Best Tent Camping near Lakeland, GA

One of 5 river camps along the Suwanee River and one of the nicest. This system of river camps currently is first come first served with no fee - but that could change soon and screened sleeping platforms may require reservations. Reservations can be made for groups and are suggested. Our outfitter American Canoe Adventures makes our reservations for us. We stay here at least 2 times a year as the Suwannee River river camps are spaced a days paddle apart and are wonderfully convenient (especially in summer when afternoon rains come daily and bugs are everywhere).

Outfitters have road access to help with deliveries of gear and supplies - Road access not open to the public. Most of the time you will have a camp host on the property.

River camp has bath house with water and electric, grills, fire pits, tent camping area and screened sleeping platforms with electric, lighting and ceiling fans. Many units also have hooks to hang you hammocks. Sleeping pavilions typically will hold 6-8 persons and have small corner tables with small bench. Each has picnic table and fire ring. You will find a broom in each shelter - please sweep out and leave clean for next group. Camp host oftentimes has firewood available for sale. There are trails to explore and if you look closely you will find remains and signs of old turpentine harvesting in the area close to the camp in the forest. Chuck-will's-widow, owls and frogs will serenade you at night.

Tent camping area has fire pit and picnic table to share with others

There are canoe racks off platform visible at lower water levels or you can tie boat up under ramp. At high water you will be able to paddle up walkway to get out. - please turn boat to side of railing and secure as far up ramp as possible to leave room for others coming in to get their vessels up. There are also canoe racks at top of walkway. Always take paddles, PFD's, fishing equipment, food items and valuables to your camping area - do not leave in boats. There are raccoons and other nocturnal creatures and an occasional bear passing through.

PROS 

Site 14- shady; 100% sand; moveable small wooden picnic table and metal fire ring with cooking grate; small clothes line permanently erected 

Fairly new bathhouse which was very clean 

Quiet except for Interstate 10, US90 and occasional train 

Park security gate closes at sunset and requires code to enter 

Campground Drive thrus by sheriff and park personnel 

Very friendly and helpful volunteers 

Lots and lots of squirrels. 

Didn’t see any other wild life. 

CONS 

Paid transaction fee for making my own online reservation 

Camping in cars permitted in FHU campsites 

No privacy from other sites or campground roadway 

No Park WIFI 

1 bar TMOBILE

Don’t Miss 

Live Oak is the next eastbound Interstate 10 exit, so 7 miles, which has Walmart with Murphy fuel, Lowe’s, Winn-Dixie and Publix 

Watch local law enforcement speed surveillance on US90. Goes from 60 mph to 45 mph at the Interstate junction! 

Robbie’s Cafe for some reasonably priced home cooking 

O’Neal County Buffet in Madison for bodacious fried chicken

Campground Review

Woods Ferry River Camp is the first in a series of river camps available about a day’s paddle apart on the Suwannee River From White Springs (River mile 159.3 GPS Location: N 30 21.22, W 82 51.37 ) to Adams Track (River mile 85.5 GPS Location: N 30 2.10, W 83 1.14). On our recent visit River Level was at 52 making it easy to get out of kayak on a small sandy area under ramp. One of the storage racks had been damaged in recent storm/flooding but one still remained and held our 6 boats easily. There are carts to help you get your gear up the high 200 yard, winding ramp to get to the camp. Recent weather has taken a toll on this favorite camp of ours. We stayed in screened pavilion # 3 and found the railing to be loose and many of the installed hammock hooks bent down and unusable. Shower in the men’s room was scheduled for repair so we “stood guard” for our male camping companion to shower in ladies room. Camp hosts were wonderful and had ice as well as firewood available “for donation”. Fire pits were all clean as well as the rest of the facility! There is a large pavilion with picnic tables and electricity available for use with a large fire pit and grills. Other than routine maintenance needing done this place is holding up well. It is still free to stay at the river camps. There is a very nice tent camping area also! Screened pavilions need a reservation during busy time of year (which I would suggest always try to get). Our outfitter offers a service to shuttle gear to site for a fee. This trip there was a terrible storm front that came through and we did not get to finish our trip and outfitter was able to pick us up at this location. As we were aware of the trouble we could have with the weather we were able to get a call out luckily( limited cell service here) and arranged for our outfitter American Canoe Adventures – to pick us up. The hard part was moving all our boats from the river up to where the van could get to. Long ramp in the pouring rain – not fun. You cannot drive into Woods Ferry, this is a river access location only, except for camp hosts and permitted outfitters.

Product Review

On this kayak camping trip I had the opportunity to test out the Primus Lite XL . This stove comes with a 1 liter pot (good to feed 2 persons) that actually connects to the stove to prevent spills! This connection between burner and pot made for a secure unit making it much easier to stir the pot! The heat flows through the specially designed bottom of the pot which had fins built in, this heats the pot and items you are cooking very efficiently! This new feature also aids in keeping wind from carrying away your heat! Another bonus feature is the igniter button – no need to carry extra lighter for this stove. The clear lid with strainer, footrest, and folding stove handles make this a complete package. Well built, seems like with will hold up well in the back country and light/compact enough for backpacking. Primus did a great job with this set!. As a rebel I also had to test burner without the included pot and unit provided stable support and cooked evenly. Great gas saving stove! Thank you #PrimusAmerica !

Get yours today at https://primus.us/products/lite-xl-4?variant=17262671429

Electric and water hook ups. Camping sites are large enough for 2 tents. Shaded well. There’s a decent boat ramp with over flow parking for the truck and trailer. Great for kayaking and Small boating. Trails are great for hiking and a few for mountain biking. Neat cemetery back in the grass lands near ranger station, lots of tortoises to see. Pet friendly for domestic pets. Ranger station was very helpful and knowledgeable about trails for longer distance biking. Wood for sale. Hot water bath house as well. Site has picnic tables. Very clean area.

One of 5 river camps along the Suwanee River and the 2nd camp from White Springs. This system of river camps currently is first come first served with no fee - but that could change soon and screened sleeping platforms may require reservations. Reservations can be made for groups and are suggested. Our outfitter American Canoe Adventures makes our reservations for us. The Suwannee River river camps are spaced a days paddle apart and are wonderfully convenient (especially in summer when afternoon rains come daily and bugs are everywhere).

Most of the time you will have a camp host on the property and MAY have firewood for sale. Their site is hte last site past the bathrooms(and they are past all the sleeping pavilions.

This river camp has lots of tent camping space, a small bath house with water and electric, grills, fire pits, and screened sleeping platforms with electric, lighting and ceiling fans. Many units also have hooks to hang you hammocks. Sleeping pavilions typically will hold 6-8 persons and have small corner tables with small bench. Each has picnic table and fire ring. You will find a broom in each shelter - please sweep out and leave clean for next group.

There is a nice beach at lower water levels to pull up your vessel or you can tie boat up under ramp. At high water this ramp can be tricky to unload from in a strong current (we have seen it with no beach visible) Always take paddles, PFD's, fishing equipment, food items and valuables to your camping area - do not leave in boats. There are raccoons and other nocturnal creatures and an occasional bear passing through.

Swimming and fishing are nice here. Lots of places to explore. Make sure you have some bug spray for evenings in summer months

Arrived here for a three-night tent stay in early October after staying at the George L. Smith State Park in Georgia. This place has soo much potential. It was quite deserted. Switched from spot 324 to 375 next to the lake where it was more level. What's up with the restrooms though? There are a couple of spots where port-a-potties have been set up. They are ventilated and well lit, but they have no water though they have what are supposed to be running toilets and even sinks. There's a raised platform with shower stalls, but there's no running water?

The place is otherwise very beautiful and peaceful, but that is also because it's absolutely empty. Haven't seen any other tents here, just a couple of small campers in this section. One the other side of the lake there were about 12 big rigs, far from here. This place is enormous. Lots of bugs. Never seen these many flies in all 13 camps visited in Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina so far.

Very well stocked Country Store within the park, and Walmart is five miles away.

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 have been down the Suwannee many times and always stay in woods ferry for FREE!!! Bathhouses electricity potable water shelters!! These are amazing only accessible from the water this place is awesome. It has a dock a boat tie up and even has little wagons to help you lug all of your gear to the top. The campsite has a large shelter with a large campfire ring and seats for bigger parties. The shelters all have water electricity and benches on the inside. The shelters also have hooks for your hammocks if you prefer to sleep that way. They have grills and fire rings at your campsite and picnic tables. There is primitive camping as well. Most of the time a camp host is on site.