Can I park an RV at the Arboretum for this?

Nothing published says you cannot, and the motorcoach parking near the main entrance suggests the approach takes a large vehicle. But nothing published says you can either, and no height or length limit appears anywhere. Ring 828-412-8570 and settle it before you rely on it.

What does an evening cost?

The ticket is per vehicle rather than per person, tiered by date, with larger vehicles priced by seat count instead. Our units run $100 to $210 a night, the campsite is billed by the park, and delivery is quoted separately once we know which site you have taken. Taxes and fees are added at checkout.

Which campground is nearest?

Lake Powhatan, off the same Bent Creek approach and sharing the Arboretum's postcode. It runs year round on limited winter services, with full hookups at $52 a night. Book through Recreation.gov, and note the gatehouse closes at 5:00 pm in winter.

Do you deliver, and what size are the units?

We deliver across Western North Carolina and connect the unit on your site. Everything we run measures between 21 and 24 feet, which is easier to place on a winter pitch and easier to keep warm than a thirty-five foot coach would be.

RV Rentals for Winter Lights in Asheville

Winter Lights runs November 13 to January 3 at the Arboretum. Tickets are priced per vehicle, and the nearest campground stays open.

Class B campervan on a full-hookup forest campground site at winter dusk

Mixed vehicles queuing at a garden entrance on a winter evening

Six until ten, nightly

RV Rentals for Winter Lights at the NC Arboretum

The Ticket Is Priced by the Vehicle, Not the Head

This is the detail that changes the arithmetic. One ticket covers everyone inside, tiered by date into value, standard and peak nights rather than by how many people climb out. Arrive by rideshare and you still need a personal vehicle ticket. Walking in, cycling in or skating in are not permitted at all.

The Closest Campground Runs Through Winter

Lake Powhatan reaches off the same exit 33 and NC 191 corridor as the Arboretum and shares its Asheville postcode. It runs year round on reduced winter services, with full hookup sites at $52 a night, electric at $46 and standard at $37. The catch is a gatehouse that shuts at 5:00 pm, an hour before these gates open.

Chris D., Greensboro, NC: "The RV was in excellent condition and exactly as described. We took it through the Blue Ridge Parkway and it couldn't have been a better trip."

Campervan interior warm at night with coats piled after an evening outdoors

A mile, outdoors

An Evening Out When It Is Cold and Dark

Gates open at 6:00 pm, last entry is 9:00 pm and the site closes at 10:00 pm, so this is an evening rather than a day out. What that evening involves:

It is a walk-through of about a mile through the gardens under more than a million lights, and the Arboretum asks you to allow at least an hour on your feet
It runs in rain and in snow, cancelled only if the Arboretum closes for a weather emergency, with any closure posted by 3:00 pm
Tickets are non-refundable otherwise, though they can be moved to another date through the ticketing platform
Pets are not permitted, service animals aside, so the dog stays behind with the heating on
A daytime visit does not roll into it: the grounds clear at 5:00 pm and the evening is separately ticketed

An hour outside in December is a different proposition with somewhere warm waiting.

Next door, near enough

Parking On The Night, And The Bed Afterwards

On the Arboretum's own lots, in principle. Guests park on site and walk the display, and there is dedicated accessible parking with drop-offs allowed at the buildings. What the Arboretum publishes nowhere is a height bar, a length limit or any rule about recreational vehicles, and an absence is not permission. It does run motorcoach and school bus parking near the main entrance, which suggests nothing on that approach would stop a 24 foot unit. Ring them on 828-412-8570 and get that confirmed for your own date rather than taking the silence as a yes.

For the bed, Lake Powhatan is the obvious base and the reason this trip works differently from most winter ones here. Book it through Recreation.gov. Generators are barred there between 8:00 pm and 8:00 am, which is exactly when you would be returning from a 10:00 pm close, so a powered site earns its keep rather than being a luxury.

Our part is the simple half. Book your dates with us and we deliver the unit there and connect it before you arrive. Our Class B campervan is the easiest thing we run to place on a busy night. The events page lists what else runs through the winter here.