We spent the weekend in Asheboro, NC, visiting the NC Zoo (recently voted America’s Best Zoo for the second year in a row in Newsweek’s Readers’ Choice Awards). Keep reading for a new zoo travel tip (at America’s Best Zoo), a kid-friendly hiking game, and more.
We’ve stayed here before. I’m going to try to keep this post to only the new information. You can read about our previous trip in this blog post.
Table of Contents
Where We Stayed
About the Campground
You’ll find something for everyone at this campground. There are two ponds for fishing, a pool, a laser tag course, a playground with a jumping pillow, and more. There are kids’ activities and a dog park. You can stay in an RV, a tent, or a cabin.
| Campground Name | Jellystone Asheboro |
| Location | Asheboro, NC |
| Dates | May 2-4, 2025 |
| Site Number | Site 34 |
| Site Surface | gravel, difficult to get level |
| Hook-ups | full hookups with 50 amp |
| Cost | $89 per night (including taxes and fees) |
| Water Pressure | Forgot to check |
| Voltage | Forgot to check |
| Verizon Speed Test | 532 Mbps down; 35 Mbps up |
| T-Mobile Speed Test | 26 Mbps down; 6 Mbps up |
| Campground WiFi | Forgot to check |
Because of the placement of our gray and black tanks and the location of the sewer hookup, we need our driver’s side to be as close to the hookups as possible. Unfortunately, that is exactly the spot where there’s a big dip. If we set up where we wanted to be left to right, we would have been more than six inches from level. We did some shifting and made it work, but it took a few tries.
Campground Fun
The weekend we visited turned out to be Cindy Bear’s birthday. We were out for a walk with the dogs when we saw they were having a celebration with cupcakes and activities, so we stopped by. We were hoping Aiken could meet one of the bears, but they were busy with the kids, so we didn’t bother them. They did walk right past him though and Aiken did not look at all concerned. He also got to say hello to a few kids while we were there. What a good boy!
What We Did
Purgatory Trail
The NC Zoo property has more than four miles of hiking trails, separate from the animal exhibits. You can read more about Purgatory Mountain and its trails in this zoo blog post.
We always bring the dogs here for a walk to give them some exercise before we head off to the zoo.
On this trip, we found this beautiful flowering bush and an impressive hickory tree. I can only tell it’s hickory because of the shaggy bark.
And, of course, the obligatory photo of a good tree. Corona included for scale.
If you’re there with kids, be on the lookout for the EcoExplorer sign. The Purgatory Mountain Trail is a hotspot, but you can participate elsewhere. Learn more about the program by visiting the EcoExplore website.
North Carolina Zoo
For the second year in a row, the NC Zoo in Asheboro won America’s Best Zoo in Newsweek’s 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards.
On this trip, we tried something new. We usually park in the North America parking lot, walk through North America then Africa, and end by taking the tram back to North America at the end of the day. On this trip, we tried a different strategy. We parked in North America, took the tram to Africa, and started there. We walked through all of Africa and then headed to North America.
I’m not sure it was better, but I’m glad we tried it. We got one and plan to keep it in the RV. We’ll use it during our travels and hopefully remember to bring it on our next trip to the zoo.
North Carolina Zoo Travel Tip
At the time of our visit, the zoo was selling these bottles for $21 (or something like that). They come with free refills on water, soda, and ICEE. I believe one regular (not large) fountain drink was $6.99, so if you visit with some regularity and bring the bottle back when you visit, it seems to be a reasonable arrangement.
I think my favorite exhibit is the Watani Grasslands. It’s like a life-sized seek-and-find as you try to locate the various species. I was hoping to see the kudu and bongo, but they weren’t around. We did see Addra’s gazelle, Thompson’s gazelle, rhino, elephant, and oryx.
The polar bear was very active! I don’t think I’ve ever seen the polar bear this active while being this close.
When we first got to the exhibit, he was walking away from us, got to a spot in the grass, and went down in the grass for a good scratch, first on his stomach, then on his back. I wish I’d been recording when he did it!
The NC Zoo is expanding! Asia should open next year. For a while, this area was covered. Now you can see into the entrance and up the walkway. You can read more about the expansion on the zoo’s website.
We also saw the red-ruffed lemurs, the ocelot, and a very sleepy grizzly bear.
The sand cats are always a hit. Today, one was napping on their exercise wheel.
And what’s cuter than a cuddly pair of Colorado River toads?
Where We Ate
Dairi-O
We are repeat customers at Dairi-O. There isn’t one near our house, so we come here whenever we visit the zoo.
On this particular trip, my mom got a hamburger, I got the chicken tenders, and Jesse got a hot dog. I’m always surprised by the food here. It’s a fast-food restaurant, but it tastes much better. Next time, my mom wants to try a hot dog and I’m going to get a burger. Plus, they have pink lemonade, which gets you brownie points from me.
Possibly the best thing about Dairi-O is their ice cream. On this trip, I got chocolate lover’s chocolate, Jesse got cookie dough, and Mom got no-sugar-added vanilla.
America’s Roadhouse
This is another place we’ve been to before. For dinner, we had an extra person joining us, as we met up with a friend of mine. We ordered burgers, a chop steak, and spaghetti. Everything was delicious!
Wildlife
If you exclude the animals we saw at the zoo, the only wildlife we saw is this pair of rabbits. They were waiting for us on our campsite when we arrived, but they made a quick exit as we backed the RV in.
Actually, we did see one wild animal at the zoo…a frog that was enjoying the pond in one of the exhibits.
Happy travels!
