Best Tent Camping near Cedartown, 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.

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 +

General: Two improved campgrounds (Upper and Lower), two primitive campgrounds, chalets, cabins, and a motel. We camped in the improved Upper campground, so this review is focused on that. I would recommend you arrive during daylight hours as it was challenging for us to find our site in the dark! There is very limited cell service in the park and none in the campgrounds. 

Site Quality: Gravel and pavement; most looked level. They are all rated tent/RV and small- medium– large and they mean it! We have an 18-foot campervan, and we were pretty snug in Site 19. Also, it was hilly and the angle to back into the site was somewhat challenging. All of the sites are FHU. We were warned that freezing temperatures were expected during our stay and that we could not stay connected to water or the spigot would break if not drained and that we would be charged a $125 repair fee. Each site has a metal picnic table, a BBQ grill, and a fire ring with a grate. 

Bathhouse/Shower: Basic but clean. No hooks to hang toiletry bags but it looks like there used to be some. The showers looked a bit sketchy but since it was so cold during our visit, I didn’t feel the need to check them out. Plenty of toilet paper but hubby reported that in the men's room, there always seemed to be toilet paper unraveled all around the restroom! 

Activities/Amenities: Several short hiking trails and longer forest service ones nearby. Mountain biking, although I read on the All Trails app that the trails are extremely challenging for biking. I agree that with so many leaves covering the roots and rocks, the trails were more challenging (hubby slipped and fell on one hike). There is a small store and a pool for in-season. Rappelling is also popular in this park but requires a permit. There was a small informative CCC museum (there was significant evidence of the work of the CCC in the park). There was also a small “fairy garden” near the entrance that was quite adorable. There was a postcard in the store that showed an impressive waterfall but it was completely dried up in November! There used to be a restaurant/bar but it has been closed indefinitely due to staffing issues. 

Cheaha State Park prides itself on being a Leave No Trace Park (one of about a dozen in the US) but while there were two large dumpsters by the campground, there were no recycling bins.

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.

We just left this morning, booked May 15th-May17th. I did my booking about two weeks early and I know it was sold out when we got there. The majority of the attractions are closed, and half the grounds are due to Covid. The others, including a trail or two are closed due to AT&T tower construction. We got in on the upper semi primitive tent sites, which was absolutely perfect. I booked 107&109 together for a family that was coming up with us, but did want to keep our distance as much as possible as there are still distancing and safety guidelines to live by. I think the ground was perfect and fully shaded spots, I did my research here and we were about 100 ft from the bathrooms (no bathhouse just toilets). They were okay...they did clean them (empty the trash and refilled the soap) by the time we left so maybe once a day. I'd like to see them a bit more sparkling or smell somewhat like cleaning spray to feel comfortable, but I take a cleaning wipe to touch anything that others may touch as well. Then I ensure I'm washing again, with sanitizer after. People don't seem to mind the fact a pandemic is happening but I just want to safely get my family outside the house, and my selfish outdoors experience in. Might not make me much different than the others, but I'd be very careful. The sites were perfect and had trails leading to the Leave no trace trail, which was a good mile for my 3 yr old and 16 month old (we carried both intermittently 16 months obviously was in the ergo baby 99% of the mile). There are shared spigots for water supply and this is no big deal, we put a small hose on ours at 109 & everyone very well enjoyed it. Views make you feel out of Alabama, I am used to 4,000 footers and up but I loved being out there and will go back to plan a hike without my kids (or even husband!)

The Pocket is our favorite place to camp. You're under a good canopy, so lots of shade. The creek is great for kids to play in. There's no need to bring water, just a container. There's a natural spring that flows out of the ground in the day area. We drink this water every day. We are local to The Pocket, so we fill jugs for home here as well. It is very cold water. No matter the temperature, you'll cool off in the spring. No showers but they do have a bathroom house. No water or power hookups. Site 10 is right next to the creek and gets the most sun. Site 7 is close to the day area, and people tend to intrude on your privacy in this site. Other than that, the campground is awesome! Our favorite sites are 6 and 23.