Camping Near KFFA?

MickYoumans

MickYoumans

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Jan 26, 2012
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2J5 / KBXG - Georgia
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MickYoumans
I see that camping by your plane is NOT allowed at KFFA near the Wright Monument. Are there any other airports close by with camping? KFFA is a little further than I would like to fly back and forth in the same day. I thought it might be fun to camp with my plane like I did at Sun N Fun if there is an airport close by that had camping and shower facilities in the vicinity.
 
Check out Billy Mitchell, there's a campground in walking distance. There's also Ocracoke that has camping nearby
 
Ocracoke...isn't that where the great crab cake restaurant is? Or am I cornfused again?
 
I'm interested in Ocracoke as well. Not just for the potential camping, but also because it combines healthy food along with the monkeys drug of choice. Okra and Coke.
 
We fly into W95- Ocracoke at least once every summer. We camped in 2014. It is about a 30 min walk and good exercise. We packed charcoal, burgers for the four of us, veggies chips and drinks. Also breakfast. All four of us were loaded down. Nice showers. Reserve camping spot online. For lunch, plenty of good places. The beach never has more than 10-15 people. Enjoy.
 
It's a great, wide beach. We didn't land there but stopped after going to said howardspub. IIRC it was a fur piece from there to the beach even by car. I'd go back in a second!
 
Thanks for all the feedback everyone. :cool: Sounds like there are a couple of good options to look into.
 
Google tells me Joe and Kay's campground is on the sound, about a 20 minute walk from KFFA. You can only stay one night at FFA. You might be able to get Joe or Kay to come pick you up. OBX campground is about another mile further away.
 
Looking at the parking area to the south east of the runway, I'd just hike a few hundred yards into the tree line and pitch a tent, the whole ask for forgiveness vs permission thing and all, I'd wager if you park your plane in the far corner and you're not causing issues and not leaving a mess no one will care.

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James331 said:
Looking at the parking area to the south east of the runway, I'd just hike a few hundred yards into the tree line and pitch a tent, the whole ask for forgiveness vs permission thing and all, I'd wager if you park your plane in the far corner and you're not causing issues and not leaving a mess no one will care.

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Those woods aren't very camp-able.
 
My recommendation for camping near the plane is Billy Mitchell (HSE) on Hatteras Island. Campground is about 1/2 mile away and the campsites are much better for camping than Ocracoke NPS campground.

Ocracoke is great, but the campground is nearly 3 miles from the airport, along highway 12...I long hot windy walk with not relief from the sun. Camp on Hatteras next to HSE, and head over to W95 for the day if you want to check out Ocracoke. Howard's will pick you up, but there are many other dining options on the island. Howard's is neat though, even if it isn't the best place.

RE: crabcakes. I love Carolina seafood, but as a frequent VA/MD crabcake eater, they just don't do crabcakes right on the outer banks. Lots of filler. If you're looking for crabcakes, head north to the Chesapeake bay.
 
And all can be seen from the monument - those woods are not very thick. Too easy to see your ad hoc campsite.
 
I thought overnight stays were not permitted at FFA. When did they start allowing 24 hour visits? Be aware, there is no fuel there, but it's a very short hop to Dare Co. out in the sound for fuel, something like 6nm.

I'm not sure the woods at FFA are very campable, but all I did was walk several miles and hide in the air conditioned flight planning room while an afternoon Tstorm blew through, then hopped over to Dare Co. for fuel and headed back down the coast for supper.
 
I'll go with what that, I've never been there, done lots of airport camping, never really looked into if I was sposed to though ;)
 
James331 said:
I'll go with what that, I've never been there, done lots of airport camping, never really looked into if I was sposed to though ;)
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I should mention that the Cape Hatteras National Seashore NPS rangers are quite attuned to cracking down on stealth camping. Because lodging is expensive and tight during the peak seasons, there are no shortage of folks looking to crash on NPS land overnight. You could get away with it years ago but between the lack of "leave no trace" camping, and environmental restrictions on beaches due to piping plovers and hatching sea turtles, they crack down pretty hard everywhere.

The other issue is sandy spots among the wooded areas are peppered with small little cactus-y type things that a not very comfy for setting a tent up on. At the designated campsites you still see them but they tend to be less of a problem as the areas get raked periodically.
 
MickYoumans said:
View attachment 45271

Is the area to the right of the runway in the attached picture the area you are talking about?
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The NPS campground in Frisco is just to the east of the runway 25 threshold. You'll see th concentric loops on google maps.

Frisco Woods is a private campground on the Pamlico sound with electric hook-ups, noisy AC units, etc. it's about a mile away off route 12. It's not a bad campground, but better suited to RV folks than tent folks.

The NPS site is a clean, primitive campground with the basics. While there is no hot water in the showers, the water isn't that cold and actually quite refreshing in the warmer months. It too is a short 1 mile hike to your campsite from your plane. Load everything in backpacks or bring a cart to haul your gear. There's also a market, tackle shop and sandwich shop in walking distance as well.

In Frisco, the ocean beach is great and much better than the sound beach, which is why I've always done the NPS campground.
 
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You should be fine at Frisco campground. What time of year are you going?
 
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