Four Paws Kingdom – Rutherfordton, NC

Catering exclusively to Adults and their Canine Companions

As most of you probably already know, we just bought a cute little R-Pod camper. We bought it just as much for the mutts as we did for ourselves. Boomer doesn’t handle the cold well and Helo in his older age doesn’t fare well in the heat, so tent camping with the dogs has become a much shorter season than we’d like. Plus, every freaking time we plan a tent camping trip, Mother Nature throws us a nice big thunderstorm.

Did I mention that Helo is deathly afraid of storms? Yeah.. After canceling the same camping trip 3 tries in a row, we decided to pull the trigger and buy a camper.

Boomer and Ringo on squirrel patrol from the deck at our campsite (Deluxe Site – Grommet #41)

For our maiden voyage in our new little camper (and our first trip with 4 dogs, including new baby Roxie) we wanted to go somewhere that was really dog friendly. We had come across this magical sounding place online months ago that was a campground centered around dogs, made exclusively for adults and their canine companions. How perfect does THAT sound? And it’s only an hour and a half from us, so we knew that we had to check it out. This awesome dog campground is called Four Paws Kingdom and it is everything we had hoped it would be.

Note: This is nothing but my honest thoughts on this amazing place. We did’t get a kickback for this review. The owners don’t even know that I’m writing this.. yet!

The Sites

Four Paws Kingdom

The sites at Four Paws are nice & level, wooded RV/Trailer sites and for an extra couple bucks a night you can upgrade to a Premium Site, which we did. This includes a really nice enclosed deck with a table and chairs, a charcoal grill, a fire ring, full hookups, and even a small fenced-in area for your dogs. BONUS, it was a nice wide pull-through site, so I only had a minor heart attack pulling our brand spankin new camper into our first ever campsite. Phew! Our site backed up to the woods, which Boomer loved. She subsequently spent most of her time protecting our site from squirrels and other small furry invaders.

For our first trip with all 4 pups, this was absolutely perfect for us. Roxie had just gotten her shots, so it was great to have an easy area to hang out in away from other dogs. We had a great deck to hang out on with the dogs, have a beer, and relax. With the attached fenced yard, the dogs had room to move around and do their business without having to be on-leash all the time.

For people with an RV or camper, sites like the one we had are great, but you do not need to have an RV to stay here. Four Paws also offers cabin and RV rentals! They have 3 cute cabins and 4 RVs that you can rent for the weekend (all dog-friendly, of course, each with a private fenced yard for your dog(s)). For those of you that tent camp, they do not have tent sites at the moment, but are building some next year, so keep an eye out for that!

Highlights:

I am including a whole lot of information in this review for people who want to read it, but for those who just want the “down low” from our pack, here are the reasons why we will DEFINITELY be going back to Four Paws.

1. The people

The couple who owns the place, Connie and Sandy, are amazing! Fun, energetic, personable women who really love dogs and genuinely want you to have the best weekend ever. They got in the water with the dogs, planned fun events, and brought a lot of energy and life to every activity. All of the staff and volunteers at Four Paws went above and beyond the call of duty.

From the moment we arrived, everyone was really helpful. After checking in, a volunteer leads you out to your site in a golf cart to show you where it is and make sure you have everything you need. The guy who took us out was amazing, He found out that this was our first trip in our new camper and spent at least 45 minutes with us, showing us how to hook everything up, get the camper leveled and even gave us a copy of his personal “camping checklist” I can’t explain how nice he was (or how terrible I feel that his name is escaping me. I’m SO bad with names). Oh, and we umm.. forgot to bring toilet paper for our camper. Once call to the office and they delivered some to our site. They really are amazing!

2. The activities

Four Paws Kingdom

We checked into the campground on Friday, and that evening there was a meet and greet where you got to meet the staff, the other campers, and the dogs that are hanging out that weekend. Everyone was so friendly and OH THE PUPS! Who wouldn’t love a dog-centric campground? Everyone walks around loving on pups and talking about their dogs. I didn’t want to leave! I mean, the dogs, yeah.. the dogs were in heaven…

Four Paws Kingdom Proud champion mutt proudly rocking her gold medal

On Saturday, there was an really fun event at the pond, which is spring-fed and fully fenced. SCORE! They brought dozens of tennis balls, noodles, agility equipment, footballs, even floats, and set up some really fun competitions. There was an obstacle course, a fetch competition, a sit/stay competition, and some other fun activities.

Boomer, being the amazing athlete that she is (and for once a really good listener, despite all the dogs and commotion) won all but one of the events. She was fetching tennis balls from the lake in a frenzy, she sat on the bank in a super solid “stay” while I swam all the way to the other bank, she swam through hoops, and she had a HUGE smile on her face the whole time. The only event that she didn’t win was the result of a fumbled football that distracted her just long enough for Bella, a beautiful shepherd, to take the lead. BUT Boomer was the overall winner and was awarded a shiny gold medal and her first and only blue ribbon! We were so proud of our award-winning mutt!

3. The Pond!

Four Paws Kingdom

Did we mention the pond? It’s definitely the best feature! Boomer LOVES to swim, but her hound dog instincts often prevent her from being allowed to swim to her heart’s content. The fact that this pond is fully fenced meant lots of swimming for Boomer without the constant fear of having to chase a runaway hound for us humans. She slept so so well every night!

4. The Hiking Trails

Four Paws Kingdom

Four Paws Kingdom has 12 acres of hiking trails right on site! It was a hot and humid weekend, so we didn’t hike them all, but we managed to squeeze in a nice little hike on the wooded trails and then popped into Linus Creek Park, which is fenced and has a creek running through it. Perfect cool down spot on the hike back!

5. The Private Dog Park

Four Paws Kingdom

Four Paws Kingdom has SIX fenced dog parks, yes 6! Our favorite dog park was the private park. If you have a dog like our Ringo, who isn’t really “dog park material,” this was the perfect solution. The private park was a nice, partially shaded, grassy enclosed dog park with a simple sign on the gate. Turn it one way to reserve the park all for yourself or your specially selected group of pups OR flip it over to invite others to come join the fun. I love that this place really does have something for everyone, and every dog.

There was truly something perfect for each and every one of our dogs here and we cannot WAIT to go back sometime this fall! If you want to know more, check out the info below or head over to Four Paws Kingdom’s website at www.4pawskingdom.com

Hope you enjoyed our review! If you live in the area or are coming through NC, we definitely recommend a visit to Four Paws Kingdom. You won’t regret it! Have a question that we can answer? Leave us a comment or hit us up on Instagram @lifewithmutts

More about Four Paws Kingdom:

Six Dog Parks – This place advertises itself as a campground for adults and their canine companions, and it definitely is! The campground has 6 fenced dog parks, yes SIX including:

1. Large fenced dog park with lots of trees and shade, seating for the humans, water station and baby pool

2. Small Dog Playground – Fenced area just for the little guys with fun playground equipment to climb and play on

3. Private Dog Park – Just for you and your pack, no worries if you’re dog isn’t typical dog park material!

4. FULLY FENCED swimming pond – This was Boomer’s slice of heaven on Earth. The pond is spring-fed, so the water is not stagnant and stays pretty cool, and is plenty big enough for both pups and humans to swim. Perfect spot for a game of fetch or for a nice swim on a hot day. There is also a nice pavilion and a swing for the humans to hang out while they watch their dogs run and play with their friends in and around the water.

5. Fenced Agility Field – This is the only park that we didn’t make it to. There was so much to see and do that we just didn’t get to it all. BUT we did see it from a distance and it looked really fun. On the list for next time.

6. Linus Creek Park – Decent sized fenced off-leash park with a small section of creek running through the park for your dogs to cool off and play in.

Other Amenities:

-12 acres of hiking trails (on-leash)

– Pavilion with planned activities and events on the weekends – The weekend we went they screened the movie Dirty Dancing, complete with popcorn, delicious adult beverages, and pizza followed by dance lessons

– Available dog walking services (if you want to go into town to eat or shop)

– Professional obedience, behavior, and agility training (prior reservation required)

– Doggy bathhouse and grooming station