Stephen C. Foster State Park

Stephen C Foster is not an easy park to get to. The drive to the park is about 45 minutes off the main highway traveling from Macon towards Gainesville. Its about 45 minutes from Valdosta. It can be brutally hot in the summer and the mosquitos are everywhere. You are going to see alligators if you decide to venture onto the swamp.

With all of that being said, this is truly one of my favorite state parks in Georgia. The scenery once you enter the well protected park is truly spectacular. We have always visited in November when the temperatures are quite mild. Each time we have rented boats and paddled out onto the swamp water and adjoining lake. There are alligators everywhere, but we took all of the appropriate precautions like don't get IN the water and don't bring your dog with you on the boat. The campground is not very close to the swamp or the water so you need not worry about seeing an alligator near your tent or camper. They even have platforms to camp on the water with the appropriate permits.

Its hard to describe this wilderness area, but it has truly captured our imagination. The variety of birds you will see is stunning. There is wildlife everywhere. In fact, that is one of the things that impresses us each time we visit...just how alive everything seems to be, even the water seems to have a pulse. The campground is a little closer together than most in Georgia State Parks but there is plenty of foliage between each site that you hardly know you have a neighbor.

I truly love this place and think anyone visiting Georgia should visit this park and marvel at what a preserved swamp truly offers.

PROS:
Stunning scenery
Wildlife all around
Decent hikes near the campground
Great paddling on the lake and through the swamp (daytime only)
Nice privacy and space
Clean facilities

CONS:
HOT in the summer

This was our second stay here. It is a very nice, wooded park with decent sites. Reservations are allowed, but you pick your campsite when you arrive. We had a pull-through with water and electric.

We visited during the month of April before the hot and buggy season, but we did have some pretty heavy spring rain one day and one night.

The park is the primary entrance to the Okefenokee Swamp, a beautiful, magical place full of Spanish moss-laced trees, cypress knees, water lilies and more. There is lots of wildlife there, especially birdlife. We saw alligators, shorebirds, songbirds, owls, and deer. There are also bears there but we didn't see any. The water is very, very dark (black water) which adds to the uniqueness of the place.

There's limited hiking but this place is about the swamp with many interesting water trails. We have our own kayaks, but canoes, kayaks and fishing boats are available for rent. We found ourselves alone in the swamp with occasional encounters with others. This is one of our favorite places in the United States for paddling.

It's also a very remote place so bring provisions with you.

While there, a field mouse found its way into our basement (he made a nest out of paper towels). We never found him, and, luckily when we cleaned out the basement at our next stop we didn't find any mice.

We just happened to stop here on our way to Anastasia State Park in FL. The campground is well taken care of with nice clean restrooms. We paddled the swamp trail and was so surprised how beautiful and serene it was. You can rent canoes, kayaks and power boats at the park office. Deer are everywhere around dusk and so are the nats. We didn't have any problem with bugs while we were on the water. Mid-October is a nice time to visit since the temperature ranges from 60-80. Also, if you are interested at star observing, you can see the Milky Way fairly well.

We loved this campground -- it's in the middle of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and just a beautiful place to camp. The sites are varied in size, all with plenty of trees and grass and with electric and water (no sewer). The entrance to the campground is not the same as the day-use park entrance, so check the directions before you go! The gate closes at 5pm and there is NO way to get in after that time, so make sure to plan ahead - especially since the road in is 18 miles long. Also, there are no gas stations or grocery stores for miles, so make sure you have all your supplies before you go. And if you're working from the road, there's no internet, so make a plan for that as well.

The swamp boat tour with a park naturalist was fantastic -- we saw an incredible amount of alligators and birds. There are 2 tours a day (morning and afternoon) for $15. Completely worth it. If you want to get really (and I mean really) up close with a gator, you can also rent a kayak or canoe, but our guide said there's an incredible amount of people that fall in the water every year, so we were ok with the guided tour. There are a few level walking trails around the park, and the 18 mile road in is great for a long bike ride.

Because there's no sewer, we used the showers and they were really nice. Hot water, good pressure and really private.

12/03/2018 Enjoyed this campground very much. Used a half price promo from Georgia Parks. Site had 30 Amp & water. Lots of surface water around on trails as it had just stormed. Wildlife was all over campground and included deer, bear and of course gators. Not many campers here in early December. Sites very private with high brush separating each site.
Free paved boat ramp near camp store. Bathrooms a bit dated but very clean. Washers and dryers on site. Nearest town 20 miles with limited options as far as food & fuel. I had little to no cell service and free cable hookup.

huge disappointment— #59 is a pull thru site, quite a distance from the bath house. laundromat has washers, no dryers. the boat tours weren’t running & the visitor center wasn’t open...blamed it all on covid. no pool. nearest grocery is the Dollar General store, about 20 miles away. beer is at BP station. nearest restaurant (actually a gas station) is half hour drive, one way. the bugs were jurassic size. we saw deer, a black bear, turkey and a dead raccoon. there is a play area for the kiddos.

This is a beautiful campground and State Park. The real draw here is the swamp and bayou. Rent a boat, get out on the waterways to see gators, turtles, egrets, herons, cypress trees, and lilies. We rented a 2-person kayak for the day at $30 (a bargain), and saw all of these. We saw the most gators in the area around Billy's Island, however, we saw them in many other locations too. We saw only a handful of others out in boats and really felt we had the bayous to ourselves. The campground is great too. The sites are relatively private with jungle foliage in between them. The bath house is the best I've ever seen. Use the handicap showers. They are huge, clean, and have nice benches for setting out your clothes and toiletries. Cell phone reception is very poor - no bars or bandwidth without a cell phone booster. With a booster, the bandwidth was still very low, but fine for messaging, email, and surfing the net, but not for streaming.

My family and I tent camped here over Mother’s Day weekend, hoping to get a glimpse of the Milky Way. This is a certified deep sky viewing site, but if you’re looking to see the galactic core of the Milky Way, it’s not always visible. I didn’t realize there was a difference between seeing the Milky Way and seeing the galactic core of it. You have to come in August or September to see that. Just something to keep in mind if that’s what you’re coming for.

The sites were very clean, and the bathrooms are individually locking rooms with showers. I like that much better than the stalls at other campgrounds.

There’s no stores nearby, but the office sells some basic supplies. The closest other store is 18 miles away, so come very prepared!

I wish there had been more boardwalk trails than just the one. The land trails had way too many bugs constantly attacking us, even with high DEET spray.

Be VERY bear safe at your campsite. We had a visitor around 3AM, which was unnerving. The Okefenokee has a third of Georgia’s black bear population.

It can be tough to find a clear view of the sky. There is a open field that works for astrophotograhy. Trouble here is, you are locked in all night. Once they lock the gate you don't get out until the morning. They advertise this as a dark sky park , but like so many other dark sky parks they make it almost impossible to gain access. You must buy a camping spot to enjoy or photograph the night sky. Its swamp, so lots of bugs, etc. I will not return to photograph the night sky at this park. They should make the park accessable at night if they are going to promote it as a dark sky park.

We have camped here many times mostly in the winter. The sites are well separated with foliage and are Florida sandy level. There is much to do and can all be reached walking from the camping sites. Avoid festival timing throughout the year.