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Best Tent Camping near Carlton, GA

649 Reviews

Tent campgrounds near Carlton, Georgia offer a range of primitive and established options for outdoor enthusiasts. Leroys Ferry Campground, located along Clarks Hill Highway in nearby McCormick, South Carolina, provides waterfront tent camping with basic amenities. Soap Creek Marina and Raysville Marina also offer tent sites within reasonable driving distance, both located along the shores of lakes in the region.

Most tent campsites in the Carlton area feature fire rings and picnic tables, though amenities vary significantly between locations. Leroys Ferry provides pit toilets but no running water, requiring campers to bring their own supplies. Sites at most campgrounds are first-come, first-served, with payment typically collected via drop boxes. Surface conditions range from packed dirt to grassy clearings, with some waterfront locations offering level spots suitable for tent setup. Many locations lack trash collection services, so visitors must plan to pack out all waste.

The tent camping experience near Carlton provides excellent water access and relative seclusion. Leroys Ferry campsites sit approximately 100 feet from the lake, allowing for easy swimming access and sunset views over the water. Most campgrounds in the area remain uncrowded even during holiday weekends, offering peaceful retreats. Camping at Denver Downs Farm provides a different experience with its 140-acre open field setting rather than defined campsites. Many locations attract wildlife viewing opportunities, particularly at dawn and dusk. A camper at Leroys Ferry noted, "For that kind of isolation right on the water for only $10/night, I'm not complaining much about the site."

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Best Tent Sites Near Carlton, Georgia (18)

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Recent Tent Camping Photos near Carlton, GA

2 Photos of 18 Carlton Campgrounds

Tent Camping Reviews near Carlton, GA

649 Reviews of 18 Carlton Campgrounds

  • Everette G.
    Oct. 18, 2020

    Victoria Bryant State Park Campground

    Great Camping in any Season

    Victoria Bryant State Park is probably one of my most frequented camping spots in the last few years. All of the tent sites are sheltered platforms, with electricity, potable water and an overhead light. Rain or shine, you can have a good time (and stay dry) at Victoria Bryant. There are only about 8 platforms, and one is ADA only, so they book up quick. They are all spaced pretty far apart, privacy isn't too hard to maintain (except maybe site 7&8). 1-4 are down a hill, 4 being the furthest away at about 40 feet, down the steepest incline. There are facilities right across the parking lot, that have always been clean and well maintained, and heated in the colder months. Camp hosts and office have firewood. There are several miles of trails that are lower difficulty, save for some hilly spots. In October, the park does a pretty cool little haunted trail. There's obvious reasons we enjoy VBSP, staying dry in the rain, nice, dense forested areas, and awesome campgrounds make it an easy choice.

  • Tommy S.The Dyrt PRO User
    Sep. 17, 2022

    Coneross Park Campground

    Lakeside campground

    This campground is huge. A lot of the campsites are close together, but we snagged a site along the west side of the campground, where there’s a little more privacy and seclusion.

    Being right on the water was amazing, the water was so warm and being able to swim from your site is pretty cool. This site had some stairs leading from the parking spot to the site, then slopes down to the lake.

    Dogs need to always be on leash and there’s no alcohol allowed, which is a bit of a bummer.

    Spigots and bathhouse was convenient, except no soap by the sinks.

  • N
    Oct. 16, 2022

    Elijah Clark State Park Campground

    Friendly. Fun. Relaxing.

    Set up well for families with children… room to ride bikes, scooters, skateboards; playground; putt putt course; trails to walk; beach areas all around the camp ground for easy access to the water. Kayak rentals.

    Bathrooms were generally clean. Campsites a relatively flat. Good picnic tables at each site. Not every site had a pole for a lantern or trash bags to hang from. Fairly good tree coverage around the campground for shade and hammocking.

  • Andy S.
    Sep. 16, 2019

    Mistletoe State Park Campground

    Nice!

    This is a review of the four walk-in tent sites at Mistletoe State Park.  I personally stayed in #4 and had a look at the others. 

    The best site is definitely #2 -- feet from the water, spacious, suitable for more than one tent or hammock (better for tents as it is mostly open, but there are places for hammocks along the edges). 

    Site #4 is probably second best, better for a hammocks probably (which is what I had) as no great level ground. It is not right on the water but has it's own private path to the water(couple hundred feet to the water).

    Sites #1 & #3 do not really have access to the water without climbing down something steeply dangerous or through thick trees.  (The water access from the other sites is right in the middle of those other sites so you couldn't really share that unless they are empty or occupied by friends.)  Still #1 is a pretty good site.  #3 is the least interesting and smallest, but still secluded -- I wouldn't call any of these bad.

    None of these sites have groomed tent pads -- just gravelly ground.   They do each have a table, fire pit, and lantern pole.  #1 & #2 are best for tents.  There is good separation between all sites.  Sites #2 & #3 are within shouting distance of each other and you'd be able to see tents, etc at one from the other.  There is an outhouse between sites #1 & #2, and another another between sites #3 & #4.  It is a 5 minute (or so) walk to the real bathroom (which also has showers) back in the main campground.

    Other than the lake itself at sites #2 & #4, I didn't see any dedicated water source for these sites.  (The lake is silty -- pre-filtering recommended if you are using a filter.)  So you'd have to bring in water or get it from the bathroom area or maybe from an empty RV site which all have spigots.  You'll have to pack out your trash, and there are definitely critters around that will get in your trash so it should be secured somehow.  (Hanging it from the lantern pole isn't good enough -- you'll wake up to find a hole in the bag and it strewn around, ask me how I know.)

    Everything in the park was very clean and well-maintained, although when I was here in September (during the week), the whole place was basically deserted anyway.

    The water access at sites #2 & #4 is nice but it is not a real beach -- it is all large rocks for the most part and they were very slippery even when dry so be careful.  The water level was also extremely low when I was there so some of those rocks are probably covered by water earlier in the year.

  • Mo F.
    Aug. 26, 2016

    Mistletoe State Park Campground

    Waterfront seclusion

    We camped in one of the tent only walk-in sites located on a peninsula jutting into the lake. We had a ton of stuff, not realizing it was an uphill and pretty long trek, but it was totally worth it. We had the whole place to ourselves, no neighbors, in late March. The sun setting over the water was beautiful, it was quiet even as a few motor boats came in for the night. There is a tiny beach on the tip of the peninsula, picnic tables, and an outhouse. It was my favorite spot of everywhere we stayed on an Alabama-Georgia-South Carolina roadtrip including AirBnB and bed and breakfast.

  • Travyl Couple !.
    Dec. 7, 2019

    Tugaloo State Park Campground

    One of our Favorite Parks in North Georgia

    Tugaloo state Park: This Georgia State Park offers a multitude of activities from hiking, paddling, boating, fishing, swimming, putt putt, tennis/pickleball court and biking the park roads to name a few things. This park appears to be a local favorite and weekends were more active than weekdays during our 10 night stay at the camp ground. We really felt at home here due to the friendliness of the park staff and camphost volunteers. We loved the gravel sites, good Verizon cell reception 📶 and best of all the ease of access to our kayaks🛶. (Do check with the park office because some things like putt putt may be seasonal) 🔔 Another thing- should you want to rent a patio boat ⛴ - the park office has some numbers for you.

    We stayed here in late October for 10 days and didn’t want to leave. The campground is laid out well with gravel sites, concrete picnic tables, fire pit, water, 30 amp and grey water drains throughout the campsite areas. 🚍Larger rigs—> Bring a dogleg/bone for double 30 amp.👍. Also- be aware some of the pull thru sites are almost buddy sites - your truck hauling your trailer will fit but your trailer won’t because another camper is sharing the pull thru lane with you. Rv’s with Tows won’t have this same issue. 🏡Cabins- I shared on the video that cabins 1-10 have less stairs if that is important to you. Yurts- some of these are on a hill- this means a walk up to restrooms ...but don’t worry, there is a nicely paved sidewalk. 🏕 no electricity at the walk in sites- you do have water, fire pit and picnic table. There is a group campground too.

    We did 2 videos of this park- so there is lots of info about all the amenities at this park. ***This is a park we have put on our favorite list to camp host here in the future.

  • W
    Feb. 12, 2021

    Tugaloo State Park Campground

    Nearby, but not at the top of my go-to places.

    Although a nice campground several things turned me off about this campground.  Mainly the lack of enforcement of dogs running loose, owners not cleaning up after their dogs and enforcement of number of people on a site.  The roads into the campground loops are narrow in spots and not well marked at all.  Backing our 30' motorhome into our site required asking the neighbor to move his truck off our site and maneuvering around other vehicles parked in the road.  The site was fairly level and offered a picnic table and fire ring with quite a bit of grassy area. Unfortunately, the neighbor on that side decided it belonged to them and set up games in it, then near dark other people joined them and set up a third tent in that area. Sites are 30/20 electric and water, but there is a dump station.  This has the potential to be a very nice campground, and I'll go back sometime. Perhaps we just had one bad experience so we'll try it again sometime.

  • G
    Sep. 27, 2022

    Tugaloo State Park Campground

    Walk-In Sites 9, 10 & 11

    Stayed at site 10 while our friends were at site 11.  Sites are connected by a path but are not visible to one another.  Sites 9 & 10 would be a better combination if you are camping together and especially if you plan to share resources. All three sites are a short walk in from the parking lot but site 11 is closest to the paved path with minimal slope on the path. Site 10 is the furthest from the paved path. 9 & 10 must leave the paved path and go down a pretty good slope.  Site 10 is the only one with a direct view of the lake.  There is a path from the site down to a nice beach area where the kids swam and launched our kayaks.  This path is also fairly steep and winds around a bit.  Each of these sites has power and water right at the tent pad.  The tent pads are decent sized and filled with small gravel with lots of larger rock just below the surface.  It was a bit of challenge getting all the tent stakes into the ground.  All of my stake tips have been blunted.  The bathrooms are a short walk from the sites and were clean during our stay.  The park offered many activities, but my review is getting too long.

  • Amanda W.
    Sep. 16, 2019

    South Cove County Park

    Great family camping

    If you have a boat or jetski there is a ramp. Has showers and restrooms. Mostly for RVs however there are a few tent sites that have tree cover. The RV sites don't really offer any trees for shade. The lake is great for swimming. The campground also offers paddle board and kayak rentals. The campground has a gate that gets locked at 10 pm. You can leave but you can't come back into the campground after the gate gets locked.

Guide to Carlton

Tent camping near Carlton, Georgia offers waterfront and primitive sites within rural Georgia countryside. The region sits at the eastern edge of the Piedmont plateau, characterized by rolling hills and mixed pine-hardwood forests. Temperatures remain warm throughout much of the year, with winter overnight lows occasionally dropping below freezing, requiring appropriate sleeping gear during November through March.

What to do

Fishing access: Raysville Marina provides direct lake access with calm waters suitable for fishing. "Customer service when open in the off season! Friendly, accommodating, very responsive," notes Jada G., highlighting the marina's year-round appeal for anglers.

Water recreation: Laurel Park on Lake Lanier offers multiple shoreline access points for swimming and boating. Josh D. confirms, "It has plenty of access to lake Lanier, and plenty of room for grilling out." The park also features a "splash pad that's operating from late spring through summer," making it particularly appealing during Georgia's hot months.

Walking trails: Tent campers at Soap Creek Marina can explore established walking paths between camping and the lakeshore. "Nice walking trails which makes this a great getaway spot," writes GoWhereYouAreDraw N., who also notes the marina has a "small restaurant located onsite along with a small store."

What campers like

Waterfront sites: Leroys Ferry Campground provides direct water access at most sites. "This is a great, unpopular place to camp. Most of the campsites have access via trails to the lake," explains Daniel D., adding that "it's clean with easy access and most sites are very easy to navigate."

Affordability: Primitive camping options near Carlton maintain reasonable rates. Danny B. appreciates Leroys Ferry's value: "$10 bucks a night, sites spaced far enough apart to be comfortable, waterfront, not over crowded. I think it is worth the drive over some of the more crowded places."

Space between sites: Tent campgrounds in the area generally offer good separation between campsites. At Denver Downs Farm, Adam V. describes "a 140 acre field you can camp in" with "no defined campsites," adding "just a giant field to set up and camp," allowing for significant privacy between campers.

What you should know

Payment systems: Most campgrounds use drop boxes for payment. At Leroys Ferry, Danny B. advises, "Bring exact money because it's just a drop box."

Limited amenities: Primitive sites typically lack running water and electricity. Adam V. notes at Denver Downs Farm, "There is no water or any hookups. You will need to pack in and pack out everything."

Waste management: Pack-out policies apply at most locations. Danny B. explains Leroys Ferry has "no trash dumpster either so be prepared to pack if out."

Cell service: Coverage varies significantly by location. At Leroys Ferry, Danny B. reports, "Cell service was spotty on Verizon but I was able to get and receive calls and a few txts although they seemed very delayed."

Tips for camping with families

Bathroom facilities: Fell Hunt Camp offers vault toilets and potable water. Brittany S. found it "perfect for what we needed" with "20+ campsites in a circle for tent campers" and adds that "the water in the spouts is well water and delicious."

Swimming access: Laurel Park combines lake swimming with additional water features. Josh D. calls it a "Family spot" noting "it has a splash pad that's operating from late spring through summer."

Group camping opportunities: Fell Hunt Camp accommodates larger family gatherings. Brittany S. concludes it "would be a great spot for some group camping!"

Tips from RVers

Surface conditions: Leroys Ferry accommodates smaller RVs despite being primarily a tent site. Daniel D. states, "You can fit an RV on most sites, although they aren't all completely level."

Alternative options: When established campgrounds fill up, consider Denver Downs Farm. Adam V. shares, "We came here on Thanksgiving weekend because all other campgrounds were full. We were the only people here," adding it feels "very safe" with just "a little highway noise, but not bad."

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most popular tent campsite near Carlton, GA?

According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Carlton, GA is Leroys Ferry with a 4.3-star rating from 4 reviews.

What is the best site to find tent camping near Carlton, GA?

TheDyrt.com has all 18 tent camping locations near Carlton, GA, with real photos and reviews from campers.

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