Stayed a week here unfortunately. Restrooms are filthy and and have a bucket and mop with a sign encouraging the guests to mop the floor as it seems no one else did as it always stunk terribly. Men's shower head was duct tape only and dirty as well. As a seasoned camper I can endure campgrounds that are "rustic" however the French Broad River Campground was the worst I've been to. Other campers water at their site did not work and would have to come to my site. Dumpster was overflowing for 4 days and was not pleasant for the first five campsites near it. Tent sites farther away have the luxury of port-o-potties. Hosts not very friendly either. Bad vibes overall here. Recommend going somewhere else!!!

This place is just OK. Its old and the buildings that are situated on the property are pretty run down. People actually live in some of these houses year round. We stay in a travel trailer/camper, but the tent sites appeared to be nice right on the river, as are all of the sites. It is very tight quarters in the camper section. If you don't know how to maneuver a long camper, I would stay away. It's pretty tricky. We stayed on site #11, and it ended up being a great site for our young children (3 and 5). There is a great sandy shallow area for the kids to play in at #11. It ended up being a life saver because there is nothing else for children to do. The bottom line is this. There are nice campgrounds and there are dump campgrounds. IMO, this one falls somewhere in the middle. The access to the river for the kids is what made it work. I would only return if I could get #11 again. I give it 5 out of 10 stars. If you like to fish, it's worth it. I'm an avid smallmouth bass fisherman. Even though the river was up a bit because of the daily thunderstorms, I managed to catch over 25 smallies in 3 days, with one being a 19 incher. And a ton of catfish.

My boyfriend and I spent Memorial Day weekend camping here. The campground is relatively small and therefore also fairly quiet. Our campsite was right on the river - giving us easy access to tubing, swimming, and just cooling off! The campground rents out river tubes for $6 or $7 each for the entire day - quite a deal. If you own a kayak or canoe, you can bring it and put in right at the campsite. You can also fish in the river, if you choose. The campsites have a fire pit, electricity hook-up, water pump, and picnic table. We were tenting, but they have campsites for all different types of campers and several cabins. The owners are very friendly and personable. The campground is very much in the middle of nature, but only 15 minutes from downtown Asheville. We were also about 15 minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we went hiking. There were both groups of young people and families staying at the campground - it's great for everyone!!
Two drawbacks to this campground: 1. Across the river is a freight train track and on Saturday morning at 5am, you can hear the (very loud) train going by for about 5-10 minutes straight. 2. There is only one bath house for the entire campground - two toilets and ONE shower. If you need to use a facility without walking all the way to the bath house, you can use porta-potties which are much closer. Also, you can always wash off and cool off in the river, if you choose . . . .

We have stayed at FBRC every year since our children were young. We would always request and recieve site #1, and sometimes #2 as well. Our children are now grown, yet still find it fun to come with "mom & dad" camping.
We always come during July. BEST TIME!!
My husband and I stayed for the first time in our new used camper for the whole month of July. And will do it again this yr 2011 also.
We love the Saunders!! and FBRC.
If you dont love everything about camping. . .GO TO A HOTEL!