Bob and Kathy have a great operation going on here. The Nantahala area is interesting in that there's not a lot of access to national forest campgrounds... actually, we didn't find any close by when we were visiting. We stopped at another privately owned campground first (Lost Mine) and were so totally freaked out by all the weird rules the owners had posted about camping on their property (no hammocks, quiet time is all the time, etc), which was overlooked by a bunch of trashed out trailers. It was very odd... so we grabbed our registration form and booked it before the owners came down and the banjo music kicked in.
We went a little farther down the road and found Brookside Campground and Rafting. When we arrived, Bob greeted us very nicely in their general store (very well stocked) and set us up in one of their more secluded sites. It was right next to the highway, but everything is next to the highway here, that's just the way this gorge is set up (there's a lot less heavy truck/semi traffic on the weekends). Bob was very lax about where we could set up a fire, the door to the main house was left open for us all night, and it was pretty fantastic to be able to take a hot shower while we were camping. They did everything they could to make sure we were comfortable while we stayed there.
Not only are the camping accommodations excellent and right next to a beautiful little creek with trees and rhododendrons aplenty, turns out they're also one of the ten outfitters that guides on the Nantahala! Super good news for us! Bob helped us blow up our own raft, load it up on his trailer, ship us to the put in, unload the raft, and then he picked us up at the takeout when we were done. He even gave us a rundown of the rapids and a brief whitewater safety lesson. We both also really enjoyed just visiting with him, he's a very interesting and nice fellow, and we wished we'd had more time to pick his brain.
I believe they also offer fully guided raft trips for the less experienced, and I'm pretty sure they'll let you rent gear but don't quote me on that because we brought out own raft and kayaks.
Also, on a side note, after reading others' reviews... there's not that many cats. The cats they do have are very sweet and they stay around the main house. If you're lucky their sweet dog will come down and visit your campsite :) read more