Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Cumberland Island National Seashore

Most striking feature was the wonderful natural separation between the sites on the "west" loop. Sites are large and very level. Nice hiking trails and a bird watching site and nature center. They have an abundance of volunteers who keep things clean as well as do occasional drive byes in case you have an issue or need help.

The campground is less than 15 minutes from charming St. Mary's, GA. It has several wonderful restaurants and parks and is a short boat ride from Cumberland Island National Seashore. Unfortunately no dogs are allowed on the park operated boats.

Make sure you have bug spray.

We stayed here the Memorial Day week.  Great campground with spacious sites and very quiet.   Some of the sites have more privacy with the palmettos in between, but the site we were were at did not.   Sites are level, park is clean, bathhouses are clean.   Three bars of cell service at the campground.  The park has some  trails for hiking, a nature center, picnic areas, and of course access to the water for fishing and kayaking.  We rode our bikes around the park every day.  We especially liked the short river trail in the mornings and evenings - great views.   This campground is within an hour's drive of Jekyll Island and St. Simon's Island, as well as Florida beaches, which we visited.  We also took the ferry to Cumberland Island National Seashore and spent a day hiking around the island - it was amazing.  See photos below.

Crooked River State Park is located near the town of St. Mary’s, Georgia, and very close to interstate 95. The park is very well maintained and the staff was pleasant and informative. The campground is divided into two areas designated as # 1 and # 2, all accessed via one way roads throughout the campgrounds. Area # 1 is treed with tall Georgia pines but no ground vegetation for privacy, beautiful but very open. Camping area # 2 is very private with lots space and vegetation between sites. We stayed at site 58 in area # 2 which is equipped with full hook ups and a long back in site. Since we stayed there the park has included sewer to about half of the sites, all on Camping area #2. The bath houses were very clean and well maintained daily, the laundry facilities were the same. There are some good walking trails throughout the park and an active boat ramp with a small floating pier/dock on the River.

There are numerous shopping areas and restaurants within a few miles of the park. The Cumberland Island National Seashore is also nearby and accessible on by boat but worth the effort to go. The Cumberland Queen docks downtown St. Mary’s and has a schedule for departure and return for day trips, you will need to take everything you need as there are NO items for sale on the island.

This area of SE Georgia is known for its population of sand gnats. They are very active in the mornings and evenings when the humidity and temperatures are high. The locals swear by Soft Sense lotion as a deterrent but you will have to decide for yourself. This is a very nice park from our experience, a hidden gem that is often overlooked.

Friendly staff. Easy check in. Very clean park. Sites aren’t really big, but are separated by bushes, trees so provides some privacy. They are very pet friendly. We travel with a dog and they have a dog park. It’s not big (for larger dogs) and it would be nicer with a different surface (stone or chips) as it had really muddy areas. And of course there are always those pet owners who don’t bother to pick up there dog’s poop. So not the fault of the campground. Another camper told me they are adding a doggie grooming daycare facility. Which would be great to be able to leave your dog for the day while site seeing . Restrooms very clean. Nice showers. Doors locked and keyed with code. ice machine (free!) Didn’t use the laundry room but poked my head in and it was clean, all top loading washers. Great area to walk (like a boardwalk) around the pond. Close to stores, islands, restaurants. We would stop again for a few nights if traveling thru that area again. Restful and felt safe.

Given the size of the RVs, this looks like a great family vacation destination. For us, the attraction was Cumberland Island which is a 45 minute ferry ride from St. Mary's GA (20 minutes from the campground).

Some Info About the Sites

• There are many pull through sites which have huge gravel pads.

• Back in sites have long parking pads.

• The grassy areas accompanying each site are spacious.

• We ended up in the middle (see map) on #3 because it's what was available. I recommend you stick to the outside of the loops. There are more opportunities for shade.

• You'll be closest to the water at sites 39, 41 or 42. There are woods behind you if you stick with the area that includes sites 11-27.

Amenities

• Water and electricity at all sites

• There is a restroom behind our site (#3) that is set up as men's/women's restrooms with 2 showers in each. One of the showers is handicapped accessible, but there is a nicer (newer) restroom across from site 48 and next to ADA site 46. There are 4 private restrooms (2 handicapped accessible) with toilet, sink and shower along with a laundry room with 2 washers and 2 dryers. The other restroom has a washer, dryer and utility sink between the men's and women's rooms.

• Dump station and trash dumpsters along with recycling bins

• Playground

• Golf cart paths

Fun Things To Do

• Visit Cumberland Island (see info below)

• Mini golf

• Bird watching - there's a bird blind for bird experts, novice watchers and photographers

• Boating and fishing on the Crooked River

• A few trails and an observation tower

• Nature center

Cumberland Island National Seashore: The only way to reach the island is via boat. A day trip via ferry from St. Marys is definitely worth the trip. You need to bring food for the day because there's no place to buy ANYTHING....really! You can get water in a few places, but we brought water to start the day.  Our 8 mile hike took us south on the island to the Dungeness Ruins and further south before we turned around and headed across the island to the beach on the ocean side. There were probably only a couple hundred people on the island, and we only saw a few people on the beach. We saw lots of wildlife (feral horses, snakes, deer, armadillo) on the trails and in open areas. We hiked through the Sea Camp campground which had beautiful sites. If you want to stay overnight on Cumberland Island, you'll have to bring your tent and all your food.

Visiting Cumberland Island National Seashore requires some advance planning because you must reserve a site at Sea Camp, Stafford Beach, or one of the backcountry sites AND you must reserve a spot on the ferry from St. Marys that aligns with your camping reservation. Reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance and usually need to be made 5 - 6 months in advance for a site at Sea Camp.

I stayed on Cumberland Island in August and April. Months to avoid include July, August, and September because it is hot, humid, and later on in the summer - hurricane season! I did stay on Cumberland Island in August and the temperatures were record-setting hot almost everyday!!! The next time I visited I made sure to book the trip in April.

Sea Camp is a great way to ease into backpacking/camping/outdoor activities as it requires a short hike with gear to reach the campground but it is an established campground with (cold) showers and toilets and there are wagons available to help you haul your gear. In terms of packing, bring what you would bring for car camping but remember you are there to enjoy the beach and not to spend all day hauling gear from the dock to camp. After two trips, I've found that a backpack, cooler, camping supplies box, and chair are really all I need. Some campers bring showering systems to obtain hot water showers - I love the cold water showers especially after a hot day at the beach.

Once at Sea Camp, be sure to properly store your food inside the provided food cage AND make sure your food is properly wrapped and stored - ants can be problematic. If you have a cooler, you can buy more ice from the Ferry each morning at the Sea Camp Dock and you should plan to buy ice each day if you are staying for the hottest months.

I recommend a minimum of two nights but if you can stay for a week I highly recommend it. Staying multiple nights guarantees isolation and peace and quiet at night as the day visitors leave AND Cumberland Island is amazing for star gazing and staying multiple nights gives you a better chance of seeing shooting stars.

In terms of what to do - be sure to take a sunrise walk at least one morning - I took a sunrise walk and found SO MANY treasures washed ashore over a small area - I left them for others to enjoy but not until I lined them all up for a photo (see below). Also be sure to hike to and explore the Dungeness Ruins and make it a roundtrip hike by returning via the beach.

Finally, if you are only there a few days I would stay on the southern end of the island but if you are there for a more than a few days I suggest renting a bike (from the Ferry operators) and biking up to some of the other historical areas on the island.

In preparation for your trip, I highly recommend reading Untamed as it tells the history of Cumberland Island and the stories of some of its most famous residents.

Finally, be sure to hike some around sunset to see armadillos and wild horses.