Best Tent Camping near Albany, GA

This is a review of Sugar Mill RV Park in Ochlocknee, GA which is in south Georgia off US Hwy 19 near the Florida state line. Other reviews seem to be for a north Georgia park which is not this one.

There is no tent camping at this park. 

Overnight stay in a 38' class A. Selected site 26, no online reservations, sites assigned at arrival. Very flexible on checkout time. Site was dirt/grass, FHU, 50 amp, relatively level. Hookups we're in acceptable shape, office staff(Nancy?) was very nice. Our site had some trash and charcoal left by prior guest(looks like they tried to burn) which we cleaned up. Grounds are fairly well kept. Lots of longer term/perm residents. We couldn't pick up campground wifi nor was there cable. Road noise from US 19 as expected since park borders the highway but not too bad overnight. Bugs as expected in south Georgia in May. Fairly basic campground(they do have laundry, bathrooms, showers none of which we used) but priced right. We paid $30 for a night which included the Good Sam discount. Would stay again for overnight

Georgia Veterans State Park sits next to Lake Blackshear and shares the lake front with a resort. There is a marina , condos and a golf course on resort side. On the Park side there is the much more desirable campground:) 

There are plenty of options to choose from in the three camping “loops”. Some lakeside sites have direct access to the water and in camping area 1 you can get pretty close to the fishing pier. A lot of the sites are pull through , in area 3 all sites are pull through and several of the sites border one of the Nature trails. The primitive walk in tent sites are in area 3. There are two handicap accessible sites and two double sites for group camping(the other sites are close together so this just puts you on the same “pad”)There is shade but definitely more on some sites then others. Not a lot of privacy. It wasn’t real busy or noisy so the open layout wasn’t a major hang up for me. This is definitely more of a “organized”, well maintained, military feel campground. I didn’t get the State Park in the woods vibe at all :) 

There are rental Cottages which overlook the water some with screen porches. There is a fishing pier behind Cottage one and two.

In addition there are boocoo recreation activities: 

Disc golf (a little over grown)

Pioneer Group campsite

Aviation and Combat Arms equipment 

A museum 

Model airplane field

Outdoor exercise equipment along with an exercise trail

Nature trails

Archery range

Fishing piers

Large boat ramp

Small boat ramp

Excursion Train

A beach with facilities and shaded picnic area

We only took the time to camp and hike but you could easily spend some time here and do something different every day. I’m unfamiliar with the area and wildlife so I kept the boys on short leashes when we walked in the woods , especially near the water. The trails were nice, somewhat maintained and there was old signage plus benches. Not my favorite this trip but nice enough.

We love this state park park with its large wooded campsites, 375 acre lake and river for paddling & fishing, 7 miles of multi use trails for hiking & biking trails, playgrounds, and putt putt golf. Home to gopher turtles, alligators,deer and seasonal home to vultures and bald eagles makes wildlife spotting fun. The landscape runs the gamut from coastal plain to pine forest. Those visiting for the day may enjoy the catfish cabin restaurant just outside the park. Since the park is only 7 miles from 1-75 this can easily be a great overnight stop.

Reed Bingham is located on route 37 which is an Agro-tourism road. The route features vineyards, olive farms, boutique hotels, specialty shops, local produce, farms and two state parks....to name just a few places for you to visit. We also enjoyed biking to the Horse creek winery in Sparks, Ga just 7 miles away. (This winery is also a harvest host).

Visit for more info www.gagrowntrails.com

Campground- sites are large and graveled. Outer loop locations have more shade trees. Premium sites have sewer in addition to water/30/50AMP picnics tables,fire rings and some with grills too. There are no cabins.

The paddle in campground for 30 is pretty cool since it is its own island. There is also a nice group/pioneer camping and a couple of walk in tent sites that are on a little island with a bridge walkway.

There are rentals for bikes and paddling. The beach for swimming is more of a wading beach and since I have seen the alligators in this lake i do not recommend swimming anywhere else on your own.

Paddling/Fishing is fun on the 375 acre lake. The lake also connects to little river and it is a @ 3 hour leisurely up river paddle to Red Robin Boat ramp in Adel Georgia (aka Colquitt boat ramp) ->if you have a way to drop off and paddle downriver to Reed Bingham it would be more relaxing.

The 5k running/walking route for the annual Little River 5k is easy to follow in the park for your activity pleasure.

We stayed two nights, site 33, as just a way break up a long drive to FD Roosevelt SP from Orlando. What a pleasant surprise, lots of nice hiking trails one that follows the Little River and then connects to other trails. If you go bring a kayak or canoe and fishing gear none of which we had with us this trip. Great restaurant "Catfish House" within walking distance of park entrance but you might as well drive as there's no alcohol served. Their sign says theyre only open Thurs.-Sat. We had...you guessed it, catfish. They have other food choices but ordering anything else would be like asking for ketchup for your steak, which they also offer.

Wonderful State Park in southern Georgia! Chose our site from the pictures and it was perfect. Sites in lower loop one were spaced out and the back in sites were tucked into the woods, just the way we had hoped. Most sites are gravel and ours was well maintained and level, with a new large picnic table and fire pit with grill cover. The basic cable was a bonus! Restrooms were older but clean and well stocked. The upper loop 2 had a brand new bath house, and both had laundry facilities. The park itself has TONS of open green space! Great quiet weekend getaway.

A little background: I used to live five minutes from this park, and it used to be the first campground we visited every year to work out all the gear details. Back then (2012-2015), it was great! Absolutely beautiful, well maintained, gorgeous.

Now... the park itself is still great. Obviously it was hit by a hurricane, but the cleanup and improvements are coming along in those areas. They playground has always been amazing and they’ve added a Splash Pad right next to it. (We were in town to visit family so we didn’t get to enjoy those this time).

But y’all are here for a campground review, so here it is.

Registration. You cannot register online, you must do it on the phone or in person. All of the sites with full hook-ups are taken by long-term folks (probably staying there while their homes are being rebuilt from the tornadoes and hurricane?), so they are $20 a night for water/electric. When you register over the phone, you are charged an additional $15 fee. (When I checked in, they said I would receive a refund of that $15 as a check in the mail...?). When I called the day of check-in to get the gate code, they had no idea who I was and initially wanted me to pay for a site, again. After some shuffling they finally found my paperwork.

The tent-only side still looks fine. Plush grass, large spaced out sites.

However, the RV side looks a bit rough. The sites are no longer gravel, just dirt (or, this weekend, mud) and some grass. The sites aren’t maintained between campers (as I got a half burned log, empty pack of smokes, and paper plates in mine). I was actually placed on site 7, which on the campground map is NOT a “buddy” (shared) site, and told to just plug into the same pole as the guy on Actual Site 7. Thankfully he was 50A and I was 30A so it worked out. (Although oddly enough, several full sites remained empty the whole time I was there). It rained most of the weekend, and everything was covered in wet dirt chunks when I left.

The bath house... could use a little love and a fresh coat of paint. If you can avoid the side bathrooms (maybe handicapped? The ones with just a toilet and shower), then do so. Aside from teeming with flying wildlife (which, it’s South Georgia, you have to kind of expect that), it could have used a good cleaning. The regular restrooms were passable (better than some gas stations but not as clean as state/national park I usually visit).

I understand that the area was impacted by a hurricane last year... but a little bit of cleanliness and care goes a long way.

This KOA is just off of i75, super convenient for an overnight stop (which was what we did). Our boys loved the early 80s Era playground, but unfortunately it wasn't kept up well and was frankly dangerous- the large swingset wasn't anchored to the ground, the fence was partially torn down near the roadway, and there was rust on the equipment. They didn't kbiw the difference and played on it for an hour having lots of fun, but it is an accident waiting to happen. The woman who we dealt with at check in was awesome- super nice and friendly, and gave me a teacher discount. Our site was a nice large pull through with a picnic table and fire ring. Setup wasn't difficult. There was some wet dirt, could probably use some gravel. The campground looked to be in a retired pecan Grove. Not a ton of privacy but large sites and nice trees. While you can hear the highway, this one is not immediately adjacent but one property away, so it isn't bad. The property between the campground and the highway is a large abandoned building.. slightly shady but not a problem. Overall we enjoyed our stay.