Best Cabin Camping near Sparta, GA

This state park has boats to rent,fishing, swimming equestrian camping,cabins ect..They have this large primitive area that we used..It was a bit of a hike to the bathrooms..but everything else was fantastic We loved the historical museum there too

Nicest state park cabin I’ve never stayed in! The furnishings were beautiful and the screened porch was amazing. I really appreciated that the bedding and towels were plush and extremely comfortable-very unlike most state parks or other rental cabins. It was also impeccably clean, AND the bathrooms had handcrafted local soaps!

As a side note, my husband is a wheelchair user and this was the most accessible vacation rental we’ve ever encountered (and we travel a lot). The picnic table had a seat cutout, the fire pit and grill were on a level surface, and the kitchen sink was roll under! 10/10 thank you HLC for the thoughtful attention to accessibility.

All campsites have nice views of the lake. Large boat ramp, kayak and paddleboard rentals, cabins, hiking trails, nature viewing spots, walk in sites...this one has it all. Many events throughout the year for all. Store in the park in case you forgot something. Ranger lives inside the campground as well.

We had cabin 5 and walked to the water. Free fishing pole for kids.

Now we’ve never stayed here for our rv trips however we’ve revisited over the course of maybe 5 years for our family reunion and yes over the past two to three years they’ve remodeled the cabins. Yet, this year the newly remodeled cabins were in need of maintenance and repair. I mean come on. The conditioned building we rent every year has even got mold in it and we had a family member clean the kitchen for two hours in preparation for our event. We plan on changing locations finally as it seems the staff and rangers at Hard Labor are just riding their paycheck.

Large, well maintained sites. We stayed on 17 and it was very private. We hiked from the campground to Lake Buncombe and also hiked from Sunset Drive trail to Lake Liberty and the office. Equestrian trails are closed to hiking during the weekend. Equestrian campground has a new stable and bathhouse and a campground that is under construction now. The old equestrian campground and stable are still there. The cabins on Federal Lake just reopened after getting new flooring. All of the rangers were friendly and helpful. We did the A. H. Stephens museum tour and that was very nicely done. We did a day trip to Greensboro and walked the shops and went to Oconee Brewery. Everyone was raving about Yesterday Cafe so on our next visit Lucy May have to stay back at the camper. We will definitely return in warmer weather for canoeing and a trip to Warrenton which is close by.

Hard Labor Creek State Park is one of the Georgia State Park system's best kept secrets! Located just minutes away from Rutledge, GA, HLC seems like a whole world away! Away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, HLC is still convenient to Rutledge and Madison, in case you forgot to pack something.

HLC features hiking trails, mini golf, newly "renovated" campsites that include two BRAND new bathhouses (comfort stations). The comfort stations have restrooms/showers, as well as two family restroom/shower facilities. The comfort stations also feature vending machines (drinks) and a laundry facility!

Kayak rentals, a beach/swimming area and numerous special programs are available!

Cell phone service is very spotty in the park but that is alright with us, camping is about getting AWAY and enjoying the outdoors, not staring at your electronic devices!

If golf is your thing, HLC has a beautiful 18-hole golf course!

We stopped here for one night in December, passing through. The park had a beautiful Christmas light display with hot chocolate and a Christmas movie playing on a big screen. The park staff were so friendly. There is a small lake with boat rentals. Campground is clean. We want to return and stay longer!

We really enjoyed RV camping at this campground. It wasn’t busy, especially for a weekend. Lots of empty campsites. Super clean bathrooms. It has a couple of hiking trails, boat rentals, a nice lake to fish, and some historical buildings to explore but not a lot else to do. That was fine with us and our 2 night stay. Equestrian camping seems to be the big thing there.

My wife and I came here in our pop up camper.  We had never even heard of this camp ground and booked it primarily because we were looking for a nice campground with availability.  We arrived after the Trading Post / Office was closed, and we hit a snag right off the bat.  Our campsite (21) was really not a site for a pop up camper.  This was definitely more of a tent site.  Luckily the camp host was super nice and accommodating.  He put us in spot 23, and luckily we were able to reserve it for the whole stay.  This was a nice private camp site, great for a pop up or tent, but wouldnt be good for a big RV.  There were trails all behind our site, and it was secluded which worked out great because our dog could relax without people passing the site constantly.  The staff here is extremely pleasant and very helpful and facilities are extremely clean.

We played 9 holes at The Creek, a real nice golf course that is in the state park. We really enjoyed the golfing here, but we are not advanced golfers.  We also fished off the dock at Lake Rutledge.  What a beautiful lake.  We would have rented a boat, but we were not able to due to Covid.

We were so happy here, that we have been talking about returning with the kids.  There is a miniature golf course and a playground.  We may even ask the grandparents to come.  They don't like camping but there are beautiful cabins here.

I highly recommend Hard Labor Creek State Park.  A hidden gem.

Nice campground, bathhouses exceptionally clean. Camped on a Sunday and Monday and was so peaceful with all of nature’s  sounds. There’s two lakes there but you need to take a short drive to get to the swimming beach and to better fishing. Golf course looks great, and  equestrian camping looked great too. Lots of easy hiking trails to explore.  A very  short drive from Atlanta make this campground a nice weekend camping getaway

This review is for campsite 82 at Mistletoe State Park. An absolutely commanding view of the lake! It lacked shade in late March but once the sun went down, it was perfect! Beautiful sunsets! We camped in 2 tents and there was more than enough room, the tent pads were level, and the crusher run was comfortable under the tarp and tent. There is a unique lookout structure with a rolling gate. This was useful for corralling our cocker spaniel. We also set chairs up there. Accessing the lake was no problem, just down an easy incline, and there was a little beach area, perfect for sitting with your feet in the cold water. There are multiple trails but we loved walking around both campsite loops. It’s fun to see the different set ups. The comfort station near us was average, but adequate. The shower design isn’t super for drainage but it works! The toilet stalls and sink area were very clean. It looked like at least one comfort station on the right fork loop was more updated, with family bathrooms. I’m with AT&T and I had very few issues with cellular data. The hosts were friendly and welcoming. The gift shop was lovely. We would love to go back and rent a pontoon boat and try one of the cabins. We would like the record to show that at 2:00 AM on the Saturday we were there, an airboat with purple and green lights and very loud music came upon the shoreline of the state park. It was like a spaceship had landed. After thinking about it, we think they may have been bow fishing. Of course our kids slept through the whole thing, no idea how! They took “disturbance of the peace” to a new level! No reflection on the park itself, just a bizarre occurrence and a funny memory for us!

We were back at HLC this past weekend and, as always, top-notch park! We have tent camped for several years but recently upgraded to a new (to us) pop up and we had a blast!

We camped at site 26 (one of the newer sites) and it had full hookup (our PUP does not have a bathroom but does have a galley). The site has electric (50 amp and 30 amp service) as well as free cable TV!!

The sites at HLC are well spaced and the bath houses are spotless!!

The park staff is amazing and the camp hosts are always cleaning up and are available if you need anything!

HLC is our go-to spot for a weekend getaway because of the above-mentioned reasons and it is close to home!!

The main feature is the lake. Fishing, boating, kayaking, swimming. Stayed at site #12. Waterfront excellent view of lake but sunny site. Sites had water, electric, concrete table, fire ring, and lantern hook. Not much barrier between sites but sites were good size just open. Everyone was very friendly. During week it was relatively empty but on Friday the campground started to fill up. Sites in the 60-90 loop looked the best with water views and shade and most were pull through. The bathrooms were ok and there is a laundry room. The bathrooms were quite far from some sites requiring a long walk or drive. Park had a great store selling souvenirs, ice, firewood, worms for fishing. Campground staff and host were very friendly. Not much around outside park. There was a dollar general about 12 miles away for supplies. You could pull your boat up to your waterfront campsite. They also have kayak rentals.

We have camped at this beautiful park NUMEROUS times and there is a reason that we keep coming back (actually there are multiple reasons)!

HLC has an amazing staff that is there when you need them and not there when you don't! The camp hosts are friendly, the Ranger rides through on a regular basis and is friendly/outgoing (you can tell that he enjoys his job)!

The campground is not cramped at all and most of the sites are spread apart to provide privacy!

Not long ago, as many of the GA State Parks are doing, HLC swapped over to "site-specific" reservations..meaning that you must choose a particular site when reserving. This is VERY useful if you're familiar with the campground and have a favorite site (such as we do) but it can be a shot in the dark if you're not familiar with the campground.

The bath houses/comfort stations are brand new (including laundry rooms) and the camp hosts keep them spotless! The campground roads are newly paved and there are a couple of new sites.

There are hiking trails, kayak rentals, a beach area (swimming) and two nice lakes! There are equestrian trails and even an equestrian campground!

The park has numerous cottages to rent, a group shelter, picnic pavilions and even a mini-golf course (newly renovated)!

Not far from the campground (in Rutledge, GA) there is a Dollar general in case you forgot something that the park store doesn't have.

If you've never visited this beautiful park, ou are missing out on one of our hidden gems!

We stayed in site 28 which was a premium pull through site. My biggest issue with the site was it was set up backwards. You enter on what is supposed to be a one way street and pull straight into the site. The picnic table and cleared spot for the site were on the back side of the camper which was odd. Also we had to pull up pretty far to get our electric cord to reach the electric box which got us off the most level section of the site and the cord laid across the camp site in the way. Other than the crazy set up which most of the pull through sites seemed to have it was a very nice park. Next time I will just reserve a back in site on the water. There are several boat ramps throughout the park which makes it convenient for people wishing to bring their own boat. There was also a designated swimming beach but it was a good way away from the campsites. We didn’t end up swimming because it was unseasonably cold. I did not use the bathhouse, but my children did and they were not happy with the bugs inside. My oldest daughter actually took a camp fogger and fogged the bathhouse before she took a shower. Otherwise the facilities were good. Their was a playground that my younger children enjoyed within a short walk of our site. My youngest son was happy because he just had to walk across the road from our site to be able to fish. There were also kayak rentals available from the office and those were very close to our site as well. Overall we liked the park and plan to return.

Mistletoe State Park is another great Georgia State Park. Tucked way back in a big pine forest and nestled right up on the banks of Clarks Hill Reservoir it is well worth the effort to find reservations at this park. Over 70 sights with 30 amp, and water service, plenty of road side gray water dumps between sights and TWO dump stations. The Park Host do a fantastic job with keeping this park clean with multiple bath houses and a large amount of community space. For the hikers the trails are great, and very in difficulty to keep things fun and the backwoods hiking camp sights were great. The beach and boating facilities were very nice. The playgrounds were still closed off due to Con-19. We saw lots of wild life, lots of stars at night (gets really dark at night). I may be partial a little when it comes to Georgia State Parks but they have earned it. This one lives right up with the others I have visited. We had so much fun and created so many great memories that we can’t wait for our next adventure at another Ga State Park.

We spent a couple of nights in Mistletoe State Park in Georgia while we investigated my husband's ancestry.  This park is truly beautiful. As you enter and drive through the park you are surrounded by virgin forest and arrive at beautiful Lake Thurmond.  Our campsite was the best we have ever had anywhere.  Surrounded on 3 sides by the lake we woke to the sunrise and retired to a serene sunset each night.  Those we met in the area were so helpful and kind.  We will be back.

We camped in one of the tent only walk-in sites located on a peninsula jutting into the lake. We had a ton of stuff, not realizing it was an uphill and pretty long trek, but it was totally worth it. We had the whole place to ourselves, no neighbors, in late March. The sun setting over the water was beautiful, it was quiet even as a few motor boats came in for the night. There is a tiny beach on the tip of the peninsula, picnic tables, and an outhouse. It was my favorite spot of everywhere we stayed on an Alabama-Georgia-South Carolina roadtrip including AirBnB and bed and breakfast.

im only staying one night. hitting as many towns as i can in the next 3 days that have griffin in the name. i am always prepared to be off grid. always nice to pu up and not have to unpack all my gear.

Our family stayed over the Christmas/ New Year’s holidays and it was great. The restrooms were just built in 2019 and were VERY clean and kept clean. The camp hosts were really nice. Plenty of things to do at the park. Crawfordville was where they filmed “Sweet Home Alabama” and it was cool to drive around and see places from the movie. The small town has a quaint library off Main Street. Will definitely come back!

Park is the home of the VP of the Confederacy and features his home and Civil War artifacts (check for open hours). Hiking trails. Power and water, with dump station. The shower house is new (2019) and is ADA. Also laundry is at shower house. Firewood for sale with camp host. Shady, level, back in and pull thru sites with fire ring and table. Ask camp host for tour of CCC built fire tower. About an hour to Augusta, GA, via interstate (Costco with gas/no diesel), lots of shopping and resturants. Also stables if you are traveling with horses. Can reserve 1 year ahead.

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.