George L Smith II State Park Campground

George L Smith should be on every paddlers checklist! It’s a great paddling experience unlike most.

The campground is nice and well kept.

This might be an annual trip for us.

Read through all the reviews and it seems to have come a long ways. There are more hiking trails, really nice docks and boats for rent and slightly better Verizon service. My Tesla wireless worked barely and without the cell phone extender I wouldn't have been able to work here. All in though they do a very nice job of providing private spaces and the cabins look amazing. It was in the teens outside so not floating on the lake for me but I would love to do that. The lake looks incredible.

We stayed at George L. Smith State Park in Oct. 2023. We had a large, level, pull-thru site with water and 50 amp service. No sewer. There are sites on the water that some are large and some are close. Those do have a view and some are private. 

The park was quite and peaceful for our visit. We really enjoyed paddling the pond and checking out the grist mill and covered bridge. The pond is black water with tons of cypress and tupelo trees throughout. Kind of mystical.

General: Small (25-site) campground, all with electric/water plus a fire ring, lantern hook, and picnic table. There are also 8 cottages and four primitive campsites. Most have a water view. An interesting thing about Georgia state parks is that when you arrive and check in, you become eligible for a senior or military/veteran “rebate” which is not available when reserving. 

Site Quality: All sites are gravel and level. Most sites had a step-down area with a picnic table, fire ring/grill, and lantern hook with plenty of room for a tent. 

Bathhouse: Was very clean. Lights are on a timer so make sure you don’t end up in the dark too soon! Did not use the showers but they looked to be very clean as well.

Activities: Fishing, boating (kayaks are available for rent), and some short hiking/walking paths. There is an 1880s grist mill/covered bridge with self-guided tours but it was scheduled to close for renovations on October 31 (not sure for how long) so we were lucky we arrived on the 30th and were able to see it. The hosts were very available and friendly. The campground was about half full and very quiet. 

Note that there is a sketchy RV “park” across the street from the campground. When we asked, the host said they keep a close watch on it and make sure no one from there accesses the campground; we did not experience any problems. 

We were told the colors were early this year and they were like nothing we’d seen before so as a photographer, I loved shooting something entirely different! Also, we were pleasantly surprised there were no bugs so close to a swamp!

Our first camping trip in our new 5th wheel was at George L Smith State Park near Twin City GA. The park was great with lots of room around the camper which we were able to park right next to the lake. The lake is a great place to canoe or kayak as it has lots of nooks and crannies on the paddling trails. The rangers were very nice and helpful. We got three free camping nights with purchase of our annual parking pass . It was a great deal. The pass is good for all GA State Parks.

Loved seeing the cypress trees in the water and the Spanish moss.

A few campers had kayaks with them and it looked like a great place to paddle and explore - but it did have gator warnings, so not sure what precautions one needs to take.

The campgrounds were super clean, including a modern bathhouse.

There was a laundry available, but it has limited hours.

Closest town is Twin Cities just a few miles away. It has a couple of gas stations, a Piggly Wiggly and a Dollar General.

Twin Cities police patrol the campground, which was nice to see.

I did think it was on the pricier side of things, but at least for the extra bucks it was well kept.

Enjoyed it and would stay again - but not for an extended time.

My son and I went to the primitive sites and had a blast. The sites are really spread out and really clean. We were able to find plenty of firewood and used the fire rind and stand to cook our dinner. Would definitely go here again.

Spent the afternoon here to hike and relax. The camp/RV sites are nice and spaced out. The bathrooms were sparkling! There’s a dump station as well as laundry and showers. I had 1-2 bars with Verizon LTE so I received texts but couldn’t really get online if needed.

I hiked a trail loop to the primitive camp sites since that’s my preferred way to camp so I could see if this was somewhere I’d like to come camp in the future. The trail was easy to follow and the campsites are so spaced out you really feel like You have the woods to yourself! Each spot had a fire ring and nice pad to set up your tent. There’s a boat dock so make sure you bring your canoes and kayaks to explore.

Arrived here for a three-night tent stay after Black Rock Mountain. You have to drive all the way in to reach the camp's office. At six, they were already closed, so had to check in the morning after. The comfort rooms appear brand new on the second week of October 2020. They were centrally located in the loop for RV/Tents. Spot #24 and #25 are drive-thru RV spots. #25 has a concrete slab and a concrete pathway to the comfort rooms (ADA). Great hosts this time. Wood bundles are $7 a piece. Verizon has one bar of LTE signal. T-Mobile has none (bummer). No camp-wide WiFi.

Nice campground. Good spots, beautiful location.

Went here with my husband and stayed an extra day. Very relaxing. Really super cool trail through the swamp. Nice bathrooms and showers. Had a very peaceful time here

Small quite very clean campground! Super nice bathhouse. 4 miles of walking trail from the campground. Awesome kayaking among the cypress (3-kayaking trails). Will be back!!

We booked for a primitive camp site. The lady on the phone told us it was a 3/4 mi walk. We didn’t mind until it got hot (high 80’s-mid 90’s) on our second trip, a park ranger told us we could drive up to the site. (I only back up this suggestion if you have a 4WD) Of course after walking all that way in the heat we wish we knew that beforehand. So we drove to the pioneer campsite and he said to turn where you see the poles with the chains broke off. He said if the chains are down you’re free to drive up. I was iffy about parking there (after i paid the parking fee of course because of honor code) but by the fresh tire tracks and later hearing someone else’s car beep to lock i felt better about keeping the trucks there and so we did. Also beforehand i saw the weekend we went was all booked up and for how booked it was we were surprised we didn’t see that many cars and now we know why we didn’t after seeing those fresh tracks. Great camping area very dispersed but enough that if you have good vision through the trees you could see other camp sites. As for water we had to drive to the RV park for it. We couldn’t find a dumpster to dump our trash in so if anyone has that information i would love to see that in your review because we want to come back in the winter time. Great hiking, boating, kayaking, and fishing!!! Overall we had a great weekend there and this review was long overdue! As mentioned. Definitely returning in the winter!

Great Trails and Campground a lot of History.... Beautiful Cypress Lake....

We stayed on site 22 and loved it.  Beautiful and quiet with direct access to the lake.  A new bathhouse since we were there about 2 years ago. Very well maintained.  Grass was cut and the park was clean with the sites well maintained.  We had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed our site so much we stayed in the park instead of going antique shopping as we had planned.  This is what I expect when visiting a Georgia State Park.

Very clean and quiet staff very friendly

Real clean fishing and hiking and animals all over

This park offers a great hiking trail and a huge lake for kayaking/fishing.

Good primitive camping but not the best. It’s the closest to us so it works for a quick one night trip.

Enjoyed our stay even though lake was drained for millhouse maintenance . Will return when lake is full again

Had a ton of fun kayaking and hiking around the woods.