Last week we tent camped at Bandits Roost NC Campground!
This was our 5th camping trip with our kids and the second trip for Mabel! We brought along our good friends too and it was awesome.
Bandits Roost NC Campground
Bandits Roost was just a 90-minute drive from our house, making it a quick and easy trip from Charlotte—especially nice for the ride home. The campground is nestled right along Scott Reservoir, and our standard tent site (34-A) had a beautiful lake view with easy access to the water. While there are plenty of public beach areas around the lake, we were lucky enough to have our own private spot where the kids spent most of their time playing.
The campground features 102 campsites, including 17 tent sites and 85 standard sites with water and electric hookups. There’s also a boat ramp, swim beach, playground, basketball court, and amphitheater.
After we got our site all setup, we started prepping dinner while the kids played in the lake.
As always, our first camping dinner of the trip is always tacos-in-a-bag or “walking tacos” which is everyone’s favorite! We slightly crush mini bags of Doritos, add the taco meat, and then pile on all the toppings (diced tomato, shredded lettuce, green onion, shredded Mexican cheese, etc.). It is so delicious and to keep things easy, I usually pre-cook and season the taco meat at home before we leave, so all we have to and warm the meat in an aluminum pan on the stove. This also cuts down on cookware to clean afterward.
And after dinner, we sat around the fire and roasted campfire cones which I personally think are so much better (and less messy) than traditional s’mores! In a waffle cone, we loaded up mini marshmallows, M&M’s, and mini Reese’s cups, then roasted them over the fire for about 15 minutes.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early. No one slept well, as expected.
This year, we decided to upgrade our tent setup by purchasing camping cots for the kids, and it turned out to be a game-changer. The cots were super easy to assemble and took up WAY less space than our usual air mattresses. I loved that we could store all of our bags under the cots, which meant no one was tripping over backpacks while trying to get to bed.
However, since the cots aren’t the most comfortable, I’ll be adding some mattress toppers for next year.
Meanwhile, Matt, Mabel, and I toughed it out on the air mattress for what I can confidently say was our last year using one. By morning, it was almost completely deflated and definitely not a fun experience! So we will be purchasing two more cots for Matt and me.
Bandits Roost NC Campground Lake
After eating a quick breakfast, we packed up our bags and coolers and spent the day boating on the lake! We rented our pontoon boat from Foothills Outdoor Adventures and they were so great!!
The weather forecast for our trip looked pretty grim, with an 88% chance of thunderstorms both days. We were fully prepared for a rainy weekend, but somehow, we got incredibly lucky and ended up with nearly a full day of sunshine for boating. We spent the day cruising, tubing, swimming, and just relaxing on the water—it was perfect.
Then, right around 4 pm, as we were heading back to the dock, a huge storm suddenly rolled in. We found ourselves in the middle of a torrential, freezing downpour while trying to unload the boat, coolers, sopping wet towels, all the kids, and even the dog. It was pure chaos, but also one of those moments that I know we’ll be laughing about for years to come. Despite the crazy ending, it was a day full of great memories.
We were all beyond relieved to finally get back to our campsite and change into warm, dry clothes after that wild storm. It felt so good to be cozy again.
Thankfully, Matt had the foresight to pack our pop-up tent, which turned out to be a lifesaver. We spent most of the evening huddled around the picnic table, snacking and playing games under the shelter while the rain came and went. The pop-up tent really made the difference in keeping our spirits high despite the weather.
Once we caught a long enough break from the rain, we managed to get the fire going again. That’s when we made our second-favorite camping meal—pizzas. We slow-cooked them on the tri-pod grill , and the result was absolute perfection with crispy edges and rich, flavorful toppings. It was the perfect way to end a day full of adventure and unexpected twists.
The next morning we packed up and headed home!
Another fun camping trip down in the books!
