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4.5
72 votes

Tugaloo State Park

1763 Tugalo State Park Road, Lavonia, Georgia 30553 USA

$
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Closed Now
Opens Fri 7a
  • Independent
  • Credit Cards
    Accepted
  • Pet Friendly
  • Not Wheelchair
    Accessible
  • Public
    Restrooms
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“Natural perfection and great views”

Situated on a wooded peninsula, Tugaloo’s cottages and most campsites offer spectacular views of 55,590-acre Lake Hartwell in every direction. Some cottages even have private boat docks for overnight guests. Tent campers can choose between the developed campground or primitive sites located a short walk from the parking area. During summer, the lake is a popular destination for swimming, water skiing, sailing and boating. Both the Sassafras and Muscadine hiking trails wind through oak, walnut, mulberry and cherry trees.   Tugaloo State Park boasts a six-lane mega ramp used for large fishing tournaments and easy lake access.  Fishing is excellent year-round, and large-mouth bass are plentiful. The name “Tugaloo” comes from an Indian name for the river which once flowed freely prior to the construction of Hartwell Dam.

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Reviews of Tugaloo State Park

21 people have reviewed this location

Ratings Summary

3.9 Access
4.6 Location
4.4 Cleanliness
4.0 Site Quality
4.2 Noise

Cell Coverage

Verizon 4G

Confirmed by 11 users | Last reported on April 29, 2022

AT&T 4G/5G

Confirmed by 6 users | Last reported on December 20, 2022

T-Mobile 4G/5G

Confirmed by 2 users | Last reported on June 30, 2022
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Reviewed by
smarkides

  • 12 Reviews
  • 2 Helpful
April 25, 2018
Rated 5.0

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.

1 person found this review helpful
  • 243 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
May 07, 2015
Rated

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.

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roadtripper997879 would stay here again

Nightly Rate: -

Days Stayed: 8

Site Number: 48

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

Reviewed by
leighwetzel

  • 309 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
November 05, 2016
Rated

Tugaloo is a lovely state park with many campsites with water-views. The lake-front sites are considered premium and cost a little bit more than the regular sites. Even with a reservation, the sites themselves are first come first serve. We heard some people complaining that it's hard to get spots next to your friends when it's busy.

Our site had a fantastic view of the lake, though isn't any privacy between sites and voices carry.

The roads in the campground are really bumpy from the tree growth, and they're also quite narrow. So if you're arriving while it's busy, navigating the roads can be a bit hairy.

The state park property is huge, and the beach and playground area look fantastic. It's probably quite popular during the summer. We enjoyed walking the campground loops and noticed that some of the regular spots were quite nice and some even private.

Verizon - DOWNLOAD: 3.28Mb/s, UPLOAD: 5.35Mb/s
AT&T - DOWNLOAD: 43.64Mb/s, UPLOAD: 8.30Mb/s

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leighwetzel would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $35.00

Days Stayed: 7

Site Number: 42

3 Access
4 Location
4 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

June 27, 2018
Rated

Tugaloo State Park is an amazing deal for the money. Our experience was that it felt more like a resort than a state park with the many sites situated by huge Lake Hartwell. Many people dock their boats on the beaches by their sites and spend half their time exploring the miles and miles of lake. Waves actually lap the shores due to jet skis, speed boats, and the fastest pontoons I've ever seen careening across the surface from place to place. It is a fun atmosphere. At night it is just as fun to watch with boaters turning on their fancy lights as they slowly return back to the docks and beaches. If boating or boat watching is not your thing, you are still in luck because there are many sites not on the lake that offer a good deal of privacy and are closer to the trails. From our walks around the campground we found that the sites are just so well-situated wherever you finally set up. We stayed at site #52. Beautiful.

We hiked the Sassafras and the Muscadine Trails. Sassafras was around 4 miles and was strenuous. The trail was overgrown in a few places, but we still were able to make it back without any scratches to our shins or poison ivy. Muscadine Trail was a little less than a mile and was more moderate in difficulty. Both times we hiked we saw many deer. Their tails were a lot longer than the ones we've seen before. Maybe I just noticed because they were so close! The hardwoods along the way are sure to be absolutely stunning in the fall.

I totally recommend renting a canoe or kayak from the Visitors Center. It was only $10 for an hour and included a canoe, paddles, and vests. There's nothing like viewing the area from the lake. We got out there at 8 a.m. and enjoyed the peacefulness. A crane flew across the lake in front of us. The sky was blue and it was still in the upper 70's. Wonderful experience.

One day we drove into Lavonia, GA. It was so sweet and retained much of it's original charm. There's a lot of history in that town. Around 1909 the women of the town came together and decided that the depot building was in an unattractive location so they had it sold and moved to Vanna, GA and  then had a new depot built and placed in a different location to better the flow of the storefronts and public area. Smart. The railroad tracks going right through the town remind us of the way business was conducted so long ago. We enjoyed the Saturday morning farmers market, shopping at Southern Alpaca Connection, drinking coffee at Alpaca Bean, buying charms and a tea towel at Vintage Owl, and eating some yummy Mediterranean food at Downtown Cafe & Pizzeria.

We loved this park and definitely plan to return!

Tugaloo State Park
1763 Tugalo State Park Rd.
Lavonia, Georgia 30553
Phone: (706) 356-4362
Sites: 113
Recent Rate: $35

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $35.00

Days Stayed: 3

Site Number: 52 (and #69 4/19/18)

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise
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Reviewed by
Campendium

October 09, 2018
Rated

The state park as a whole was wonderful! Complete with a beach, lots of areas to fish, boating, kayaking, two playgrounds and a few other little hidden gems. We stayed at the tent-only walk in campsite. There was water and 4 electrical outlets, which was a huge plus! Our site was lake-front with an awesome little path leading down to a natural beach area perfect for swimming and fishing. The campsite was clean and there were two trash bins at the located at the top of the path leading to the parking lot. The comfort station was just a short walk away and the bathrooms and showers were a lot cleaner than I expected. The only thing was only one of the sinks worked in the women's room and I was told that none of the sinks worked in the men's room. Hopefully the park will have that fixed soon.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $25.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 10

4 Access
5 Location
4 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

December 10, 2018
Rated

Stayed here for a week. I was sick so didnt get to do too much. Bathhouses very clean. Had to go far away for laundry the ones nearby didnt work. No problem though. Site 44 was great but for the time of year 42 would do better with more sun exposure. The park rangers and staff were great. No complaints at all. They were paving a area at the time so there was a bit of noise, it was also half off for winter.

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Nightly Rate: $18.00

Days Stayed: 7

Site Number: 44

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

April 28, 2019
Rated

Tugaloo State Park is great and is situated on Lake Hartwell. We stayed for 2 days and took advantage of several activities including a beach, kayaking, fishing, hiking, and playgrounds.

Due to traffic had a late sign-in which went seamlessly. Park Rangers and staff are great.

Only downside to the specific site I was in regards to the location of the picnic table and fire pit which was located about 20' from back of trailer. This is a personal preference as we travel with a pet and prefer to have these off curb side of trailer.

Overall great state park and will stay in again if in the area.

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Nightly Rate: $35.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 96

4 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
4 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

AT&T 4G

  • 10 Reviews
  • 0 Helpful
November 25, 2019
Rated

Kind of a love/hate here. Pros: Great location, park is nice and well kept, lots of things to do. That said, I'm not overly impressed with the camping layout. Forgive me here.

Sites can be a bit of a challenge, and in some cases oddly laid out. Many are simply a wide spot in the road where you have a site, but your slides may be sitting right on the edge of the road. Others are very short, and not very level. Not that they're not nice sites - the occasional one is beautiful, but your picnic table and fire ring may be behind you, or on the backside of you, or where you'd expect. I'll attribute it to the campsites/park were built in the 60's. Now that negative noted, the bathhouses were plentiful and well situated, and pristine. The lake was beautiful although the shoreline tended to be red clay. Staff were wonderful. We'd stay here again if in the area, but wouldn't consider this as a destination location.

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roadtripper984348 would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $38.00

Days Stayed: 6

Site Number: 41

4 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
3 Site Quality
4 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

AT&T 4G

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Reviewed by
Campendium

August 28, 2020
Rated

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.

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This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $38.00

Days Stayed: 3

Site Number: 53

3 Access
3 Location
1 Cleanliness
2 Site Quality
1 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

Photo of Campendium

Reviewed by
Campendium

September 08, 2020
Rated

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.

Was this helpful?
This reviewer would stay here again

Nightly Rate: $34.00

Days Stayed: 2

Site Number: 33

5 Access
5 Location
5 Cleanliness
5 Site Quality
5 Noise

Cell Coverage Rating

Verizon 4G

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Tugaloo State Park

1763 Tugalo State Park Road
Lavonia, Georgia
30553 USA
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Hours

Closed Now
  • Sun - Sat: 7:00 am - 10:00 pm

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  • Check
    Parking
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    Pets Allowed
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    Restrooms
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    Wifi
  • Unavailable
    Wheelchair Accessible
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    Credit Cards Accepted
Affiliation
State park or forest
Back In RV Sites Count
18
Last Nightly Rate
35.0
Longest Vehicle Length Reported
44.0
Lowest Nightly Rate
18.0
Max Length
60ft
Max Stay
14
Pull Through RV Sites Count
25
Sites Count
113
Standard Tent Sites Count
5
  • Unavailable
    Paved Sites
  • Unavailable
    Fifty Amp
  • Unavailable
    Full Hookup
  • Check
    Rec Facilities
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    Pull Through
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    Tent Sites
  • Check
    Dump Station
  • Unavailable
    Big Rigs
  • Unavailable
    Open Seasonally
  • Unavailable
    Age Restricted
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    Back In RV Sites
  • Unavailable
    Boondock
  • Check
    Cabin Sites
  • Unavailable
    Dispersed Sites
  • Unavailable
    Firewood
  • Unavailable
    Fulltime Residents
  • Unavailable
    Group Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Laundry
  • Unavailable
    Mobile Homes
  • Unavailable
    Permit Required
  • Check
    Potable Water
  • Unavailable
    Propane
  • Check
    Public Water
  • Check
    Pull Through RV Sites
  • Check
    Reservations
  • Unavailable
    Sewer Hookup
  • Check
    Showers
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    Sites
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    Slide Outs
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    Standard Tent Sites
  • Unavailable
    Vehicle Wash Permitted
  • Unavailable
    Water Hookup
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