West Rim - Cloudland Canyon State Park

**Cloudland Canyon State Par**k was worth the drive! Below Chattanooga, Tn off of GA I59 at Trenton .

The drive through the Georgia countryside was enjoyable with some fun roads (if you like snaking roads) and excellent views.

The staff was super helpful and informative and the campground selection good (reserve ahead!) RV , Cabins, yurts, backcountry sites as well as walkin campsites. The RV sites are gravel with picnic table and fire ring; plenty big to spread out in . Clean, newer facilities and well maintained.

The walk in campsites are large, spaced well apart, with picnic table and fire ring . There are connector trails near all of the different areas which links pretty much everything within the park. So once you walk into your dwelling of choice you do not have to use your vehicle again to get to the many trails and activities

The trails are moderate to strenuous and take you to some pretty awesome sights. From overlooks, to waterfalls and Georgia foliage there is a lot to discover. 5 Points Recreation Area is nearby( also has a connector trail) and offers bike, horse and hiking trails) Bear Creak is a 7+ mile back country loop that is challenging.

Nice view

The sites all have gravel pads that the tents must go on, fire pits with grills and also charcoal grills, picnic tables and lantern poles at all the sites. Showers and a laundry room. I’ve been twice, a few years apart, and both times the camp hosts have started cleaning and maintenance with gas fueled golf carts and leaf blowers very early in the morning so if you go to the woods to sleep in, you won’t. Also the camp store starts closing 15 mine before posted time and won’t sell you ice or wood so plan accordingly. The trails are just beautiful. The steps down to the waterfalls allow dogs but it’s 600 steps made of metal grate, in case you want to bring boots for them. It’s very beautiful here and I’d rate it higher if the staff and volunteers were less rude. That may not factor in to your camp, though, and it’s still worth seeing!

Wooded with nice trail access

Ranger Review: **Nature’s Coffee Kettle** at **Cloudland Canyon West Rim Campground**.

Campground Review: If you like scenery **Cloudland Canyon State Park** should be added to your list of must hikes. I found an info card at the Visitors Center for the “Canyon Climbers Club” and it was a no brainer that I would go for it. 4 Georgia Parks, 4 hikes with awesome scenery , 4924 steps, all in approximately 3 miles-ish, and a T-shirt when your done ;) Cloudland Canyon was the first.

After picking our tent site ( there are no reserve ahead sites, only reserve ahead choice. Once you check in you go pick a site. So no telling where you may end up only that you will have a site for the night. Good and bad.) which took some perusing for good trees (Tentsile configuration) I set up. I then hooked up the dogs and walked to the convenient in campground trailhead to the West Rim Trail. A right at the T and a through at the Y at which point we began our decent. This is a workout for sure wear your good shoes, A LOT of metal grate steps to get down to the falls! We went right at the next intersection and continued down to Hemlock Falls. A very picturesque and cool area. A lot of scrambling over rocks and high water debris, a lot of picture taking opportunities.

After huffing and puffing ( carrying two dogs that did not like the metal grating;) my way back up to the campground and supper. There are both fire rings and grills at each site plus electric and water hook up. Several of the sites have “patios” with gravel on hard packed dirt , NOT conducive for stakes! I noticed several sites had areas off to the side were people had set up tents near the fire rings. We were near the showerhouse which is newer, two showers , two sinks, three stalls, doors propped open, bugs flying about. There are laundry facilities in the same building. The camp hosts have wood for sale and I saw quite a bit of them throughout the visit. The campground was about 1/3 rd full so pretty quiet and good privacy. Phone signal one bar, no WiFi.

Product Review: As a Dyrt Ranger I have the opportunity to review outdoor products while camping. **Nature’s Kettle Coffee (and Hot Chocolate)** [https://www.naturescoffeekettle.com/](https://www.naturescoffeekettle.com/)is a welcome addition to my camping pantry. I miss my morning coffee while out dispersed camping and sometimes don’t take the time to pack everything needed to make coffee at a campground. Nature’s Kettle Coffee has taken a lot of pre-planning/packing out of the equation by putting almost everything you need in one foldable pouch with pouring handle and sealed “spout”. Three steps, tear open pouch and pour in boiling water, let steep and re-pour same water for stronger coffee if wanted , enjoy. The pouches are reusable too with coffee filter refills available on the site. Which almost negates one of my con’s of the extra “material” filling up landfills. The only other con I had was pouring the hot liquid into the “floppy” pouch. Be VERY careful at this step, it got a little dicey and I pulled out my silicon oven mit to protect my fingers. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed the hot chocolate and Sumatra coffee. Can’t wait to try the other flavors of coffee and tea.

Lots of Clouds this time

Just w shirt weekend trip with some friends and we thought we'd do something different so we rented the yurts. It was amazing!

Incredible stay!

Cloudland never disappoints, always spectacular veiws, great hiking and nice sites. The disc golf is top notch! I aced number 2 ;)

Beautiful Place 

The West Rim offered a few pull through sites with electric and water hookup as well as back in sites. We were able to walk right into the trails from the campground during the day and enjoy the lightning bug show in the evening! 

Great hiking views!

We have been here many times, it's one of our favorite state parks! The hiking and scenery is one you don't want to miss! If you can, make the hike down to Cherokee Falls and pack your swimsuit and a picnic! As far as camping, they have literally everything a camper needs and more!! RV, hookups, tent, picnic tables, grills, firepit, yurts, cabins, restrooms, bathhouse, laundry, group lodging, etc. Super friendly and pretty clean!

Cherokee Falls

Stayed at site 17. The campground was more private that a lot of state park campgrounds, it was dark and quiet at night, and the trails backed right up to the campsites! 

Amazing! 

We stayed at the walk-in campground at site 2 during the week. It had good privacy with lots of trees and bushes between it and other sites. We arrived late in the day and there were still several spots available. This site is close to the parking lot, which could be noisy if it was a busy weekend. There was a picnic table and fire pit at each site. It’s an uphill walk to the bathhouse and water from site 2 but not too strenuous. 

Great walk-in campsite

We stayed on site 39. It was really large, gravel, flat spot with lots of shade trees. Looked into the woods. Plenty of space for our two golden retrievers.  I liked that the fire ring  was a little away from our camper, so not to worry about the awning with a big fire.  Most sites were setup that way.  Any of the sites in the West Rim area are really nice. They have nice bathroom facilities that are clean and also laundry facilities.  The campground itself was very clean and well kept.  They do have playgrounds, very small fishing pond, disc golf.  Camp hosts were very friendly and helpful.  Connecting trails from campground to the major trails.  Due to COVID-19 I saw more trash in some areas than usual. People if you come to the park, be a good steward and take care of it.  Great place for families to enjoy the outdoors. One of Georgia’s great State Parks!

Great shaded spacious sites

We stayed here in Feb 2020 with family in another rv. We had 2 spacious sites next to each other. Electric and water hookups. Both sites were level. Park staff and camp host helpful and friendly. Hiking was enjoyable and easily accessible from rv camping area. Bath houses were clean and water was hot. Will return in the future .

Perfectly enjoyable and quiet.

Sites with full hookups, bathrooms and showers are a little run down and often have bugs (spiders, moths, etc) which is to be expected, you’re in nature. There’s a laundry room, machines are just a dollar (takes quarters) but you’ll need to run the dryer twice, there’s a big sink in the laundry room but all sinks says “do not wash dishes” so if you’re tent Camping like me, you’ll wanna bring a collapsible sink to use on your site. 
The west rim is considerably nicer than the east,  more trees to allow privacy between the sites, The east rim is really open and feels more like a nicer parking lot for RV’s.
The hosts and visitor center sell firewood bundles for 6 bucks but I’ve had trouble with them being damp and not catching on fire twice. There’s a Walmart a half hour down the mountain so I’d suggest stopping there before going up for firewood. 
The highlight of the place are the trails, different waterfalls, lagoons and rivers running along the way and a over 600 step staircase. The overlook is jaw dropping. I’ve had an amazing time every visit. 

Incredibly beautiful 

Was lucky to reserve a spot on full moon, great park,clean and warm bathrooms!

Fantastic 

We stayed in the standard site. Very large sites on two main loops. Basic bathrooms. Grey water drains throughout loops. Connector trails to main trails. 

Spacious sites with lots of shade

Beautiful hikes. My son made me hike the stairs down to the falls at least twice a day. Our campsite had no shade and was brutally hot during the day. The picnic table was on an incline, which ,add it uncomfortable to eat. Very close to the bathrooms, though, which was nice. 

Beautiful hikes

This campground is so beautiful!  We were able to take trails, see waterfalls and go to the west rim. We stayed at the west rim side of the campground. We would absolutely go back!!

Absolutely beautiful

It was an amazing park with super cool waterfalls!

Amazing!

We stayed at site 7 in the West Rim Campground and it was beautiful! A little tricky to back into, but we got it. A little bit of a trek to the bath house but manageable. Our site was spacious and secluded which is what we like. The bath house could use a little update but I have seen worse. We loved this park and all the views! We hiked to Hemlock Falls and wasn't prepared for all of those stairs - I'm not in shape and the climb up was hard, but the views at the bottom were gorgeous.

Great park

Wow!   Camped at west rim site 17, and it was huge, with tons of room.  Fire ring is a distance away from the rv, so that is awesome.  Shady, and close to the west rim trail!   Just heaven!

Spectacular 

Stayed at campsite 3, across from the camp host, and in front of playground and bathrooms.

  

Very large, very widely spaced campsites. Sites were comfortable for tent camping, but there were few tent campers when we were there.

  

Bathrooms were clean, and had hot showers, but had a lot of deferred maintenance. 

  

The Fall hiking  was spectacular. It's a beautiful place to see the hardwoods change color. Trails are well maintained.

Well spaced sites, Great hiking starting at the campground

We typically search for campgrounds based on hikes that we want to do. This state park offered great options for both! It is split up in two campgrounds: East Rim &amp; West Rim. This campsite is on the West Rim campground. Lots of spacious sites, but also lots of narrow sites with trees that could be in the way for slide outs. The bathhouse is old, but it was clean. 

I loved that you could access hiking trails and hike to the waterfalls directly from the campground! However, the overlooks are much closer to the East rim. We decided to drive due to distance. 

We purchased a couple of bundles of wood from the camp store, but unfortunately the wood wasn’t seasoned so we had a difficult time with one fire all weekend. 

Overall, this is a great park and we will definitely return to camp and hike here again! 

Nice campground, awesome hiking!

Love Cloudland Canyon. Originally from the area, came back for a few days and camped at the West Rim campground. Great spots back in the woods, very private, near the canyon. Make sure you hike the falls when you’re here!! Well worth it.

Ideal State Park Campground

This park is beautiful, has ample hiking trails and well-maintained sites, with clean restrooms. We stayed here for one night and enjoyed our time hiking several of the trails that start right from the campsite.

A lovely park, with great sites

Some sites are a bit close together, others are more private.  We were on 29.  A bit close to neighbor.  Separate fire pit area with separate grill was a nice feature. Very nice to have electric and water on site.  So many hiking trails. Very well maintained and marked but lots of stairs.  Trail maps however not the best.  Cherokee Falls is beautiful.  

Clean, well-maintained, phenomenal scenery

For a state park campground, this was quite comfortable. The bathhouse was clean and useful. We enjoyed the hike to Cherokee falls right from the campground (near our site, 21). 

The sites were wooded and spacious to us.  Also there are gray water dump sites all over the place and a simple playground. 

Will definitely return. 

Serene and fun hikes!

Wooded tent and RV sites that are very nice and well spaced out to give plenty of privacy. This area also has yurts available that are set up with beds and heating/AC so they make a good option in the hot months. Lots of great hiking and views on this side of the canyon and it also tends to be a little less crowded.

Great hiking

So quiet, many trails, native blueberries in season. Easy to get to campground, navigate to our site and exit to dump site. 
Our can site was spacious, clean and so quiet. 

Chattahoochee Bend State Park

Recent updates, nice pads, full hookups, good cell service

Newly Renovated 

This place seems to have it all. The hikes are diverse from walking along the edge of a canyon with beautiful vistas to trekking through the gulch with canyon walls towering overhead. The waterfalls are beautiful too although they were all but non-existent after the recent dry weather.  The campsites offer good privacy with clean facilities.  