Tugaloo State Park

One of the best State Parks we have visited. Everything was clean & the site was developed in a natural looking way. We had a site on the waterfront. It was lovely. The office was closed when we arrived but the sign said to settle in & register the next day. Staff were friendly, welcoming and helpful.

This park is close to home, about 30 minutes so we decided to give it a try earlier this year during the Covid lockdown because Georgia state parks were open. First I'll give the pros: waterfront with great view, back in site but easy entry, level-no blocking necessary. Now the cons: campground roads and signage is wonky and hard to follow, sites are laid out terrible with some pull throughspots so close to road I'd be concerned someone would hit the slideout, firepit way too close to parking (almost under awning). The rules were barely enforced if at all--dog droppings everywhere, dogs running loose, neighbors played music so loud we went inside, then while we were inside they set up a cornhole game on our campsite, later on in the afternoon another group showed up and set up a tent on an area that was questionably part of our campsite but definitely not on a tentpad. Narrow roads and vehicles parked on the shoulder. And yes, I'm going to give it another try sometime, it was possibly full of riff-raff because few other parks were open. It's quite a ways from shopping.

One of my favorite parks to stay at with large lots and plenty of space between other campers. If possible, the lakefront lots are the best. Enjoy hiking, beach, and many other activities. The accessibility to the park is excellent only being about seven minutes from the interstate and roads are wide.

EDIT: at the time of this review we were driving a 40' Class A

PROS: Great views, Beautiful area, not terribly far off the interstate for a quick over nighter, The park looked clean and nice on the drive in to our loop.

CONS: Sites so close to the road peoples slide outs were at risk. Our loop was VERY narrow and steep. Our site was so close to 77 it appeared to almost as one site. Our site was supposed to be 50' and the turn in so sharp the camper on 77 had to move his vehicle. Campers on both side came out to watch the fun. As our neighbors said, "You're going to put THAT in THERE"? The site was VERY tight, just barely big enough, glad we did not have a slide out, and we unable to access one bay storage door do to a tree.

SUGGESTION: I would suggest you walk or drive the loops before turning onto them, once you're in you are committed.

I drove through this campground looking for a spot for our 44’ Blue Bird. They list 50’ sites. However, there is no reasonable way I felt I could get our bus into the high 90’s to 100 site numbers. The turn into the sites is 90 degrees and very narrow. Certainly would require off roading the front axle or rear....maybe both.
If I could get the bus in, I would have to back all the way out because the exit has such a break in road elevation it looked like we would high center.
I’m not sure we could get our old 36’ Alpine Coach in there that had a wheelbase nearly as long as a 40’.
Check it out first if you have a larger rig. If you fit your 44-45’ in let us know.
Other than the roads, if you make it, seems to be a pretty nice campground during the week.

We stayed at Tugaloo State Park in Lavonia, Georgia. Nice campground with electric and water at sites, easy pull through dump. Bathroom facilities were clean with laundry and camp hosts were nice. Premium sites on the water for $35. We were on site 73. Look at map as some big rigs may have issues. On Lake Hartwell, sites had nearby steps to enter water, so bring a float or boat.
Happy Camping! #neverenoughsunsets 🌅

Had a wonderful stay at Tugaloo. We were in site 73 which in my opinion is the best site. Large pull through lake front. Large outside living area with lots of grass for the dogs. Next favorite sites would be 78, 79 & 80. Also lake front but highly shaded. There was no one next to us or behind us during our Monday-Friday stay. Bathhouse was just okay. They did shut the water off to the entire park for a couple hours every day we were there. Not sure why. Make sure you check site lengths, some seemed fairly short.

Beautiful campsite right on the lake. Water and power available. Reasonably clean restrooms. Huge trees provide great shade. There were many sites at which people were able to tie up their boat close by. About 15 minutes into town. Wish we had reserved for more nights but it was full even during weekdays

We stayed in a pull through site with a nice view of the lake which was obstructed by trees but still very nice. The site was not level, but we were able to level our fifth wheel with two layers of leveling blocks under our right-side tires. This appears to be an older campground and it has the narrow interior roads to go with it. The big draw of this campground is its location on amazing Lake Hartwell. You will have a lot of boat noise during the day, but it quiets down nicely after dark. Our site was very private, it had 30-amp power and water. The dump station is easily accessible and set up for incoming and outgoing traffic with a lane on each side with two sewer holes. The cell coverage was just okay on both AT&T and T-Mobile good for email, calls and web browsing, but not strong enough for streaming. We got plenty of OTA TV channels from Greenville, SC which is not too far away. There are at least two areas to launch boats from in the park as well as plenty of places to access the lake for swimming and sunbathing. Easy access to I-85 which will get you to Clemson and Greenville, SC which have awesome restaurants and shops. We didn’t make it to the nearby town of Lavonia, GA but it looked cute when we passed through on our way to the park.

Site #48, my favorite site. I would have never imagined that I would like this spot if I had neighbors on both sides and yet I did. Perhaps it is because I had great neighbors and it really was only for the weekend. I was here in November so the campground was not real full, obviously more campers on the weekend. Also this site may or not be noisy when in the summer, the lake is full of boats and jet skis. I just really enjoyed the view and the park. There are a few trails from the campground that were nice for hiking and I kayaked out to the island one day. Other campers bring their boat and dock it near their campsite.

Many of the sites in this campground, overlook the water so you may prefer a pull thru site. I really think the majority of the sites are very good. The beauty is with Georgia State campgrounds, you don't reserve a unique spot and can choose your site when arriving at the campground. Want a plus? There is cable TV, not digital but could get all of the cable stations.