Best Tent Camping near Cave Spring, GA

Red Top Mountain State Park is beautiful and Lake Allatoona is large.  Campsite 50 is a premium tent only walk-in site (a few dollars more).  It sits on a point that sticks out in the lake.  There is no shade or tree cover, so it's not "private".  There are 3 other sites near by on the walk-in area and there are no boundaries or barriers between so your neighbors are in full view.  There is no electric near the tent pad, the electric pole is 150+ feet away near the parking area.  You probably could run 175 feet of electric extension cord... but it would have to run past the three other sites... so don't plan for electric.  There is water right by the pad with a ton of pressure.  The tent pad was large but extremely hard to drive tent stakes into... smaller stakes worked better.  The bathhouse was an uphill hike probably 300 ft away but was modern and clean with hot showers and good water pressure.  The park is clean and scenic.  The staff is very courteous, friendly and helpful.  There are plenty of opportunities to hike, fish and boat.

This park is about 30-40 minutes outside of Atlanta right off of I-75.  If you are in a tent... you will hear I-75 traffic all night so keep in mind, that while it looks like country, you are not deep in nature... the drone of the highway will remind you.  There is a train that blows its whistle that will wake you up 3 times each night and also remind you that you are not deep in the woods.  The winding roads through the park outside the campground also seemed to be very popular with motorcyclists who like loud pipes.

The name Red Top Mountain is derived from the red soil in the area that was popular for the mining of abundant iron ore.  But don't look for "mountains" here... you have to travel further north for more dramatic elevation.  

Overall, a nice park, pretty scenery but not as secluded, quiet and relaxing as expected for tent camping.

This park was really nice. We stopped while passing through. The only sites available were walk in tent sites. This isn't a huge big deal but it wasn't ideal for us at that particular time. We had a hard time identifying our site number as they really weren't marked but it wasn't far from the parking lot. There was a tent pad and fire ring but no picnic table. Not the end of the world as we arrived late and were really just sleeping there for the night. The sounds were amazing, owls for a good part of the night. We did have an issue with noise, there was a large group somewhere that was very loud well in to quiet hours and without a camp hose or attendant in the walk in sites, nothing was done about it and the noise started back up first thing in the morning as well. The park did acknowledge other complaints but without knowing which site they were in, it was hard to correct the situation. We did decide to explore the park before driving on and hiked to two waterfalls. Both hikes contained many stairs which is a good workout. The falls were really pretty and well worth the walk with a toddler.

Love the tent-only serenity of the walk-in sites. There is a separate parking lot at the back of the park for the walk-in sites, which are a short distance away (easy to haul your gear). The sites have a tent pad, picnic table and fire ring, and lots of privacy as the sites are very far from each other. The bath house has showers and running hot water. the long hike around the canyon and down into it provided amazing views! I'm always thrilled to find camping areas where I can have the convenience of my car-but can avoid the noise of RVs - and you definitely get that here!

Campground Review:

Red Top Mountain State Park is located in Acworth, GA. The park is located around 12,000-acre Lake Allatoona, which made it perfect for summer camping. The park has about 15 miles worth of shaded trails for hiking and mountain biking. The park also has RV, yurt, and cottage options for camping. We rented a first come first serve RV/Tent campsite during our visit, and the price was $35 for one night. The campsite was gate access and had electric/water hookups with 2 car spaces, a BBQ grill, picnic table, and a lot of trees. We had access to a public restroom, showers, and laundry. There were also primitive campsites available to rent, which were closer to the lake. Our group decided to stay at this park because we wanted to utilize the lake. The lake is beautiful; however, it was very crowded the weekend we went. The park overall has a lot of “things to do” and is family friendly, but it was given 4 stars because of how busy and crowded it was during our visit.

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At this campground, I had the opportunity to test the Tentsile Flite +, which is a tent and hammock fusion. I was super excited to use this product because I am a hammock camper and there are times I wish I had the option of tent camping. The design and uniqueness of Tentsile Flite + is amazing, and I would consider it more of a tent instead of a hammock, because of how flat it lays when suspended in the air.

Pros:

• Comfortable to lay in and no need for sleeping pads or cushions.
• If you are a hammock camper, you can share this tent with another person comfortably.
• The rainfly is clutch and depending on preference it can be attached to the tent, staked to the ground, or tied to the trees.
• The Tensile Flite + is light and can be ideal for backpacking.
• The tent roof is all netting which is great for having ventilation during the summer, keeping bugs out, and also good for sky gazing.

Cons:

• Setup time and the difficulty of getting the right angle and tension.
• It was difficult finding the right trees suspend to.

Overall the Tentsile Flite + is perfect for someone who loves hammock camping, but want to enjoy some of the features tents have. I love the design and the wow factor it has on people. Also the company’s mission is very noble and how they help people in need and the environment.

Here is a video of setting up the Tensile Flite +

Campground Review:

Since I have reviewed many of the backpacking routes in the Cheaha area I would first recommend taking a look at some of the other campground reviews in this area. This shelter is actually along a new trail for me where the Pinhoti heads North from the Cheaha Trailhead on 281. The parking lot has a beautiful entrance archway then heads away from the road before splitting. Take your first right then when the trail splits again take another right. I have a video attached showing the turns. You then continue for about .5 miles before crossing back over the road and following the ridge for a while. After going a little more than 2 miles you will reach a sign that directs you to the shelter. You can’t miss the wooden structure a few yards down the path.

Most of the camping along the Pinhoti is classic semi-flat backcountry sites with a small fire pit and not much else. So when we came across this amazing shelter we were thoroughly impressed. It has a large area on the first floor where you could set up several sleeping bags and then there is an additional closed off area in the loft that is dark and dingy but very clean and perfect if the weather is ugly. The site also has a HUGE firepit which seemed a little overkill but could be nice if you have a large group. Finishing off the amenities is a picnic table and several cleared out tent areas. Make sure to check out my video to get a full idea of how this site is set up and if it would be a good place for you to stay. 

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Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to try out new and interesting products at campgrounds I visit. On this trip, I tried out the RoM Pack. My takeaways from using the combo backpack, poncho, picnic blanket are:

1. The backpack works incredibly well for what it is designed to do. If you are going to be carrying your things somewhere where you will then unpack and hang out for a while this piece of gear does exactly what you need. It held all the items we needed for the day of hiking including a hammock, water bottles, food, and small items (phone, wallet, keys, etc.) and still had plenty of internal space to spare. When we arrived at the campground we set up and unpacked then took apart the backpack so that we could use the blanket to sit on. I can imagine in the future this pack also being very useful for keeping in the car when any one of its uses might come up.
2. It is very comfortable to hike with. I found the strap design and layout to fit comfortably on my chest. They are highly adjustable for different sized individuals. The one criticism I had of the straps is that the cross chest straps are a little too long and I had trouble getting it tight enough since I am a relatively small person. Overall though I didn’t have much shifting around while hiking. 
3. Included with a backpack was a small drawstring bag that is designed to fit inside the larger pack and hold your gear when using the pack as a poncho or blanket. I found this to work ok but felt it was a little unnecessary since anytime I would plan to take about the pack I would want to be at my final destination where I would be ok just taking out my gear. 

Overall, I would say this pack has a few very specific applications and it performs really well for all those situations. Worth checking out if you want to have a multipurpose backup bag in the car or are often in a situation where you are hiking in to picnic locations.

This was our first time staying at Desoto after being here previously to hike. Desoto State Park Campground is a large campground with 94 full hookup sites, 16 primitive tent sites, and 2 primitive backcountry sites. All sites with hook ups also included cable hook ups. All the sites are gravel and most sites are wooded with lots of shade. The sites are a little sloped, so have leveling equipment ready. The sites vary from small and close together in the pull through area, to medium size with plenty of separation for some privacy. All style sites include a picnic table and fire ring. 

Check-in is at the camp store if you arrive during store hours or at the lodge if you arrive after hours. We stayed on site 15, which had a little sun in the morning and complete shade in the afternoon. This site does have a little slope in it, which was no problem for leveling our trailer, but our friends that were with us and in a tent had to deal with setting up on a little slope. 

The bathhouse is centrally located, newer, and cleaned daily. There are also laundry machines available between the men’s and women’s area.. 

Firewood, ice, limited grocery items, and lots of souvenirs were available at the camp store. There is a full grocery store less than 15 minutes away. 

We found ok to limited cell phone service with Verizon throughout the property. The state park did have wi-fi near the camp store. 

The park has lots of hiking to enjoy the outdoors, a few smaller waterfalls along some of the trails, a zipline and sky bridge course(for a fee), and a large waterfall a short 5 minute drive from the campground. The river above the large waterfall is also available for kayaking and canoeing, and a small outfitter rents boats if you need one. 

The state park is located in a very outdoorsy area with various activities to take inn. We look forward to visiting here again.