Last spring I started seeing chatter on Facebook about a new Yogi Bear Jellystone Park opening in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The pictures looked amazing! But as a family that typically stays at state or federal parks, the nightly rates of $79 to $99 during “shoulder season” (the span between Labor Day and peak fall season) made us a bit reluctant to book a trip. Fortunately, after some quick searching, I discovered the park offered a lot of discounts, including 20% off for first responders during their “Heroes Weekend” in September.

With the discount, the nightly rate came out to $63 a night, a much more reasonable amount. So, we decided to give it a try. After all, everyone deserves to splurge occasionally!

The drive up to the campground, which is located in Bostic, N.C., and use to be a Girl Scout camp, was uneventful. But beware, the last 15 miles or so were on pretty narrow mountain roads, and the last few miles into the park were very curvy. Make sure you make a bathroom and fuel stop, if needed, before you get off the interstate because there aren’t many places to stop.  

Check-in is located at the Ranger Station across from the entrance to the park. The entrance itself is gated, once inside staff will guide you to your spot. We went with one of the basic, back-in sites, and were pleasantly surprised! The sites were huge and easy to back into. The only drawback was the lack of shade, but the size and layout of the site still made it very private. Since the campground just opened in July, all the hook-ups were in perfect condition, and all of the sites offered full hook-ups.  

We did find it a little odd that our fire pit was almost on our neighbor’s site, and there were clear instructions not to move it. When we mentioned it to Bruce, a staff member who was rounding through the campground, he said he’d see what he could do. We figured that would be the end of things, but the next morning Bruce was back moving the pit to a more convenient location. Golden Valley and Bruce definitely get an A+ for customer service!

Once we made it to the park and got settled, we decided to check out the water park. Wow! Not only was the water area huge, but it also had lots of interactive activities for kids. Our toddler loved it, and if we’re being honest, so did the adults! We easily spent a couple of hours exploring and splashing.

Saturday included another trip to the waterpark and pool, some gem mining, a round of putt-putt, a walk to the campground pond and more. We also enjoyed that the campground had cable, but were a bit disappointed that the Wi-Fi didn’t quite reach our site (though it did work well up at the store area). All of the amenities definitely made the higher rates worth it!

Before we went to the campground, we read a number of reviews that suggested renting a golf cart. But at $50 a day, I just couldn’t justify the extra expense. However, I didn’t realize before we went that there would only be very limited vehicle parking near the amenities. We missed the interaction with Yogi Bear Saturday morning because we tried to drive up, only to realize there was no parking. Walking wasn’t bad, but I think next trip we’ll try to get a spot closer to the activities.

On Sunday we were able to take our time packing up, and even hit the gem mine one more time since the check-out wasn’t until 1 p.m. Overall, we really enjoyed our trip! Given the cost, it’s not somewhere we’d go all the time, but I can definitely see us splurging on a special weekend once or twice a year.