Campers at the new Greystone RV Park near Pinnacle, N.C., have an unobstructed view of nearby Pilot Mountain.
Just inside the Stokes County border at the base of Pilot Mountain near Pinnacle, N.C., a new view of the mountain has opened for those with RVs to camp. That view comes with full hook-ups to enjoy the relaxation and adventure of the area, The Pilot, Pilot Mountain, reported.
Greystone RV Park, 1166 Pilot Knob Park Road, will have its grand opening celebration Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m., with a ribbon cutting and cake cutting at 1:30 p.m. The celebration will feature face painting, corn hole games and tours of the property and refreshments.
Kane and Charity Shelton moved to their 27 acres of property on the eastern side of Pilot Mountain about nine years ago. Kane grew up in Pilot Mountain, and Charity is from Dobson.
“We have 22 acres on this side of the road, and we had such an awesome view we wanted a way to share it with people,” Charity Shelton said Monday (June 17), sitting on the front porch of the new office and bathhouse building at Greystone RV Park, with the mountain rising in front of her across from the RV sites and the pond.
The office and bathhouse building features handicap-accessible bathrooms and are decorated with a rustic feel using family heirloom tools for farming and construction. Shelton said Tony Cave and his crew built the building, and then she and Kane did most of the walls and floors.
“These are not permanent sites, but for visitors passing through or coming to enjoy the area,” Shelton said. “A lot of local people have come for a quick weekend getaway, because it is just an hour or two drive for them.”
Greystone features 10 sites with concrete pads, picnic tables and rock fire pits. Shelton said plans are to expand the RV park , but that there will not be more than 30 sites. “We don’t want it to be commercialized where everyone is on top of each other,” she said.
She said there are places for tent camping and popup campers at the state park, and the cabins and main house at Pilot Knob Bed and Breakfast, but no facility was available next to the mountain for campers who are looking for full hook-ups.
“We didn’t want to do anything to feel like we were competing with neighbors, but instead enhancing what’s available,” said Shelton, noting that Kane’s father had built the cabins at Pilot Knob Bed and Breakfast and the original main house that was Scenic Overlook Bed and Breakfast in the 1980s.
The Sheltons had cleared the land and timber and built the pond, but at the time didn’t know what they were going to do with the land. Charity said they had discussed a wedding and banquet hall facility, but the start-up costs were too high.
“So I mentioned to my husband about an RV park,” she said.
Kane Shelton wanted to make sure there was enough room for the large RVs, so they graveled the drive and parking areas and put in the concrete pads.
“We’ve had 45-foot buses with tag-along vehicles. All the sites are pull-through with full hook-ups with 50 -p service,” said Charity, who added that the RV park has been three years in the making.
The Sheltons had their first camping guests Sept. 7, 2012, and are working on signage to help draw in more business. Charity said to this point they’ve had as many as five to seven sites full at a time, and this weekend, which will be the grand opening celebration of Greystone, a camping group is coming in and will fill all 10 sites.
Greystone phases of development will include patios for the picnic tables and fire pits along with hard top areas for the driveway and parking areas at each site.
“We have planted a couple of pin oaks and we are debating on where to plant others now for shade without being where they will block views of the mountain and branches won’t fall on campers,” she said.
“There is a pond the sites overlook, which is stocked for fishing,” Shelton pointed out. “Most people who come want to hike or bike, relax, fish. We had a couple this past weekend who went kayaking and ziplining.”
She said there are farms just a couple of minutes up the road which offer trail rides, and for those wanting to tent camp there is the state park or Blackberry Mountain Camp, which opened in July 2012.
Other projects that are ongoing and upcoming at Greystone include a small camp store that will offer necessities in the office; laundry facilities with the hookups already available and the service coming in the next few months; a community covered picnic area overlooking the pond with a fire pit; an outdoor kids play area; and eventually an enclosed building with a kitchen area, seating and indoor games for groups who are camping together to use and for rainy days.
The cost for a site is $48 a night, and those staying a week can stay the seventh night free. Shelton said from November through February, sites are available at a monthly rate.
With Kane and Charity not being avid campers, they have relied on the advice and suggestions from friends and family who RV camp to know what people are looking for when they seek out a place to camp.
“Our bucket list is to eventually go RVing and visit all 50 states,” Shelton said. “With the RV park, we were looking for something to eventually be our retirement. It is something we hope will eventually lead into careers for our kids in the future if they wish.”
Kane owns and operates Woodstar Clearing, using a forestry mulching machine his company clears out undergrowth and leaves the large standing trees. He also pressure washes RV and campers. Charity is a teacher at Pilot Mountain Elementary School.
In addition to a Facebook page, Greystone RV Park, the Sheltons are members of the Carolinas Association of RV Parks & Campground.
Shelton also has linked with Google Maps will bring up Greystone when someone searches for area camping.
