, a Walmart, other bigbox retailers and the like. Just beyond this strip development, million-dollar McMansions were sprouting in hills that backed up to Pisgah National Forest.
And yet, here we were in a quiet, rural preserve where we could (and did) enjoy watching rabbits, woodpeckers and other wildlife.
It makes one appreciate the foresight this nation has had over the years to set aside huge pieces of land as parks and as national forests. Without protection from development, we'd love these hills to death.
Campgrounds Guide 
