roadtripper5431271

We decided to risk the drive in to see if there was a spot available for an overnight stay. The unpaved road coming in was well maintained with only a few areas that were bumpy. We snagged one of the two remaining sites. Popular place on a Saturday night. Sites are well spaced out but all visible to each other. People all seem to be very respectful. We have seen everything from trucks with roof top tents all the way up to a decent sized class A. No power or water, plenty of spots to utilize solar panels. The river views are beautiful. The only downside is the bathroom is limited to two porta-potties. They are maintained and not the worst we have seen. We did have quite a few bugs (mostly biting gnats) but it seems to be worse under the trees, where our site is.

The campsite itself is fine. Level with gravel and some shade from pecan trees. We were able to self check in.

We saw zero support or maintenance crew. I’m sure they are there because the bathroom was clean when we arrived (at 8pm) but by the morning the bathrooms were trashed and smelled like cigarettes. There was also a pile of cigarette butts on the ground at our campsite.

There were a few amenities: a playground that had seen better days, a pool closed due to coronavirus (understandable), and some poorly maintained shuffle boards. It looked like some of the campsites had full hook up, ours did not. There was WiFi and it seemed pretty fast.

Overall, not worth the price for an overnight stay. But it is close to I-75 and if you are self contained, may not be too bad. This was our first experience at a KOA and we weren’t impressed.

We loved camping here. We brought our kids for a long weekend and found it to be family friendly, clean, and beautiful. The bathrooms were well kept and heated (which was important when temps dipped close to freezing). Our kids enjoyed the larger playground near the entrance. The one closer to the camp sites was very small and my kids were uninterested. Likewise, we skipped mini golf as the course looked like it had seen better days. We did ride bikes quite a bit and drove down the road to Providence Canyon twice to hike.

If you are going for the canyons, great. Otherwise there is not much in the area to do. We did visit Omaha Brewing which was ok and had a food truck on site.

Cell reception within the campground was minimal at best. We didn’t mind too much since we were trying to stay off devices but on a rainy morning it made the time drag.

A few of the sites had some deep water and puddles after rain, ours included. We should have planned better but had at least a couple inches of standing water one morning when we were surprised by the weather (that we weren’t able to check). But we made the best of it and it didn’t ruin our trip. Site 11 seemed to get more water than 12 did.

Overall we would visit again, especially if we wanted to go to the canyons again.

This was our second time camping here. The park is beautiful, the few staff we saw were friendly, campers are all pretty respectful. There is a lake loop trail that was easy enough to hike with our two small kids and there is a playground with a small creek that the kids loved playing in. Woods behind our site had lots of little trails that the kids ventured through.

The camp site was a good size and level. It has water and electric hookups and there is a dump station as you leave the loop. There is an offset area with a fire ring and picnic table and, depending on which site you have, it is sometimes on the driver side which could be awkward if you have a traditional set up with an awning on the passenger side. Our set up is pretty flexible so this actually worked really well for us. There were some time periods that we were without water. They were doing some work in the tent area on the water lines. We were never notified when water would be turned off or turned back on, which was an inconvenience.

The bathrooms on this loop leave a lot to be desired. The stall doors didn’t close well, some of the toilets shook when you flushed them, and the showers were smaller than most RV showers. Even though I did see someone cleaning the bathrooms (once in our whole trip), they did not seem to be taking any extra measures. In fact, there was a robe hanging on the hook by the main sink that was there our entire trip. Not super thorough.

There are signs everywhere regarding bears. Take them seriously. We had two different times a bear came through the loop, once right through our campsite. Our camp neighbors were there when this happened and said it seemed more curious than anything, just passing through then up into those trails behind the campsite.

The campground is a very short drive from downtown Helen. Lots of shops, restaurants, tubing, and a mountain coaster. Nearby there are also numerous waterfalls and day hikes. We had no cell reception at the campsite but did have it in other areas of the park as well as in Helen.

We loved it here. The sites were spacious and ours was a pull-through. Lots of room for the kids to play and right across from the clean bathrooms. Sites were fairly private but ours lacked shade. Water, electric, and septic on site.

We especially loved the river access. Great ramp to put in kayaks and a small swimming area with steps leading down to the water. Kids loved it.

Everything was very clean and well kept. The only thing we would have liked would have been more shade and maybe some bike racks down by the river. You can’t park right by the ramp so be prepared to carry or cart your watercraft from the area behind the camp office.

Site had plenty of room and a large tent pad which came in handy since we were without a tow vehicle last minute so we used two small tents instead. The office deducted $10 from the original $45 a night since we were in tents. Most sites were pull through and they are spread out enough that you have a decent amount of privacy. Bathrooms were a short walk but still close enough. They were cleaned daily and in working order. Laundry room was available and clean as well.

Visitor center is newer and staff was very friendly and helpful. Our kids enjoyed visiting the snakes on display as well. Trails were all clear and pretty scenery. The lookout tower was a little underwhelming. The top floor was closed and the tower didn’t seem completely stable.

Playground seemed fairly new and had a lot to offer and there is a nearly outdoor exercise area as well.

Overall we really enjoyed the park. We have been once before and would come back again.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Salt Springs. There were large grassy areas behind many of the sites, including ours, that provided room for the kids to run around and also allowed a direct path to the comfort station. Many of the sites had shade and good places to hang hammocks. All sites were paved and had full hookups. Comfort stations were clean and well maintained. We even noticed extra sanitizing to help with coronavirus concerns.

The springs were close enough to walk or bike and we loved how the water was not too deep so our kids could confidently swim and play. We also used the boat ramp to launch our own kayaks and explore the area.

There was very little privacy between sites but the open areas made it feel like you weren’t packed in. There was almost no cell reception on AT&T but there is (very slow) WiFi available. The only bugs we encountered were yellow flies just one day and we did see quite a few ticks so I would bring some spray, just in case.