Bandits Roost Campground

Nice overall. Many sites have a view of the water. Ours was on top of the hill in the woods. Bathhouse is older, but adequate.

Checkout our YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG_xtwVxwbE&t=1s

You have to be careful picking your site; my site was really suited for double camping together because then 2 were so close together. The sites on the peninsula are great but you need to book far in advance. Bathrooms, although clean, were a little tired.

Excellent campground with great volunteers close to Wilksboro NC on Kerr Lake, sites 16 through 34 have good views of the water, site 50 and 48 are on a ridge looking over the lake. Access to the lake for swimming, kayaking, fishing, boating. Many campers tie boats up at base of camping sites. Campsites 71 to 107 are more wooded with a hiking trail.

8 or so waterfront sites can be subject to flooding after heavy rains as the lake rises ... rangers moved us out of our site 18 after two days of rains before MerleFest... I suggest you call the office to check if your site is waterfront and subject to rising waters

Bandits Roost campground is (yet another) stellar Army Corp of Engineers campground.

We stayed here for two nights on our way to Winston-Salem. Arriving early, we were graciously checked in only to find our reserved campsite occupied. No worries, says the nice volunteer, the current occupants will be out by 3 and you can move in. Fine.

We decided to check out Wilkesboro, just 6 miles away. After enjoying a latte at a local establishment, Melanie had work and, having seen a laundromat on the way into town, I suggested we park in the laundromat parking lot, let Melanie work while I did laundry.

Finishing our laundry at around 4:30, we made our way back to the campground only to find it still occupied. A new volunteer was on duty and, after explaining we could, if we wanted, continue to wait for our site, gave us options as alternatives to our booked site. We choose on of the three sites he suggested, 22A, which, turns out, was a much, much better campsite this time of year.

When choosing a site in this campground, default to the "A" loop. Sites 23-28 are out on a point and have great views, but with those great views comes great exposure. This time of year especially. Spring and Fall might be a good time. You have full hook-up, but the sun will bake you during hotter times of the year. Sites 18-22 are water front and have great shade trees.

Our stay in June was filled with lots of mosquitoes and bees. The sties are close together and there was trash littered across our site B 83. On the positive side the site was a pull through and the cell coverage was good on T Mobile. There are so many places to camp that I would say I would not stay here unless nothing else was available.

This scenic US Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) campground has sweeping views of the W. Kerr Scott Reservoir. Both AT&T and Verizon cellular service had strong signal without a booster. Our campground video tour and review is uploaded here on Campendium.

Most sites are off level and many sites are WAY off level. On my site 82 my leveling ramps which raise the front of my class C almost 4" were not enough to keep my refrigerator running. I mounded up 3" of gravel from the site, put my ramps on top, and was just level enough for fridge to run. RV was still well off level. I do not have a toad and like to go out occasionally, but site 82 so much work to level that I stayed for 3 says and then changed to a mostly level non water view site for the last 2 days just so I could tour around.
Now the good stuff. Very pretty reservoir surrounded by hills. Heavily wooded except for the point area with very tall trees. Many sites are water front. Mostly quiet and peaceful weekdays during a mid September even though campground almost full. ATT cell signal good enough for streaming videos. Pay attention to site lengths on website - are accurate, and max site lengths vary a lot. Most sites clear of low overhead branches. Paved roads, gravel sites. Boat launch ramp in campground has steep parking area but lots of folks were launching small outboards for fishing and canoes/kayaks. Office staff helpful and pleasant. On the whole site maintenance was pretty good but my fire pit contained ashes and some garbage.
Wilkesboro 15 minutes away has Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Belk, Kohl's, restaurants and many other stores. I enjoyed the Wilkes Heritage Museum enough to spend 2 hours there. I would stay again but book well in advance to get one of the more level water front sites.

This is one of our favorite campgrounds, but you have to get one of the sites with a view of the lake. Many are back in the woods. Although built on a pretty steep hill, the sites are level. Near Wilkesboro, and a good starting point for exploring the mountains.

We stayed at Bandits Roost for 3 weekdays. I am giving Bandits Roost a (4) due to the fact the facilities were clean, but are really dated and the campsites really need some TLC and upgrading. The campground is clean, but things like the fire rings are old and rusted through, the timber’s that surround the sites are decayed and need replacing. A good sprucing up or TLC is what is needed to easily make this a 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ CG. The host were very kind and very helpful. The water views are very impressive. It’s a boaters and Kayakers play ground.