Pilot Mountain State Park
The bare quartzite knob that landmarks the Piedmont, with a separate river section on the Yadkin.
- Surry County, NC
- Nearest town: East Bend
- 879 ft
Coordinates
- Lat
- 36.28962
- Lng
- -80.53796
Van camping
You can drive in and sleep in your van here.
At a glance
The basics
What to expect
State park
Reservable sites, paved or well-graded roads, bathhouses in season.
- County
- Surry County
- State
- North Carolina
- Nearest town
- East Bend
- Elevation
- 879 ft
- Max vehicle length
- Not verified
The place
About Pilot Mountain State Park
Big Pinnacle is unmistakable — a sheer-sided rock dome on a wooded shoulder, visible for thirty miles across flat country and long used as a navigation mark. You cannot climb the pinnacle itself, but the trail around its base runs directly beneath the cliffs, and the Little Pinnacle overlook a short walk from the summit parking gives the classic view of it. The park comes in two pieces: the mountain section, and a river section on the Yadkin several miles south, connected by a corridor trail. Climbers work the lower ledges, and the hawk migration passes through in autumn.
For van drivers
Getting a van in and out
Off US 52, with paved park roads throughout. The road to the summit parking is steep with switchbacks near the top and the upper lot is compact — if you are driving something long, the lower lots and the trail up are the easier choice. The family campground is a standard state park loop. Pinnacle and Mount Airy are close by for supplies.
Written for a high-roof van, not a pickup. Surfaces and clearances change with the weather and with the season’s roadwork — the official page below is the last word.
On the ground
Facilities & fees
Not verified means nobody has confirmed it — treat it as unknown, never as a no. 8 of the 8 below are still unconfirmed.
- Restrooms
- Not verified
- Drinking water
- Not verified
- Showers
- Not verified
- Dump station
- Not verified
- Hookups
- Not verified
- Campfires
- Not verified
- Dogs allowed
- Not verified
- Reservations
- Not verified
- Max vehicle length
- Not verified — check with the park
- Season
- Not verified — check with the park
- Fees
- Not verified — check with the park
The last word on all of this is ncparks.gov(opens in a new tab).
Where it is
Coordinates & directions
Decimal degrees
- Latitude
- 36.289616
- Longitude
- -80.537965
36.2896° N · 80.5380° W
No map tiles here on purpose. Half of these places have no signal at the gate, so coordinates you can save offline beat a map that needs one. Drop them into your phone before you turn off the pavement.
Nearest gas and groceries: East Bend
Before you go
Official sources
Fees, site counts, length limits and closures change season to season. Everything we have not confirmed ourselves is marked Not verified above rather than guessed at — and where we do have a number, the operator’s own page still wins.
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Camp nearby
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