Little Ocmulgee State Park & Lodge

We have camped here in 2011 and 2013 in a 35 foot fifth wheel, both times in the winter.

This a a beautiful resort state park with a campground, lodge, golf course, splash pad (in the summer), a lake, and a hiking trail with a boardwalk through cypress trees. We had a large, gravel back in site with lots of room between the sites. The sites have water and electric, picnic tables, and fire pit. The sites are not waterfront but the lake is only a short walk from the campground.

We enjoyed our stays at Little Ocmulgee and would definitely stay here again.

We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and found the campground nearly empty. The sites are ample and level with packed gravel. We selected a pull-through, full hookup site (including cable). Not all sites are full hookup and sites are first come first serve. The bathhouse was across the street and very well maintained. The State Park has a lake with swimming area, a splash pad for kids, and golf course. By Friday evening the population had dramatically increased. The campground remained quiet and the weekenders filtered out by Sunday morning. If you’re looking for a quite place to do nothing or an overnight stopover in central GA, this is your place. The nearby town of Helena, GA has a Dollar General and Harvey’s grocery store as well as gas stations and a McDonald’s.

Stayed one night on Fri, Sep 9, 2018. Site not assigned, pick your own as available. Good wide pull thru site with both 30 & 50 Amp. No dump on this site however there is one on way out leaving near host site. 180-200 TV/cable channels. Site Host mostly rode around in golf cart and did not offer any assistance. Attempted to find trail leading to lodge/restaurant without success. Not very well marked and host did not have a clue!

We had site 38 which was at the very back and quite. This site is a pull through and was very large but I had to maneuver to the very inside for my sewer hose to reach. I’m lucky my truck was 4x4 or I don’t think I would have been able to maneuver as where the truck was when it was hooked up was very soft sand. Mostly level but several sites were extremely unlevel. We were closest to the beach but would never swim as the water was very dark and had very little movement. Several sites do have sewer and several do not. We were right next to the bath house which didn’t bother us at all and our tent camper guests loved the easy of that location. Would stay here again but be weary of the site you choose as again some are extremely not level.

We had site 38 which is large and was a pull through but required some extra maneuvering to slide to the far inside for my sewer hose to reach. Luckily my truck is 4x4 or this wouldn’t have been possible as where my truck was is very soft dirt/sand. Our site was mostly level and one site beside me had a concrete pad but the other side was extremely unlevel as with several sites I saw at this park. We had sewer hook ups but several don’t and the dump station is located by some sites and blocks the road when you dump. We were at the very back and had no shade over our site but plenty of tall trees around but was a quick walk to the beach. We would never swim at this beach as the water was very dark and no movement. They do have a splash pad and pool. Our site was located near the bath house which didn’t bother us at all and our tent guests loved being close. We would stay here again and if you choose to stay here look at your site wisely as I said some of extremely uneven.

We checked in on Friday and out on Monday. Friday and Saturday night was full, only about 20 campers remained on Sunday night. Even though it was full for the weekend, it was still fairly quiet. This was our first time with this big fifth wheel, so we had a little bit of a learning curve. That said, we aren't a fan of any of the pull-thru sites for a large fifth wheel. They aren't very level and at our site, there was a lot of sand at the top end so you definitely needed a 4x4 to get in/out, and the slope made it really hard to unhitch. But, after we used all our leveling blocks and wood blocks to get set up, we totally loved the park. There's a beautiful golf course, a 265 acre lake (but bring your own canoe/kayak/boat), 2 nature trails, lots of places to walk, a lodge w/ restaurant that operates on a limited schedule. Restrooms were old but clean. Campsites were clean and fire rings weren't full of ashes from previous fires. We didn't have any problem with ants at all. If you take your dog with you, lots of the spots are nice and large, backing up to woods, so you can take them to do their business close by. We walked around the park while it was still full and noted the sites where people had large rigs and didn't have to use very many levelers (none of those were pull thrus). Our favorite level sites were: 1, 12, 31, 35 and second favorites were 16, 19, 28, 39, 48, 51. Not all sites are 50amp and not all sites have sewer. Only one lane dump station on side of the road next to the camp host. Also, if you're a senior, you get 20% off the nightly rate and 20% off green fees.

The park was easy to find. It is located just north of McRae-Helena off of GR441. There is pavement all the way. Signage is adequate. Check in was efficient and friendly. The rules are fairly basic. The interior roads are paved and in good condition.

Our site, 02, was a gravel base back in that was easily long enough for our Coach and Towed . Services (30 amp, water cable and sewer) were to the left side. Distancing is good for a rural park. Each site has a table and a fire pit. Our site was flat and even. Overall the park was well groomed and nicely decorated for the Christmas Season.

The park included wifi and cable TV worked well. We did find some OTA channels as well. Satellite might be difficult. We did not use the washrooms or showers but we checked and found them clean and modern.

There are no restaurants or stores within easy walking distance but just a short drive away you can find food, shopping and convenience stores. We found this park to be an okay overnighter. We paid $35.00 (plus $4.55 tax) per night and we feel we received good value. We would be back if in the area again.

This park seems to be secondary to the golf course and lodge , which seem to be very nice. Sites are mostly level, gravel and of varying lengths. Water and electric with dump station. Although it is a state park it isn’t listed on the Georgia parks website. It’s found at www. ittleocmulgeelodge.com. Cell service for ATT and Verizon is spotty at best.

We stayed here for 3 nights at the beginning of April, 2023 - our price reflects any taxes, res fee, discount etc. After being spoiled by incredible lakeside sites at George L. Smith, Mistletoe & Hamburg, I wasn't in love with this campground initially. Our site was long enough & level enough, but they were doing construction on the cabins behind us, so we had a view of orange construction fence (and construction noise). Also, most of the Georgia State Parks have nice check in facilities and a small store (we collect stickers & magnets). The GA State Parks attached to golf courses are run independently. I did walk up to the lodge - nothing exciting and the store was minimal.
What I did like: beautiful oaks, really nice day use area, two book trades, inexpensive laundry, spotless bathhouse with a great shower, nice hosts, kids & families having fun!
If you are there on a weekend, expect kid noise - all the kids here were having fun and were really well-behaved. We had a bit of construction noise too.