Linen changes? Concierge? Rethink the great outdoors at glamping campsites.

Tommy Halcom grilled a meal of steak and potatoes under a canopy of poplar and pine trees on a recent steamy summer evening at Lake Powhatan.

Halcom’s 17-year-old son, Luke, and his twin sister, Jordan, wrestled over rights to the hammock, and his wife, Cheryl, and daughter, Joslyn, 21, played an intense round of Farkle, a dice game, while munching potato chips.

Seems the traditional picture of a Western North Carolina outdoors scene, but the Fort Mill, S.C., family was breaking new ground.

They were camping in style at Pisgah Glamping, part of a booming business in Western North Carolina. While there are plenty of “glamping” adventures on private land that border national parks and forests, Pisgah Glamping is the first glamping site for the U.S. Forest Service, said Jamie Gilpin, managing partner of Pisgah Hospitality Partners.

That said, glamping — the way you might expect Elle Woods to camp, in a tent with a gas log fireplace and turn-down service — is not really all that froufrou.

And it’s becoming a go-to camping style for families, couples and those who mountain bike, kayak, hike or anyone else who likes their outdoors on the go, with less of the fuss.

Pisgah Hospitality Partners, a private concessionaire, opened 12 glamping sites this spring at the popular Lake Powhatan. Altogether, the company operates eight U.S. Forest Service campgrounds in Western North Carolina, including the Davidson River Campground in Pisgah National Forest near Brevard and Sliding Rock Recreation Area.

When Pisgah Glamping opened in March, Gilpin said he thought it would attract mostly couples.

“But we’ve had a lot of families. I think they’ve figured out this is a fantastic family thing to do,” he said.

So far, he has been seeing many people from Charlotte, Raleigh, Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina, and Atlanta.

Deluxe campsites

These new deluxe campsites are designed for families, friends and couples who prefer to enjoy nature and outdoor recreation without sacrificing all the comforts and luxuries of home, Gilpin said.

The recreation area, about 10 minutes from downtown Asheville, has a lake with a swim beach and fishing pier, easy access to hiking and mountain biking trails, and is close to the French Broad River, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the N.C. Arboretum.

“We knew we wanted to do glamping, it was just a matter of where,” Gilpin said. “The Upper Hard Times Loop stood out because it’s kind of private, it’s farther back in the campground. It has a beautiful setting and accommodated these tents well.”

And when talking about fancy camping, it all starts with the tents. These tents were custom designed by local manufacturer Diamond Brand Gear, which has a factory in Fletcher that makes tents for the military and the Boy Scouts as well as backpacks and other travel bags.

“We worked with them to come up with a more luxurious experience than a military tent,” Gilpin said.

The 12-by-16-foot weatherproof canvas tents are perched on platforms with large, porthole-like zippered windows with bug netting to let air flow through. Each tent includes a 9-inch memory foam topped, queen-sized mattress, complete with sheets, comforter and pillows, as well as towels for the nearby hot showers.

Linens, like in a hotel room, can be changed out on request.

Tents also come with a foldable cot and room to add more sleeping bags or air mattresses, a bedside table and one luggage rack, a small fan, lanterns and a coffee maker.

There is an electrical hookup for charging personal electronics (although there is no cell service). There is no fridge, but the tents come with a cooler, and a concierge-like camp host who greets campers with a load of ice and firewood upon arrival.

The tents also have a front porch with chairs, a picnic table and fire ring with grill, and lighting inside and out. Dogs are also allowed as overnight guests.

All the amenities don’t come for cheap — sites are $120 per night at Pisgah Glamping. And you’ll need to bring your own food, and cook it, of course, or go out to eat.

The non-glamping campsites just down the loop are $22 per night, an extra $6 for the ones with electric hookups.

Glamping options

Western North Carolina is riddled with other glamping adventures that border national parks and forests, such as Asheville Glamping. It offers everything from Bell tents, to vintage Airstream trailers, a tepee and tent cabins on 15 acres of pastoral land about 20 minutes north of downtown Asheville, a treehouse accessed by suspension bridge, and the 1,300-square-foot geodesic Dome (for $350 a night), with air conditioning, and indoor slide and stunning views, so popular its weekends are booked solid through 2019.

There are plenty of others. Paint Rock Farm in Madison County offers yurt-like tents and treehouses. Wildwater Falling Waters Resort on the banks of the Nantahala River near Bryson City has mini-fridges and electricity (and hosts lots of weddings).

The Outdoor Inn Bell Tent Village on Deep Creek near Great Smoky Mountains National Park has tents with electricity and hot water. And there are endless Airbnbs that advertise glamping sites, some with hosts who will bring you breakfast and freshly ground coffee.

“This allows people who don’t have all the investment in an RV or a tent the convenience of camping. You just show up,” Gilpin said. “We’re drawing a lot of people into the forest who don’t usually come into the forest.”

Glamping costs

The Halcoms found glamping to be a bargain. Cheryl surprised her husband with the family trip for his 50th birthday.

“We used to have a camper. We got rid of it and I probably wouldn’t have wanted to sleep in a tent-tent for my birthday,” Tommy Halcom said. “This is a mix between the two and something my wife has always wanted to do.”

The parents took the bed, while the girls slept on a cot and air mattress. On their first night, after a two-hour drive, they cooked dinner, made s’mores and went to bed, waking like their backs had never touched a hard, lumpy patch of dirt.

“Yeah, this was so much better than sleeping on the ground,” Cheryl said.

On Day 2, the family made pancakes and bacon for breakfast, then went on a hike around the lake and the Bent Creek trails, brought their own tubes, but used a local outfitter for a shuttle so paid $10 each, and then back to the glampsite for steak and board games. All money savers.

There’s also the freedom of traveling lighter, and not having to mess with tent setup, tarps, coolers and sleeping bags. And there’s the intangible, the time spent as a family, forced to communicate without electronics, and getting the nature immersion experience.

“We all walked down to the beach this morning and I thought, ‘When was the last time we were all able to get together?’” Cheryl Halcom said. “I would definitely come back.”

This story was originally published June 27, 2019 at 3:12 PM.