roadtripper5705311

I needed a quick place off the interstate on our way up to SD and this one looked like it fit the bill. It's about 5 miles off the interstate but it's a quick straight shot and is very accessible for a quick stop. I noticed when I made the reservation that they had "full price" and "primitive" sites. What surprised me was that their primitive sites still had water and electric. I didn't need anything fancy for one night so we picked one of these.

Surprisingly, our primitive site was beautiful. The loop we were in was definitely a little older, hillier and run down than the premium loops, but we lucked out with a very large and flat site facing the water. The sites in this loop were a mixed bag. Some were great, others were trash.

The other loops were really nice. The mid-50s have a huge "yard" that leads right down to the swimming area and the playground. If you have kids, pick this loop.

The 100s loop was really cool. It's pretty separate from the rest of the campground and shares a nice grassy area in the middle of all the sites. There're nice views of the lake here and sitting areas overlooking the lake. Very peaceful area of the CG.

Overall, great CG, consistent with what I've come to expect from COE campgrounds. We saw 2 skunks and some deer. CG hosts were very pleasant. Bathrooms seemed clean and well-kept. I'd stay here again in a heartbeat for a night or two.

Read my full review in the blog link above!

We stayed here last June on a spur of the moment trip. We lucked out and got the last site available...but I'd stay in the same site again in a heartbeat. I think it was one of the best sites. The campground has great amenities for being a state park...pool, live music, movie night, games, etc. The sites are all pretty good. The newer loop which is where we were was the nicest I've ever seen at a state park...RV luxury level sites. Sites were paved, private, full hookup and even had personal little globe lights at each spot. The older sites (pretty much all of the other ones) were still paved, just older and not as nice.

The tent area is quite nice and unique. The tent sites have parking close to the sites with a short walk to your spot, giving you nice privacy from the other campers.

The biggest complaint I have with this park is the lack of access to the beach. You have 3 ways to get to the beach which is 0.9 miles away. You can walk, ride a bike or take the tram which operates every 15-30 minutes. It was extremely inconvenient to not be able to drive right up to the beach with all of the millions of things that inevitably accompany you to the beach for the day.

Outside of beach access, this is a great park. It's a bit on the pricey side of things, especially compared to other FL state parks. But it is quite beautiful and clean. We stayed at Grayton Beach SP this last trip and we prefer it to Topsail.

In the midst of our crazy hot summer we decided to head up to North Georgia to find somewhere a bit cooler. It's about 10 degrees cooler here than in Atlanta. It's heavily wooded and while the temps were a little better, it was still very muggy and not breezy at all.

If you're in something smaller the popup/tent only loop is amazing and tucked away from everything else. Head up here if you're in something small. If you're in something a bit bigger, head first to sites 23-31 to see if there's anything open. These are nice in that they back up to the park trail and have a lot of space and no traffic. Otherwise, head across the bridge and try to get something around site 42 on the creek side.

Boats and miniature golf is WAY overpriced. Bring or rent a tube at Pappy's up the road and go tubing on the Nottley River. We tried but the water was too low. It's best after a good rain.

It's a nice park with dated bathrooms, good wifi as you get close to the welcome center, close proximity to Appalachian Trail, good sites, big crowds and lots to do around the lake. If you need to escape the summer heat or see some pretty fall colors, check it out.

We stayed here for 3 nights over Thanksgiving and we didn't want to leave. While I wouldn't give the actual campground a 5/5, the amenities here are what makes this park shine.

First, the negatives...
-The campsites are nothing special. Many have little to no privacy and the sites are relatively close together. About 1/3 of the sites have trees, but most don't.

-Don't stay on the main road through the park if you can help it. It's a VERY busy road. There are 511 campsites here so there is a lot of traffic all hours of the day.

-There are no fire pits at any of the campsites. A few clusters of campsites have a central community fire pit. We had fires two nights in ours and it was a lot of fun. It's a way to meet your neighbors for better or worse.

-It's not overly convenient to the beach. It's about a 1 mile bike ride to beach access. You can also drive to one of two state park beaches that are within 1/4 mile of the park access. You have to cross a major road to get to the beach.

-Playgrounds are old and dumpy. My kids weren't even slightly tempted.

Ok, the positives...

-The campsites are paved. Ours was very level. It's the first time I haven't had to level out the wheels in the last 20 campgrounds we've been to.

-Full hookups under $50.

-Wifi, sortof. We didn't have it at our campsite but they did have 10 mb speed at the camp store.

-There are two state park beach access points. One is the pier (free access if you're camping at the campground) and one is a regular parking lot with bathrooms. I'd recommend the regular beach access (not the pier). It's a short boardwalk walk to the bathrooms from the beach where you'll find very nice (nicest I've ever seen at a beach) bathrooms but also free INDOOR SHOWERS! During the summer months they also have concessions.

-They have an amazing pool! It's open year round but it was a little too chilly to swim in when we were there. They said they were working on getting the pool heated so that would be a welcome addition.

-Our favorite part of the park was the abundance of trails. There are miles and miles of trails suitable for biking, running and walking. Many of the miles are beautiful boardwalks. They seem very new and pretty. They also have at one bridge to the the pier completed and they are about to finish the bridge to the regular beach access.

While the campsites were just so-so, the overall appeal of the bike trails and pool were enticing enough that we will be back. I wish the main road wasn't there, but oh well. As far as the best area for campsites, I'd recommend anywhere west of the pool. There are some really nice water-front sites in the low 20s that are close to the trails and the beach.

This was our second time to stay at this campground and it was even better than I remembered. As we've been camping around Georgia and across the country over the last 2 years, this is one of the best that we've stayed at. If you're looking for something within an hour or two from Atlanta you'll be hard pressed to find a better spot.

Consistent with COE campgrounds around Georgia, you will find relatively level asphalt parking pads with very spacious gravel living areas that can easily accommodate a large tent. There are a few sites that are RV only that have concrete parking pads but no where for a tent. About 75% of the sites are lake view, though most sites sit up high and have a a steep downhill to the lake.

If you're traveling with a group they have site groupings that will easily accommodate you. If you're a group of two families there's a nice private spot at sites 103&104. No lake view but you're all by yourself. If you're a group of 3 then sites 93-95 are nice. Larger groups will be very well suited in sites 121-127 since they are all close and share an open area and they overlook the beach. Other loops are nice but more spread out. In my opinion, site 92 is the best in the park. It's at the top of a little mountain overlooking the lake on multiple sides and has plenty of space for the kids to play in the woods. It's a little far from the restroom, but it's worth it. If you want to jut out into the lake all by yourself, then sites 110 or 124 are for you. All-in-all, the whole campground is beautiful but the back half (sites 78 and above) is by far the better.

If there is anything negative to say it would be that there is a train that you can hear throughout the day and night. Won't bother you if you're in a camper, but if you're in a tent then it might wake you up. The only other thing that would make this park perfect would be hiking trails. Sure, you can go hike at Red Top Mountain SP 10 minutes away, but this place is so pretty that it would be well suited for some trails.

Bathrooms are fine but nothing amazing. There are two shower houses, a few bathroom only houses and a few multi use houses that have 2 private all-in-one bahroom/shower units.

It's bike friendly though it's very hilly. The playground is nice and overlooks the back beach (which is a better beach IMO, just no restroom nearby).

Seasonal workers were strict but friendly enough.

Stay here, you won't regret it.

We stayed here over the Thanksgiving holiday 2020. We stayed in the Lower Campground and drove through the Upper Campground. Both campgrounds have some distinct pros and cons.

First the Lower. It's much smaller than the Upper...the loop can be walked in about 5 minutes. None of the sites were amazing. There were a few back-ins...I wouldn't stay in any of these. Tight spots and no yards. With the exception of a couple of the more traditional interior pull-thrus at the far end of the loop, pretty much all the pull-thrus are a bit weird. What I mean by this is that 2 or 3 sites share the same piece of gravel. One site bleeds right into the next site, often with no real delineation of boundaries. Very odd. All of the interior loop pull-thrus are backwards sites (door opens to road, not to the site. They all share a middle area with the opposite side of the loop that is about 20 meters away. The exterior sites face away and normally-facing sites (door opens to site). Most exterior sites don't have yards beyond the gravel (steep dropoffs). Our site (site 46) had the best view of the mountain. A few of the sites have a view of the lake below. Bathrooms are clean. Some stairs go down to the lake which is a nice lake for swimming/kayaking.

Upper Campground. It seemed to be double or triple the size. Most, if not all, of the exterior pull-thrus seemed to have large yards (opened up to woods and plenty of room to play). I don't recall if this loop had the same issues of shared gravel spaces with adjoining sites. We only did a drive-thru but I would definitely only stay in this campground if I came back.

The park itself is beautiful. Most of the longer trails were closed for repair while we were there but we were able to walk/hike to both of the lookouts. These lookouts are phenomenal and highly recommended. Sunset was amazing! We did the very (VERY) strenuous hike from the Lower Campground to Pulpit Rock. It was invigorating but we climbed 900' in less than a mile. Worth it though!

I LOVED this campground! We just got back from a 4700 mile trip around the West in which we stayed about about 9 different campgrounds ranging from private, state park, national park, national forest and Cracker Barrel. Out of them all, this was by far my favorite.

If you enjoy peace and quiet with a big dose of fresh air and aspens, this is the place for you. It is dry camping, so it's not for everyone. We didn't have reservations so we just showed up hoping for a site on Memorial Day. We were in luck with only 4 other campers in the CG. Be warned, the drive up is a little bit harrowing, especially if you are pulling a camper. Coming off of the interstate it's about a 4 mile drive when you pull onto a dirt road. From here it's about another 2-3 miles. The last mile or so will test your mettle a bit as there are a couple intense switchbacks that my wife was quite a bit unsure of. The last few hundred yards are a bit bumpy but then you arrive and you forget it all.

As we arrived, the CG hosts rushed out to meet us and welcome us. It's like they hadn't seen a person in a week and couldn't wait to say hey. They were extremely friendly and helpful, probably the most so of any CG host I've ever met. We did a quick drive through and decided on site 7 which I loved. We have a 30' TT and could probably fit into most sites.

The site itself was pretty level, only needed one set of blocks under the wheels and not much needed front to back. The quirk was that the fire ring and picnic table were on the opposite side of our door but not a huge deal. The table was good quality but a bit low to the ground.

So why was I so taken by this CG? I think it's just the solitude and peacefulness of it. It's so far up the road that you're unlikely to have much if any traffic, even in the busy times. When we arrived, the freshness of the air and the sound of the river below and the view (this site had a good view) put me in an instant chill mode and put a smile on my face.

There's a trail about 100 yards from the CG. We hiked about half a mile of it and it was pretty. Supposedly moose had been spotted recently. While you're here, make sure to go up to the top of Mt. Evans (it was closed the day we were there).

Just of note, there is one water spigot with REALLY good water pressure and a two door vault toilet that was clean and smelled good. You could also purchase wood bundles from the CG host for $5. No cell service at all. Overall, one of the best places we've ever stayed!

I don't even know where to start. This CG is probably my favorite that we've ever stayed at. Not only is the hiking great, the views amazing, the wildlife abundant and the huckleberry ice cream at the Swiftcurrent Inn to die for, the campground itself is awesome.

I chose to make a reservation 6 months before. After a few attempts, I was able to snag site 35. (FYI, reservations are hard to get here, especially if you're in anything bigger than 24'.) The site was amazing, but I literally barely got the camper out of the site. It was a pull-thru but there was a tree very forward in the site (around where my truck doors were) that wasn't going to allow me to pull out going forward. I had to back out of a nearly impossible site.

Our second site (I messed up the nights for my reservation) was a first-come-first-served site 75. It wasn't in the trees like 35 but had amazing views. A note on their first-come-first-served sites. They make you line up outside the CG and they assign you a site based on who's leaving each day. Lines start at 4 or 5 in the morning and sometimes people even sleep in their cars overnight to get a site. When we were there in late August, they had shut down St. Mary's to tenters because of bears so the demand was super high at Many Glacier.

If you're in a bigger camper or RV, the sites are limited.

They had lots of bathrooms. About half the bathhouses were newer and felt cleaner and more sparkly. They had wash sinks that we were able to dump our grey water into 5 gallons at a time. Lots of water spigots around the CG but they aren't threaded. If you need threaded hose to fill up your fresh water, get it at the dump station on your way in. Limited generator hours (3 2-hour blocks during the day). If you're using solar, there aren't many sunny spots.

The hiking from this CG is unmatched. We hiked 3 times and all were completely unique and insanely amazing. Iceberg Lake and Grinnell Glacier are must-dos. There's also a nice easy hike up to a couple of lakes from the CG called Swiftcurrent Pass Trail. Take it to just above Redcap Lake for some beautiful falls.

One of our favorite things each day was walking over to the Swiftcurrent Inn store and getting some ice cream. For $2.50 you can load up a container of soft-serve as high as you want (the kids...And their dad, LOVED this). They also have a (overpriced) restaurant and a great store with souvenirs and basic groceries. They have a local beer that you can buy by the bottle that's fantastic. While the Inn has wifi, it's only for hotel guests.

The road to get to this CG is the worst I've ever driven on. I was amazed that the camper was in one piece when we arrived.

I want so badly to go back to Many Glacier. Do yourself a favor and spend 5-6 days here. You won't be disappointed.

We've been to many of the state parks in Georgia and we've just discovered our new favorite. We were about a week too late for the peak colors (we arrived on Nov 8) but still got to enjoy some beautiful scenery. We stayed here for a Half Marathon at Chickamauga National Battlefield which was about 35 min away.

As others have mentioned, there're 2 RV campgrounds here, as well as a walk-in tent campground and a "yurt village". There are vast differences between the East and the West campgrounds.

The West CG is nestled in heavy woods and is very pretty. There are a couple pull-thrus but the majority of sites are back-in. The pull-thrus and one back-in are 50amp, the rest 30amp. There's a small playground and a trail from the CG that leads to the West Rim Trail. Take this trail left to see some amazing rocks and lookouts, go right to go to the East rim and the waterfalls. The West CG is NOT friendly to big rigs. If you have anything more than a 30-35' trailer you run a serious risk of damage. The lower loop especially has some hairpin turns that will cause your wheels to fall off the road. The problem is that there are 6-18" ruts just off the lip of the road. Couple that with 2-4' dropoffs along the road in other places it makes for a very dangerous place for your undercarriage.

The East CG is very different. It's very small and has almost no trees. There is no privacy and the sites are much closer together. The pads look nice and clean but none looked overly large. The benefit to this CG is its proximity to the east rim and the other recreation options. There's about a 3 mile drive between the two campgrounds (about 1 mile hike on the trails).

What makes this park so amazing is the hiking! WOW! The trails (and stairs...590ish of them) down to the waterfalls rival any national park scenery that you'll find, especially in the East. I highly recommend hiking down past Hemlock Falls to see a few more waterfalls and enjoy all the scenery.

There are other things to do here also. There's a disk golf course here ($4/pp), catfish pond (looked like you had to hike to it) and access to a long mountain biking trail.

This park isn't super accessible from the interstate but once you're here you'll be happy you made it. The National Battlefield is about 35 min away and Lookout Mountain is about 25 min away. You're 15-20 min away from the nearest grocery store and gas.

Stay here... You'll love it!

We were looking for a quick stop off the interstate as we were heading up to the Badlands. We showed up around 7 pm so we didn't get a chance to really explore the park, but we enjoyed this small campground.

The setting of the state park was beautiful. Surrounded by fields of sunflowers and corn, there's a big hill (too small to call a mountain) that rises up from it all and is where the campground is. The campground itself is mostly pull-thrus on grass or dirt pads. It's electric-only with water spigots throughout the CG. We landed a good site that was pretty level. There's only one small loop here so it had a homey feel to it.

The CG sits on top of a big hill and had a really nice overlook. There are evidently tons of hiking trails at this park which we weren't able to take advantage of. They have a really nice playground tucked in the woods. Bathroom was really nice and had individual shower/bathroom combos. CG hosts were friendly but man, were they hardcore! I hadn't hardly stepped out of my truck before they were on top of me about paying the parking pass ($7 I think) and how my firewood from GA better not even touch the ground (I get the whole wood from out of state thing). I felt accosted but once we got set up, things were fine.

This is a sleepy CG 5 min off of the interstate. I'd stay here again in a heartbeat and wouldn't even mind staying a couple of nights just to relax a little bit. There are NO stores nearby so bring your supplies. Also, I don't remember seeing a dump station.