RV Road Trip from North Carolina to the Dakotas: Campgrounds, Parks & Hidden Gems

Sometimes RV travel is slow and leisurely. You settle into a campground for a week or two, explore the area, and move on whenever you’re ready.

And sometimes you have somewhere you need to be.

When we left North Carolina, we had a deadline ahead of us. Ed needed to reach North Dakota for the sugar beet harvest, so this portion of our trip moved considerably faster than we normally like to travel.

That meant a series of short stays and travel days as we worked our way north and west.

But just because you’re moving quickly doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to see along the way.

From Natural Bridge in Virginia to caves in Iowa, a beautiful campground along the Mississippi River and some unexpected small-town discoveries, we managed to pack quite a bit into the journey.

Here are some of our favorite stops along the way.

Saying Goodbye to the North Carolina Coast

Before beginning the long drive north, we spent a couple of days with family in Swansboro, North Carolina. We simply left the trailer hooked up in their driveway and stayed in the house.

Swansboro is close to Emerald Isle, so they took us down to the pier for one last look at the Atlantic Ocean.

That was a little bittersweet for us.

We had lived near the Atlantic for about 20 years and loved it there. We knew that once we headed west, it might be quite some time before we saw this ocean again.

We also drove through Beaufort one more time, and General got a final golf-cart ride before it was time to hit the road.

And then we were off.

Natural Bridge, Virginia

Near Lexington, Virginia, we stayed at Glen Maury Park and Campground.

The section where we stayed was basically a large field with water and electric hookups and access to a dump station. At the time of our visit, it cost about $27 per night.

There was another camping area farther up the hill. We drove up in the truck to look at it, but decided there was no way we wanted to tow our trailer up there. It was tight and located along the hillside, although plenty of other RVers apparently didn’t share our concern.

With only one day available for sightseeing, we had to choose what we wanted to see.

Virginia Military Institute was tempting, but we ultimately chose Natural Bridge State Park.

We’re glad we did.

Hiking to Natural Bridge

Reaching Natural Bridge involved walking down 137 steps to the trail below—which, of course, meant climbing those same 137 steps when we finished.

The main trail was about 1.8 miles and took us past several attractions.

Natural Bridge itself was magnificent. It’s hard to appreciate its scale until you’re standing underneath it, and there’s actually a road passing across the top of the formation.

We continued along the trail past the Monacan village area, Saltpeter Cave and Lost River before eventually reaching Lace Falls, a beautiful 30-foot cascade at the end of the trail.

Naturally, General managed to find some water for a quick dip on our return trip.

Traveling with a Labrador apparently means every body of water must be personally inspected.

An Overnight Stop in West Virginia

Our drive through the mountains of West Virginia was beautiful and left us wishing we’d had more time to explore.

We passed directly through Charleston and got a good look at West Virginia’s distinctive gold-domed Capitol building.

For the night, we stayed at St. Albans Roadside Park.

This was a particularly good find for an overnight RV stop.

There were only three RV spaces, but camping was free and the sites included electric and water, with a dump station available as well.

There was also a paved trail along the Kanawha River and a Kroger grocery store right across the street.

For a simple travel-night stop, it was hard to beat.

The park also had a Rosie the Riveter memorial honoring local women who worked during World War II. We even got to watch a huge barge being pushed along the Kanawha River.

Then it was time to keep moving.

A Very Important Stop for Skyline Chili

Our next overnight campground was Franklin County Park Campground in Indiana.

At the time, the campground offered water and electric hookups and a dump station for around $25 per night.

But let’s be truthful.

The campground wasn’t really why we stopped here.

We wanted Skyline Chili.

It had been about two years since we’d had Cincinnati-style chili, and apparently we’d missed it enough that we ordered two additional servings to take with us for the following day.

Sometimes your road-trip attractions are national landmarks.

Sometimes they’re dinner.

Both count.

Clinton Lake State Recreation Area

Our next stop gave us two nights in one place.

We stayed at Clinton Lake State Recreation Area, where our site had electric and water, with a dump station available. At the time, camping was about $20 per night.

Our first site wasn’t ideal for us because there weren’t any nearby trails.

So we moved.

The second site gave us access to a trail leading down to the lake, which made General a very happy dog.

This was largely his stop.

While he enjoyed the water, I also had some time to work on a little RV decorating project. We’d grown tired of the plain brown curtains and boxy wooden valances that came with our trailer, so we replaced them with regular curtain rods and curtains made from thrift-store fabric.

It was a simple and inexpensive way to make the trailer feel more like our home.

Camping Along the Mississippi River

Crossing the Mississippi River is always exciting for us, and this trip gave us another chance to do it.

We stayed at Clark’s Ferry Recreation Area, an Army Corps of Engineers campground right along the Mississippi.

The campground had electric sites, shared water spigots and a dump station. With our Senior Pass, our cost was only about $10 per night at the time of our visit.

And the location was beautiful.

We had wonderful views of the river and an incredible sunset.

There was, however, one thing you should know if you’re considering camping here.

Trains.

The railroad tracks were right beside the campground, and trains seemed to pass roughly every hour—day and night.

It didn’t bother us. Ed loves trains, and judging by how busy the campground was, plenty of other campers weren’t bothered by them either.

But if you’re a light sleeper, it’s something you’d definitely want to know beforehand.

Exploring Maquoketa Caves State Park

From our Mississippi River campground, we visited Maquoketa Caves State Park.

This turned into one of the more memorable hiking days of the trip.

The park had beautiful caves, rock formations, arches and hiking trails.

Unfortunately, we didn’t think the trails were particularly well marked.

At some point, we became convinced we were walking back toward the parking lot.

We weren’t.

We eventually found ourselves standing on top of a hill in a cow pasture.

Needless to say, we walked considerably farther that day than we’d planned.

But that’s part of travel too. Not every memory comes from something going exactly according to plan.

Dolliver Memorial State Park

Dolliver Memorial State Park was supposed to be another stop along the way.

We liked it enough to stay four nights.

At the time of our visit, campsites with water and electric were about $16 per night, and the park also had a dump station.

The big attraction for us was the hiking.

There were trails throughout the park, giving us plenty to explore without having to drive somewhere every day.

Some trails were easier for us than others. One followed the side of a hill and got a little too close to the edge for my comfort while I was holding General’s leash, so we turned around.

On another hike, we found a little creek where General could safely play.

And on yet another, I managed to fall while coming downhill and scrape up my leg.

RV travel isn’t always glamorous.

Still, the scenery was beautiful, Ed got some great photographs—including a heron we spotted nearby—and Dolliver became one of those places where we were glad we’d allowed ourselves to stay a little longer.

Granite Falls, Minnesota

Eventually we reached Granite Falls, Minnesota, where we stayed at Granite Falls Memorial Park Campground.

At the time, campsites with water and electric hookups cost about $15 per night, with a dump station available.

We stayed for two nights.

A park and river were located across the street and could be reached through a pedestrian tunnel beneath the road.

But what surprised us most was the town itself.

Granite Falls had a wonderful little art scene.

There seemed to be color everywhere—painted benches, decorated crosswalks, murals and artwork throughout the town.

One shop even displayed elaborate dresses made from paper that, if we remember correctly, had been created as a high-school project.

We also visited a local museum filled with artifacts from the area. Admission was free, with donations accepted, and an antique church on the museum grounds was another unexpected find.

Granite Falls wasn’t somewhere we’d planned an elaborate sightseeing trip around.

It was simply another stop on the route.

And those are sometimes the places that surprise you most.

Upper Sioux Agency State Park

Before continuing north, we visited Upper Sioux Agency State Park.

We initially hesitated because the entrance fee was more than we’d wanted to spend for a short visit.

A ranger convinced us otherwise.

She spent time explaining the history of the area and the Dakota people, and we decided it was worth going in and learning more.

The site tells a much more difficult part of American history, including the U.S. government’s efforts to assimilate the Dakota people, the loss of their lands, failures to deliver promised food and payments, and the events surrounding the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862.

It turned what could have been simply another sightseeing stop into an opportunity to learn about the history of the land we were traveling through.

Our Campgrounds Along the Route

For anyone planning a similar RV journey, here’s a quick look at the campgrounds we used during this portion of our trip.

Campground	What We Had	Cost at Our Visit	Length of Stay
Glen Maury Park & Campground, Virginia	Water, electric, dump station	About $27	Short stay
St. Albans Roadside Park, West Virginia	Water, electric, dump station	Free	1 night
Franklin County Park Campground, Indiana	Water, electric, dump station	About $25	1 night
Clinton Lake State Recreation Area	Water, electric, dump station	About $20	2 nights
Clark’s Ferry Recreation Area	Electric, shared water, dump station	About $10 with Senior Pass	Short stay
Dolliver Memorial State Park	Water, electric, dump station	About $16	4 nights
Granite Falls Memorial Park Campground	Water, electric, dump station	About $15	2 nights

These were the prices and amenities available when we made our trip, so be sure to check current information before planning your own stay.

What We Learned From Traveling Faster Than Usual

This wasn’t our normal style of RV travel.

We prefer having time to settle in, explore an area and discover the things that aren’t necessarily listed among the top tourist attractions.

This trip didn’t give us that luxury.

But it taught us something else.

A travel day doesn’t have to be nothing more than getting from Point A to Point B.

Even with a deadline ahead of us, we found historic sites, hiking trails, beautiful campgrounds, caves, waterfalls, rivers, museums, small towns and some very good chili.

Some places deserved more time than we could give them.

West Virginia, in particular, left us wanting to return and explore more.

And a few places we barely knew existed before we arrived became some of our favorite stops.

That’s one of the things we’ve come to love about RV travel.

The famous destinations are wonderful.

But sometimes the best memories happen in the little places you discover on the way to somewhere else.

We’ll see you down the road…and Over the Hills!

Continue the Journey

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