Campsite Review: Lake Norman State Park Campground, is located north of Charlotte North Carolina. Lake Norman State Park Campground is operated by the North Carolina State Park system and is on the shore of Lake Norman. The nearest city big enough to have most services is Mooresville. Lake Norman Campground is on a peninsula and has easy access to the trail system, boat docks, and swim beach. The campground has 44 sites for RV and tents and multiple trails for hiking, biking, and lake access for fishing.
We really like camping at Lake Norman State Park although the heat made it a challenge to love.
Details
Website: Lake Norman State Park Campground
Online Reservations: Reserve America, 877-772-6762
Phone Number Reservations: 877-772-6762
Phone Number for the State Park Visitors Center 704-528-6350
Address: 759 State Park Road, Troutman, NC 28166
The best way to get to the campground is from Troutman. From Main Street turn west on Talley Street followed by a left turn on East Monbo Road. Then turn southeast on State Park Road. The alternate route from Main Stree will be a turn west on Wagner Street which will turn into Perth Road then make a right turn onto State Park Road. This alternate route includes a bridge crossing marked 12 tons with a greater limit for semi-trailers.
Link to Google Map for the area: Lake Norman State Park
Dates stayed: June 27 – July 5th, 2021
Check out time noon, arrivals 3 pm.
Comfort: during our stay, most days hot and sunny with a few light showers and sometimes thunderstorms. Temperatures varied between 69 – 90F. The temperature at sunrise was usually in the high seventy-degree range.
Elevation: 874′
Season: Early April through October
Price Paid: $23.00 per night, plus “transaction” fee. Sites 32-44 electric and water $33/night.
Our Site: #26
Hook-ups: None on most sites. Some sites have electric and water hookups.
Dump station: Yes
Potable Water: Yes
Water to fill your RV storage tank: Yes, but not at the dump station.
Restrooms: Yes
Showers: Yes
Cell service: Verizon – very weak service / AT&T – weak service
Observations
Campsite Review: Lake Norman State Park, insider info:
Getting a site with electricity in the summer is highly recommended but also very difficult. Weekends in the summer are booked early. Perhaps you can make the argument that it is better to be in the trees with a generator than in full sun with full hookups. Air conditioning at night is very nice. We have the ability to and used our air conditioning from our batteries after the generator hours but for most RVs that is not an option.
Generator hours are currently 7 am to 10 pm. We ran our generator for nearly 5 hours a day, mostly in the afternoon and evening to replace the energy used by our battery system. Thankfully our generator is pretty quiet. Not silent like our solar but nothing like our neighbor with a contractor generator who ran it from the time they woke until 10 pm. Thankfully they departed and we stayed.
Lake Norman State Park Campground is divided by the new area which has full hookups and the older area which is no hookups of any kind. The older area is deep in the trees and most sites have shade nearly all day long. The newer area has more open sky than most campgrounds that we have found in North Carolina. Our site #26 had nearly no sunshine at any time of the day.
The Lake Norman State Park Campground is one loop with two shortcuts. We are camping on the second shortcut in site #26.

Site #26 was long enough and wide enough but we almost didn’t fit because the maneuvering room was restricted by trees and posts the campground put in the way. Picking site #26 was almost a mistake. Pulling out should be easier than pulling in.
Inside the State Park, the roads are wide enough and the trees are properly trimmed.
Cell service is marginal. AT&T is slightly better than Verizon. Here are some screenshots locating the cell towers.



Some comments about individual sites will be toward the bottom of the blog post.
All parking areas are on asphalt with pine needles as ground cover. All sites had a picnic table.
Bonus
Lake Norman State Park is beautiful. The Lake is huge. Boating access is easy and the shoreline is very pretty. The lake access was great for boats. We used the boat launch for our kayaks. A nice addition would have been a kayak launch or a sandy area for our kayaks.


Site Details
All sites are reservable although some sites may be available upon arrival. The electric/water sites are reserved for most of the summer. All sites are back-in. There are no pull-through sites. On weekends most sites are reserved. On the fourth of July weekend, every site was reserved.
4: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites, much shorter than most sites.
5: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites, with a steep slope. No flat spot in the site, not recommended for long motor homes.
6: Tail low, on outside of the loop with more room between campsites, with a slight slope, should be ok for most RVs.
7: Good site on the inside of the loop.

8: Good site on the inside of the loop.
9: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites with slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
10: Good site on the inside of the loop.
11: Good site on the inside of the loop.
12: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites, with a steep slope. No flat spot in the site, not recommended for long motor homes.
13: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites with slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
14: Tail low on outside of the road with more room between campsites with slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
15: Tail low site on the inside of the loop with a slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
16: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites with slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
17: Nose low site on the inside of the loop steep slope not recommended for long motor homes.

18: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites with slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
19: Nose low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites. Steep slope not recommended for long motor homes.
20: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites with a steep slope. Not recommended for long motor homes.
21: Nose low, with a slight slope, should be ok for most RVs.
22: Nose low, with a slight slope, should be ok for most RVs.
25: Nose low, with a slight slope, should be ok for most RVs.
26: Good site on the inside of the loop with restricted maneuvering room for entry.
28: Tail low on outside of the loop with more room between campsites with slight slope should be ok for most RVs
27: Nose low on the inside of the loop with a slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
28: Tail low on the inside of the loop with a slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
29: Good site on the inside of the loop should be ok for most RVs.
30: Nose low on the inside of the loop with a slight slope should be ok for most RVs.
31: Handicap site on the inside of the loop, less shade than most sites in the older section.
32: Host site on the inside of the loop, nearly perfect.
33: Nose low site on the inside of the loop steep slope not recommended for long motor homes.
34: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
35: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
36: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
37: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
38: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
39: Handicap site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.

40: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
41: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
42: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
43: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
44: Site in the new section on the inside of the loop with water and electricity. Very little shade.
There are a few more spots that we considered evaluating but were occupied while we were there.
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Thanks SO much for this very detailed review of Lake Norman. I especially appreciated the time you took to review each site. We are just in the process of moving from a 31′ gas Class A to a 38′ DP, so the notes about challenging maneuverability were valuable!