Red Top Mountain State Park

We have camped at this park many times over the years while we lived in Atlanta. Its very close to the city while offering great pine forest hiking, water activities and nice sites. Its a large park with separate areas for tent camping and RV camping. Although, you can have a tent in the RV area, just not the other way around. There is a group of large pull-through spots right at the entrance that work best for larger rigs. Don't overlook these sites, they still offer decent space between each site.

We love to hike when we camp and prefer campgrounds that offer some level of hiking right outside our door. This is where Red Top Mountain really excels. There are a huge amount of both hiking and biking trails to choose from while most are pretty easy hikes you can really rack up the miles. The campground itself is quite forested and always makes for a nice evening stroll after dinner. They also have Bluegrass at the old Homestead near the main lodge on Saturday nights through the summer. A few times each year they do an iron pour using the old smelting equipment which we have never seen but always hear great things about.

Despite how busy it sounds, it truly offers some nice solitude if you want to camp within 40 minutes of Atlanta. I recommend making reservations. When we lived in Atlanta you could not reserve specific sites, so that can sometimes be a downside.

PROS:
Beautiful forested lake setting and some sites with water views
TONS of hiking and biking trails
Great variety of sites from very private to shared for groups
Nice pull-through section
Water and electric at RV sites
Dump station as you exit the park

CONS:
Dump station can be tricky for the pull-through sites
Sites can be un-level
Wish it was $25 or under
Cell signal an be spotty but always usable

I have only stayed here in the late fall so although somewhat busy during the weekends, very quiet, peaceful during the week. I love the sites near the water which are not pull-thrus. The great attribute about Georgia SP system, is that you reserve a site but not a specific site. When you arrive, you find your site. This is a really great system if you haven't been to the particular park and can't get a sense of the sites on-line when reserving. I particularly loved site #28. The road around the campground is paved, but does get narrow in some areas.

They have some fun hiking (mountain biking) trails that can be accessed from the campground. Q-dog loves water and pinecones, so she loves this park.

There is also a sweet tent area (perhaps small popup), with some of the sites right on the water.

Pretty sweet park within striking distance of Atlanta. Wooded, pretty quiet (some highway noise), a good bit of hiking. Lots of pines, pretty easy in and out, Verizon was 4G and fast in the pull throughs, not sure about the rest of the park. Showers are hot and clean and as a bonus the inside is kept warm (we were there in December). It's not the shortest trip into Atlanta but it is reachable. Closer is Acworth / Kennesaw with some decent food and all the shopping you need. When we come here it's to visit friends in the metro area so we would love to be closer in but do appreciate the peace and quiet after dealing with the Atlanta traffic.

We came here for the twice annual iron pour event, only to find it was canceled because of rain in the forecast. We still had a great weekend, though. There's a row of 12 pull-through sites here that are most appropriate for bigger rigs, but there are also a few 40' back-in sites scattered throughout the other parts of the campground that could work. Only the back-in sites have lake views and/or access, but our pull through site was very spacious and surrounded by woods; we saw deer from our site several times. Some of the pull throughs are very hilly (we were in site 10 and I think we managed to get the single steepest one); one review I read described the sites as not level but "crowned"....i.e. we had to pull up a steepish hill (and back down to leave), but it was fairly easy to get level once the trailer was at the top of the hill. Bathhouses were nicely updated and very clean. There's a small playground and access to a couple of the park's hiking trails directly from the campground (we walked the Iron Hill Trail, which has lots of nice lake views). The park itself, despite the lack of an iron pour, had a ton of scheduled activities going on, plus lots of recreational opportunities like boating, mountain biking, and hiking. The park is less than an hour north of Atlanta, so it could make a good base for exploring the city, and there's also quite a bit to do in Cartersville (science museum, the Booth Western Art Museum, Etowah Indian Mounds, etc)

A couple of words of caution: there are two entrances to the park; the from the west has a narrow bridge with 14' clearance and a sharp turn in the middle of a steep hill. We took this road in and it was fine, but we left to the south, on Glade Rd, and it was a better route for RVs. Also, there are a couple of sharp turns in the campground....one when you turn to get to the row of pull throughs and another from that loop to the dump station and exit (and an awkwardly placed fence that we nearly got stuck on).

Gorgeous park and lake even in Feb and we got some snow! Fun to kayak and hike. We had some rude party neighbors in the yurt but otherwise loved our stay. Word of caution: The roads are very windy and narrow and many sites are very unlevel. Site 25 was decently level but even with our jacks down we struggled to be level.

We camped here Aug 7-9. First of all, the bathroom near site 85 is in bad shape. The benches by the showers in both bathrooms are ripped out. No place to place your items. The shower heads spray water all over the place. In the mens, there aren't even hooks to hang a towel. Toilets look like kiddie ones. Cant they get the oval ones that are at least adult? They are loose also. When we left on Sunday about 10:30 am, there was a line to dump the tanks for campers. This wouldn't be so bad, but there is only one side to the dump station. There were two roads feeding into the area with people waiting and getting mad. There were cars just trying to drive out that were stuck behind campers. Someone called the ranger and they told the first guy to hurry up. It was the worst experience we have had trying to dump our camper. The road going into the camping areas past the dump station is too narrow for two campers to pass each other. Never again.

We stayed in a pull through with a 40 ft class A, plenty of space, fairly easy to level. They do have some sites with a view of Altoona lake, but you need to check them out via satellite to make sure easy to get into. Going to stay over thanksgiving 2024 and the site will be a lake view, back in #33. We drove by to make sure we could get in and out easily. Gorgeous site and it will work. Great hiking, clean campground, Verizon was good. In the forest. Deer in the mornings!

The campsite had the fire ring and picnic table on the wrong side for having a camper but it would be a great site for someone in a tent.

Could not be happier -- because we were prepared! This campground is definitely on our "go back anytime" list! Spacious, treed sites, very respectful of quiet hours, not too far from I-75, but far enough that crickets could be heard over the distant purr of the interstate. I loved this place so much that I collected some intel for those that have larger rigs (like over 30 feet large).

Larger rigs should opt for the pull throughs, and even at that, should avoid sites 2, 9, 10, and 12. Those are severe taildraggers. Lots of ruts in the pavement where those that have gone before left a souvenir. We stayed in site 86, but had to get a little creative to get out of it once we were in it. (We are 42' long, just the camper).

Every site had water and 20/30/50 amp electric. PLUS Cable!!! Every site!! Even the yurt, and the tent sites... I was amazed. The staff were incredibly courteous, considering this park gets a lot of pressure so close to Atlanta and with so much fantastic hiking and history.

We were here in the off-season, Thanksgiving weekend. We checked out on a Monday so there was no line at the dump station, which --like others have noted -- is not slanted to your dumping advantage, but you'll definitely leave with less than you brought. We took the good with the bad, and dumped again at a Camping World close to our house.

Several sites have the "patio" area on the "wrong" side. Again, with all the attributes of the campground and park, we just adapted and walked around the camper. Not a big deal in our book, and the staff are aware and freely offer guidance to "pull in forward, or however you want once you get to your site." I liked that.

Camp here, enjoy some treed privacy and a nice fire, and not being in your neighbor's lap. Plus they have a small laundromat and a Little Free Library. I was in heaven.

Park is wooded with some sites having a lake view. Most sites are slightly un-level and power and water were in the front of the site. I had to pull in our 30' RV to get to the level spot and be able to reach the utilities. Road leading out is tight, I would not recommend it for RVs much over 30'. Arrival is quick, just check in at the campground store, they give you the gate code. All neighbors were courteous and quiet. Lots of hiking in the area.