juliaharris3

This Georgia Power campground is well-maintained and very pleasant with shade at most sites. There’s a good trail system from the campground. Bathhouses are clean and showers are hot with good pressure. There’s also a free laundry.
#2 quite unlevel, but only site available fir July 4th weekend.
1 bar Verizon LTE from site, but adequate if not streaming.
3 tv channels over antenna, but two are Spanish and the other Korean

Ives Run is a great campground, especially if you’re a boater. Otherwise not Spacious, level sites, some FHU, some water and electric. With Access Pass it’s a good value. Hickory shower house pristine, not sure about others. Weak Verizon, and a handful of OTA tv. Lost a star because trail is not maintained and basically impassable. Also utility posts especially in Hickory are distant/shared and require extensions.

A large state park with many hiking trails. Most are short, but interconnect for longer hikes. Several leave from campground, others need to be driven to.
Road biking ok—hilly and no shoulder on county roads, but not too much traffic.
Many camp sites are shady, some are on lake, some have peek-a-boo views, others forest views. Lots of deer roaming through camp, squirrels very active and armadillos roam at night.
Bath houses are well maintained. Showers are hot with good pressure.
No adherence to rule of no parking on grass, nor limit of two vehicles.
Some OTA tv stations.
Shoreline full of trash
Weekends were loud with campers, speeding boats and personal watercraft, and low-flying planes.

I returned to this Park after a delightful week hiking the numerous trails last fall. After one day of hiking and returning with dozens of ticks on me and my dog, I stopped hiking and just walked the paved roads through camp. Most seem to be Lone Star Ticks which usually don’t transmit Lyme Disease, but can carry other diseases. Simparica on my dog is effective—ticks latch on but die after 24 hrs or so. That didn’t help me despite strong Deet and long sleeves/pants with socks over pants, Ticks found their way to my skin. The cam host said ticks have been really bad the past few years. Even sitting out or walking on asphalt, ticks drop from trees. Ugh. Made my stay very unpleasant. Road biking on park road hilly but light traffic. Verizon from my site weak to non resistant. OTA tv has about a dozen channels of old westerns, Christian, and far right news/talk shows. Electric only at site. Bathhouses 2-4 adequate, 1 is awful with preformed fiberglass stalls and no grab bars. A disappointing stay.
If you are coming from south don’t use Kaiser address, it’ll take you to south side of lake and you’ll need to make a 40 mi trip around lake to campground. Use 53 Lakeview Bend Trail, BRUMLEY to get you to the right place.

This is a very popular campground with sites close together without shrubs for privacy. Limits of number of vehicles and campers/site are not enforced. This creates too much noise. BPS manages campground but concessionaire runs camp store, lodge, and showers. Showers are $5/10 minutes. Expensive, so people take sponge baths and wash hair in bathrooms make a big mess.
On the positive side you are in a beautiful National Park with trails and Ranger-led programs.

For $24/night you get a place on the grass with 15/30 amp, fire pit and picnic table all on left side of vehicle. So it’s awkward to use side door of rig. Wouldn’t matter to tenters. Sites are very uneven and difficult to level on wet ground. No privacy between sites. 1-6 have shade. Road in is pot-holed. The camp ground does not have a security gate; sketchy being so close to town. Only porta-potties in camp ground. Water spigots around park.

On the plus side, there’s a 3 mile hiking trail and long distance paved bike path just outside the park. Big dog park with lake about a mile away. Verizon signal strong and a wide range of OTA tv.

Beware; come prepared. There is no potable water in the entire park! This is a long term condition until Park develops a reverse osmosis system. No completion date. Ranger station has free bottled water for campers at 2gal/day. Not convenient. There is no reduction in price.

Old Prairie Loop sites are close together with little vegetation for privacy. Bathhouse is dated but clean. “Hot” water is tepid.

There are many hiking trails BUT none leave from Old Prairie nor Palmetto Ridge Campgrounds. Campers need to unhook and drive to trail heads. Again not convenient.

Verizon was 2bars LTE. Many OTA tv stations.

This small campground has full hook ups at each site. Some tv reception over antenna. It is occupied by long term campers who leave for work in their loud diesel trucks in the wee hours of the morning. It is not a restful place for recreational campers. There is no laundry, no fire pits, no lantern posts, nor shade. People do not sit out in the evenings, but sit inside with air-conditioning. Air conditioning is essential as there is no shade. There is a 1mike nature trail that loops around the park and across the road there is an archery range and disc golf course.
My biggest concern was safety. This is a County Park without gates. Anyone can drive through the park. Homeless come and use showers. Day camp children roam through campground. Very unsettling.

Many sites are spacious, shady, and on reservoir. However the natural setting is rudely interrupted by loud speeding boats. There is no awareness of 10:00pm Quiet, nor of Dark Skies to aid wildlife. One late night a loud verbal argument broke out. Scary to think guns could be involved. There is a hiking trail, but trailhead is over 1 mi from campground. Bathhouses not cleaned regularly and laundry harbors huge roaches. Site 13 is gravel and very unlevel. We were here for two weeks so had a knowledgeable assessment of campground.

Beautiful remote campground in a natural setting with water and electricity at sites. The pluses: relatively private, level sites with shade, fire rings, tables, and lantern posts; heated/air-conditioned bath houses with hot water; hosts keep campground clean; good well-marked hiking trails, and access to pleasant small lake.
The big negative is that Forest Service Rangers do not enforce 14-day limit nor make sure everyone pays the nominal fee. There were many squatters. Friendly hosts were not able to enforce.
No cell reception; need to go several miles from camp to get 1 bar LTE on Verizon. Other carriers don’t appear to be any better.
The charm is that camp is remote, stock up before; it’s 20 miles to a grocery store. Good paved roads.