Best Tent Camping near Swainsboro, GA

I was originally a little nervous about booking this because I tent camp and the only sites available were full RV ones. I like to be more alone and tucked in the back somewhere. The RV sites do not offer much for privacy as the trees are spread out and far between, however each site is spread out enough that it’s not terrible. The sites were shaded and the whole park was very clean and well maintained. Even the trails after days of heavy rain was cleared and looked good. Camp host was super nice and offered us his axe to help us with wood. You had the option to rent kayaks and little paddle boats that was closed due to Covid 19. There was like 6 different trails to choose from that we enjoyed. We took advantage of the lake and did a lot of fishing. I would definitely go back and hopefully will have the opportunity to stay in a tent site because they looked awesome!

Magnolia Springs State Park is a nice Georgia State Park. Located just north of Millen, GA, the park offers ample camping for both RVs and tents.

Spots are flat and easy to park campers and set up tents with enough room between each for a bit of privacy and a few walk-in tent sites for increased privacy. Cabin rentals are available as well as a group lodge. There is a bath house in the main campground that is well kept complete with flush toilets and showers, as well as a coin laundry machines.

Kayak, canoe, pedal boat and bike rentals are all available from the visitor center to explore the spring fed lake and mostly flat trails in the park.

This is a lovely park to camp and spend time in, but is a 2-3 hour drive to Atlanta or Savannah if you are interested in exploring GA. The town of Millen has fast food options, as well as ample opportunity to pick up essential goods.

The main campground is flat making it easy to back up campers or RV’s in slots. Some pull through spots. We were tent camping and choose a walk in slot. 27, 28 & 29. Our site was 29 it is about 100 yards from the main campground down a single lane sandy road that leads into a wooded area. We saw vehicles on the other 2 spots and decided to just pull in by our space as well. I really like the walk in spaces because they are away from the main campground. I do like seeing stars at night but the tree canopy blocked them. The spigot on this spot was leaky. We did watch chickadees take an evening bath in the puddle. We noticed some little pieces of broken glass on the tent pad. The bathhouse was clean. The 28 acre lake and trails throughout the property are well maintained. Signs to watch out for gators are posted. We saw 2. The springs are so pretty and clear, so many turtles and fish to see. I would’ve liked to paddle board in the springs but wasn’t sure if that was permitted. We did paddle board and kayak in the lake.
If you are up to a history lesson the Camp Lawton museum is a bargain at $2 ! It is very informative. We had lovely weather and would return in the fall or spring. Summer may be to buggy and hot.

We stayed 3 nights in the “walk in” tent area of this state park. The park called the day prior to our reservation to see if we would need firewood, a big plus. “Walk in” is a little deceiving, because, gladly, you can drive to the 3 tent spots and park a vehicle in this area. We stayed in spot 29. The three tent spots all have water at each site. They all have spacious tent pads in a wooded, heavily shaded area. 29 has the tent pad very close to the “road/trail”, but there was very little traffic on it. We arrived at night, and the camp host was friendly and directed us to the site. The park was full, but the sites were spaced well and the park was pretty quiet. The bathrooms were very clean and did have hot water. There were numerous signs posted for alligators and bears. I didn’t put a lot of stock into the bear signs due to the fact that none of the garbage cans or anything were “bear-proof”. We did finally see one gator as we walked by the spring one of the days. I thought that we had seen on their site that no hammocks were allowed, or anything tied to the trees, so we didn’t take our hammocks. This was not the case, as there were many hammocks up when we were there. You can look up the history of this place on their website. We were there May 8-11 and only had one colder evening and weather in the 70’s during the day. We would definitely go back.

Arrived here for a three-night tent stay after Black Rock Mountain. You have to drive all the way in to reach the camp's office. At six, they were already closed, so had to check in the morning after. The comfort rooms appear brand new on the second week of October 2020. They were centrally located in the loop for RV/Tents. Spot #24 and #25 are drive-thru RV spots. #25 has a concrete slab and a concrete pathway to the comfort rooms (ADA). Great hosts this time. Wood bundles are $7 a piece. Verizon has one bar of LTE signal. T-Mobile has none (bummer). No camp-wide WiFi.

General: Small (25-site) campground, all with electric/water plus a fire ring, lantern hook, and picnic table. There are also 8 cottages and four primitive campsites. Most have a water view. An interesting thing about Georgia state parks is that when you arrive and check in, you become eligible for a senior or military/veteran “rebate” which is not available when reserving. 

Site Quality: All sites are gravel and level. Most sites had a step-down area with a picnic table, fire ring/grill, and lantern hook with plenty of room for a tent. 

Bathhouse: Was very clean. Lights are on a timer so make sure you don’t end up in the dark too soon! Did not use the showers but they looked to be very clean as well.

Activities: Fishing, boating (kayaks are available for rent), and some short hiking/walking paths. There is an 1880s grist mill/covered bridge with self-guided tours but it was scheduled to close for renovations on October 31 (not sure for how long) so we were lucky we arrived on the 30th and were able to see it. The hosts were very available and friendly. The campground was about half full and very quiet. 

Note that there is a sketchy RV “park” across the street from the campground. When we asked, the host said they keep a close watch on it and make sure no one from there accesses the campground; we did not experience any problems. 

We were told the colors were early this year and they were like nothing we’d seen before so as a photographer, I loved shooting something entirely different! Also, we were pleasantly surprised there were no bugs so close to a swamp!

Good grassy place to park. We have great comments from renters from Georgia Power, Pike and gas line campers.

We stayed on site 22 and loved it.  Beautiful and quiet with direct access to the lake.  A new bathhouse since we were there about 2 years ago. Very well maintained.  Grass was cut and the park was clean with the sites well maintained.  We had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed our site so much we stayed in the park instead of going antique shopping as we had planned.  This is what I expect when visiting a Georgia State Park.

This is the site of a lesser known confederate civil war prison. There was some archeological work going on when we were there. The spring is very pretty, with turtles and fish swimming under the bridges of the walkway, and there were lots of alligators along the stream. We let our dogs swim in the lake before we realized the gators were probably there as well. There is an aquarium for Georgia fish at the park. The campground is in tall pine trees with shade, but not much privacy. Most are level. Water and electric sites and a dump station.

Spent the afternoon here to hike and relax. The camp/RV sites are nice and spaced out. The bathrooms were sparkling! There’s a dump station as well as laundry and showers. I had 1-2 bars with Verizon LTE so I received texts but couldn’t really get online if needed.

I hiked a trail loop to the primitive camp sites since that’s my preferred way to camp so I could see if this was somewhere I’d like to come camp in the future. The trail was easy to follow and the campsites are so spaced out you really feel like You have the woods to yourself! Each spot had a fire ring and nice pad to set up your tent. There’s a boat dock so make sure you bring your canoes and kayaks to explore.

The owners of this campground are phenomenal. Great people. The RV Park is located just outside from Dexter Georgia and about 7 min from I-16. Surrounded by goats, horses, Cows and Peacocks makes this an ideal family camping experience or for someone who wants to escape from the daily stress. Wifi is also fantastic as well as the water. This is not an usual RV park where you camp site by site. Here are 10 available sites with enough distance from each other. I highly recommend to Stop here for a visit or long term stay. André

This state park has a beautiful natural spring that is home to aquatic turtles, fish and aligators. It has history as a prisoner of war camp for the civil war and you can see some of that natural history as you walk it's many trails. The knowledgeable rangers work hand in hand with the local college and it's students in archeology to uncover more and more of it's secrets. Here you can play on athe playground with its water splashpad, go down the slides, and walk around the stream looking for aligators (don't feed the aligators) There is birdwatching, kicking and canoeing or paddleboats if you prefer on the lake. You can primitive camp, use a tent or RV space with water and power or rent a cabin. The friends of the park and the rangers host many various activities to make your stay a memorable one. Enjoy!

Jack Hill State Park is a small campsite in Reidsville, Georgia. The state park features a lake, golf course, mini golf and splash pad. There are less than 35 campsites on the property and each campsite was well spaced out. The bathroom/shower house facilities were clean and seemed quite new. They had 1 washer and dryer on site on the backside of the bathrooms. While it would be great if they had another set of laundry machines, I understand as it is such a small park and there is laundry very close by. The Park featured only 1 or 2 trails that were really short. I wish they had more trails. The Park was within a few minutes of basic amenities like gas, groceries and a McDonalds. The nearest Walmart was 30 minutes away in Vidalia, GA and it featured restaurants and tons of stores nearby. The campsite was $35 per night and we had full hookups.

Enjoyed our stay even though lake was drained for millhouse maintenance . Will return when lake is full again

Good primitive camping but not the best. It’s the closest to us so it works for a quick one night trip.

Loved seeing the cypress trees in the water and the Spanish moss.

A few campers had kayaks with them and it looked like a great place to paddle and explore - but it did have gator warnings, so not sure what precautions one needs to take.

The campgrounds were super clean, including a modern bathhouse.

There was a laundry available, but it has limited hours.

Closest town is Twin Cities just a few miles away. It has a couple of gas stations, a Piggly Wiggly and a Dollar General.

Twin Cities police patrol the campground, which was nice to see.

I did think it was on the pricier side of things, but at least for the extra bucks it was well kept.

Enjoyed it and would stay again - but not for an extended time.

My son and I went to the primitive sites and had a blast. The sites are really spread out and really clean. We were able to find plenty of firewood and used the fire rind and stand to cook our dinner. Would definitely go here again.

Had a ton of fun kayaking and hiking around the woods.

Nice campground. Good spots, beautiful location.

George L Smith should be on every paddlers checklist! It’s a great paddling experience unlike most.

The campground is nice and well kept.

This might be an annual trip for us.

Very clean and quiet staff very friendly

We booked for a primitive camp site. The lady on the phone told us it was a 3/4 mi walk. We didn’t mind until it got hot (high 80’s-mid 90’s) on our second trip, a park ranger told us we could drive up to the site. (I only back up this suggestion if you have a 4WD) Of course after walking all that way in the heat we wish we knew that beforehand. So we drove to the pioneer campsite and he said to turn where you see the poles with the chains broke off. He said if the chains are down you’re free to drive up. I was iffy about parking there (after i paid the parking fee of course because of honor code) but by the fresh tire tracks and later hearing someone else’s car beep to lock i felt better about keeping the trucks there and so we did. Also beforehand i saw the weekend we went was all booked up and for how booked it was we were surprised we didn’t see that many cars and now we know why we didn’t after seeing those fresh tracks. Great camping area very dispersed but enough that if you have good vision through the trees you could see other camp sites. As for water we had to drive to the RV park for it. We couldn’t find a dumpster to dump our trash in so if anyone has that information i would love to see that in your review because we want to come back in the winter time. Great hiking, boating, kayaking, and fishing!!! Overall we had a great weekend there and this review was long overdue! As mentioned. Definitely returning in the winter!

Great Trails and Campground a lot of History.... Beautiful Cypress Lake....

This park offers a great hiking trail and a huge lake for kayaking/fishing.

Real clean fishing and hiking and animals all over

Small quite very clean campground! Super nice bathhouse. 4 miles of walking trail from the campground. Awesome kayaking among the cypress (3-kayaking trails). Will be back!!

Went here with my husband and stayed an extra day. Very relaxing. Really super cool trail through the swamp. Nice bathrooms and showers. Had a very peaceful time here