Just finished four days at Merchants Mill Pond State Park in Gates County, NC. The family campground doesn't have water or electric in each site, but that's just fine for my style and April in NC. Weather was perfect - low humidity, max temperature near 75 and minimum temperatures in the mid 40s.
The campsites are large with lots of dense vegetation between them. You can't really see the sites next door - and this is without leaves on the trees yet. The bath house is nice enough, and there was hot water for showers. This state park is pretty typical for most state parks in NC - targeted more toward tent campers but with drive up access that works well for pop ups as well.
The park has great hiking trails, but the highlight is canoeing on the millpond. Pond may not be the right word - it's more like a small lake with cypress and Spanish moss everywhere. We saw snakes, ducks, and at least 100 turtles. There was evidence of beavers (see photo for beaver mound) but no siting of the friendly neighborhood alligator. We loved the peaceful canoeing and napping. [span style="font-size:10pt;"]The kids favorite park was playing in our QS10 and our hammock.
[/span][span style="font-size:10pt;"]We added a 3 in thick memory foam mattress - it was nicer, but still not enough to keep our hips from aching. Also tried out he new Coleman Deluxe Camp Kitchen - it makes cooking and doing dishes real easy. [/span][span style="font-size:10pt;"]
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Thanks for posting trip report, would like to visit that part of the US someday.