Cardinal Mountain
The layout
Property map
Sixteen bookable sites at Cardinal Mountain Campground in Franklin, NC. Privacy, peace and quiet, and a whole lot of trees. Tap any number to see that site.
Illustrated for choosing a site. North is up, so the top of the map isn’t the top of the mountain.
The climb
From the gate to the top
The lowest site sits at 2,330 feet and the highest at 2,630 — 300 feet of climb from one end of the property to the other. That’s why it runs noticeably cooler up top than it does in town, and why the views open up as you go. Every site page and every map popup gives that site’s own elevation.
Elevations are surveyed. The slope between them is drawn for illustration.
How to read it
- From the gate, one road climbs the mountain. Sites 1 through 6 come off it early and sit close together near the bottom.
- The road divides twice. At A, near the bottom, one arm runs out to site 1, another drops south to 2 and 3, and the main road climbs past 4, 5 and 6.
- At B it splits again. The right branch climbs to 7, swings back west past 9 and 8, and ends at 10 — the highest site on that side. The left branch runs down the west side past 11 and 12 to 13, 14 and 15.
- Past the curve at 14 the road heads west and climbs again, with 16 carrying on north and 17 dropping south.
- A red dot on the number marks a site with a long-range view.
- Site 4 is grayed out — it’s where our on-site manager lives, so it isn’t bookable.