Georgia tent campers can choose between the state's numerous large lakes and rivers to camp alongside or the Georgia mountains, which offer both water sports and hiking. In addition, Georgians take pride in their Civil War heritage and some parks provide access to battlefield sites and museums related to the Confederacy.
The South's Past
Payne Campground is 35 miles north of Atlanta and is frequented by Civil War buffs who visit the nearby Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield and the Booth Western Art Museum. The campground offers a boat ramp, dock and swimming beach at a nearby lake, paved camping sites with tent pads, fire rings and a convenience store. Another campsite providing access to the Kennesaw battlefield is the Clark Creek North Campground near Acworth
Lake Recreation
West Point Lake at the Chattahooche River north of West Point near the Alabama-Georgia state border offers more a 500 miles of shoreline. Open fields and forests surround the Holiday Campground. Tent campers have access to more than 140 sites with nearly 100 offering water and electrical hookups. The park has a boat ramp and launch, hiking trails, children's playground and swimming activities on the lake. Forty-five minutes outside Atlanta is the Bolding Mill Campground on Lake Sidney Lanier. The 38,000-acre lake offers fishing and boating, while the campgrounds feature nine tent-only camping sites. Tent campers can share the other 88 campsites with RVers and trailer campers. Bald Ridge Creek Campground also is on Lake Sidney Lanier and features 82 sites
Mountain Camping
The Morganton Point Recreation Area in the Blue Ridge Ranger District of the northeast Georgia mountains is west of Blairsville. Tent camping, swimming, hiking and boating are available at Lake Blue Ridge. Hiking is available along the shore, and parts of the Appalachian and Benton MacKaye trails are nearby. Jet skiing, kayaking, canoeing, water skiing and windsurfing are permitted activities on the lake. Tent campgrounds feature site pads, grills and picnic tables. Nearby Doll Mountain Campground in the north Georgia mountains is on Carters Lake. The lake's shoreline is rugged, but the park also offers mountain biking and hiking
Lake Sinclair
Running along the Lake Sinclair shoreline is Lake Sinclair Recreation Area campground featuring 44 campsites with tent pads, grills and picnic tables. The grounds include an amphitheater, boat launch and ramp, showers and hiking trails. The park permits hunting. Horseback riding trails are off-site. There are similar state and private campgrounds at Lake Sinclair near the Oconee National Forest.
No Luxuries
For hardy, experienced campers, primitive tent camping means pits toilets, water spigots, grills and not much else. However, tent campers will appreciate that no RVs or trailers are in the vicinity. At the 1,117-acre A.H. Stephens Historic Park near Athens, campers enjoy access to 25 campsites, two fishing lakes and 12 miles of horse trails. The 5,804-acre Hard Labor Creek State Park, also near Athens, features 49 tent sites, two lakes and the nearby Hard Labor Creek Golf Course.
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