Best Tent Camping near Monticello, GA

Went to High Falls State Park in January. site number 27. We stayed 8 nights There are two campgrounds- lakeside and River camping area. Lakeside is by High falls Lake and is closest to the falls. River camping is across the street we stayed in River camping area. Nice sites but open to neighbors. Sites included table, fire ring, lantern hook. Some sites are 30 amp some 50 amp and had some pull through sites. After the weekend we were one of only a few in the campground in January. Weather may change this time of year we had a lot of rain one day and freezing temperatures overnight but mostly it was good camping weather. Camp hosts were awesome!!! This park is not far off i-75. Dollar general was a few miles other than that not much around. Very easy hiking trail to waterfalls and several trails along Towaliga River, ruins of an old Mill. There is no swimming in falls or river. Afterr rain falls were flowing very fast. This park also has a swimming pool, mini golf, yurts, boat rentals all were closed in January. Bathhouses were well maintained and had laundry facilities. Phone and TV reception we're good at this park. 8 days was too much here I would recommend 4 to 5 days or as a stopover point but would definitely return here.

I was actually shocked at how terrible our actual campsite was; we stayed at site 29, which was supposedly intended for tent camping.

Pros

• The front gate staff was very nice; check in and general store staff were average
• The general store was very convenient and decently stocked
• The bathrooms and showers were pretty nice
• Beautiful lake view. It was nice to watch kayakers and rowing teams go by
• Nice tree placement for hammock
• Close to all Stone Mountain activities
• Garbage pickup each morning (but no metal trash can to store it in??)

Cons

• The site is on a freaking hill; there is no flat surface at all and no clearing, so you have no choice but to sleep on sticks/rocks. Thank God to REI for footprints and decent sleeping pads
• Site was dirty when I arrived
• No tent pad
• Parking area is crap; it's somewhere between gravel and nothing
• $20 parking fee

There is no way I would stay at this campground again; it was definitely made for RVs.

This place is great if you still want some of the comforts of home. Water spouts are dropped around the sites and there is a bathhouse with showers and hot water accessible to all who camp there! The sites for tent camping are fairly close together-you can definitely see the next site because there aren’t a whole lot of trees but still far enough away to feel comfortable. The tent spots have gravel that is hard to get tent states into but also include a picnic table and a fire pit. Wood can be purchased for $5 from the host but you can also forage from the fallen trees on site. You may have to search around a bit but it worked well enough for my crew.

The lake was so beautiful even in the middle of winter and was such a great spot to camp. Some hikes are close by but none are big for elevation changes or waterfalls or anything like that. Still lots of places to go and get off your campsite. Maybe the best part of this park is the disc golf! My crew enjoyed the course and spent a few good hours there!

I would definitely come back and maybe try out one of the tent sites in the woods for a bit more privacy.

While the tropical storm weather cut our trip to AH Stephens Historic Park we still very much enjoyed our visit.

We stayed in 2 sites with the grandparents. #9 & #12

Site 12 was a very nice straight site with the picnic table and fire ring down a few steps off the back of the main pad. Nicely wooded there was a tree very close to the hook up that caused us to park forward a bit to allow for a slide and side bunk to fully function.

Site 9 (handicapped site) was perfect for the grandparents as there was a short paved walkway straight to the bath house.

Both sites were nicely graveled and level.

My wife and I booked site 1 after there was nothing else available, literally, in the entire state. We arrived Friday afternoon, first impression is that the park is extremely well maintained. The hosts were very friendly, and very accommodating after learning that our site actually wasn't suitable for our tent. We moved to site 36, which, unlike site 1, was flat and long enough for our admittedly huge tent. Each site had a grill and either a grated iron fire ring or stone fire ring. The facilities were well maintained although the hardware was fairly dated. There were laundry machines at the facilities as well. The park itself was very quaint and rustic, with some very well maintained trails that catered to both hikers and bikers. There is a very cool rock effigy with a multi story observation tower, and lots of very cool information. It's like an outdoor museum. This campground isn't particularly tent friendly, but it's not a bad option if you want something local or need it as a backup. Definitely choose your site with care if you are in a tent, as not all of the sites are flat or have gravel pads. The campground is far enough from major light pollution to see a good amount of stars in the sky, but they do have huge floodlights at the entrance of the campground. Overall, I'm glad to know that it is there in case we are unable to go to one of our go-to campgrounds, but I wouldn't call it my favorite.