Best Tent Camping near Fitzgerald, GA

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.

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.

We tent camped for 2 nights in campsite #1 in campground #1. This site is the first site to the right when you pull into the campground. There are trash cans at the campground exit and a direct line of sight view of the dump station. The west river trail runs right behind the campsite. The site itself is spacious with plenty of shade. There are a couple of good sets of trees for hanging a hammock. The electric box is a little further from the tent pad (which is packed sand and not gravel) than most sites I’ve stayed at, so I was happy that I brought an extension cord. The camp restrooms are adequate but not at all ADA accessible at campground #1. There are 3 toilet stalls, 2 that have working latches, and 2 shower stalls- both with working latches. Both of the showers have a small little room for you to change clothes with a hook on the wall and a hook on the door and a little bench. If you’re tall, be ready to duck to get your head under the water because the shower heads are low. Temperature and pressure were good. Bonus perk- stray cats at the campground.

The park itself has some cool trails. We hiked the west river trail all the way to the farm at the front of the park. It took us over wooden boardwalks over swampy Cyprus areas and through the forest around the 17 mile river. It was pretty and the heritage tobacco farm was really cool. There are restrooms and a coke machine at the farm. The coke machine takes cards, but bring lots of water with you. There are lots of animals that are used to being fed, so buy some food at the visitor’s center, or prepare to be made to feel guilty. The farm is situated next to a small lake, and when the world isn’t shutdown due to COVID-19, they rent boats. The lake is big enough to boat around in for a little while and there are fish to be caught- carp from what I could tell.

There was a small gravel road that split off from the first group picnic shelter area that takes you down to the 17 mile river for fishing access. The 17 mile river dries up some years, but the deeper “lakes” keep water in them during those dry years. The river wasn’t flowing while we were here, but there was some standing water in places that would have been dry if it hadn’t rained recently.

The park is about an hour and a half drive from the main entrance of the Okefenokee swamp. We drove down there and rented a kayak so we both could go paddle the swamp. On the way down there, somewhere outside of waycross, we passed a mudding course, if that’s more your style.

Overall, this is someplace that I probably wouldn’t come back to because I’ve done all the things that the park has to offer, and there are more parks to explore. It’s definitely worth a visit for a night or two, or as a jumping off point for other activities this part of the state has to offer.

Reed Bingham State Park is located in Adel, GA. It has about 1600 acres including a 375 acre lake with many activities surrounding it. There is a dam with fishing as well as boating, swim beach and and island for camping. Off the lake are 2 camping loops with just under 50 sites. Ranging from water/electric only to full hook-ups. Prices run between $28 and $38 per night. There is also primitive group camping and Eagle Island camping in the lake if you wish to paddle over. Our family stayed here in December 2016 with friends. We were lucky enough to get 2 standard sites side by side so we could create a cozy awning to awning camp area for our families. The bathrooms and laundry were nearby (1 in each loop). There was a large grassy area in the middle of the loop for the kids to play soccer, set up the slack-line, etc.They also enjoyed the playground, climbing tree and mini-golf nearby. We went on some short hikes in the park. There are 7 walking and biking multi-use trails that are all under 1 mile. You can connect them together for a much longer hike. Overall, this was a great family friendly campground.