Best Tent Camping near Swainsboro, GA

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

We camped here in a small hybrid with 3 kids ages 8, 6, and 3. In the center or the campground there is a small playground. The kids didn’t end on it too much, but it was a nice addition. There is also some permanent (concrete) cornhole setup, but you’ll need your own bean bags. There is also a covered picnic area beside the bathhouse and playground with 3 picnic tables and it’s own fire pit. It wasn’t used while we were there, but if you were camping with a few other families it would be amazing!

Each site has electric and water, no sewer. I’ll get to which ones look like the best ones below. Some of the sites are awkward curving instead of straight back in, but most are pretty easy to get into. The only down side is that most sites have large concrete picnic tables and the fire ring is very close while also near a corner of the raised gravel parking level. This makes it a bit more challenging to set up chairs around the fire.

There is one bathhouse, which includes men and women’s bathroom and showers, a laundry room with a large sink (there is no sign that says you can’t wash dishes in this sink), and an all gender accessible toilet/shower room. This shower has a waist high spicket as well as a normal height one. The lower one worked really well to shower the 3 year old covered in vomit after my less than stellar decision to swing her in the hammock all nap time. 🤷‍♀️ The bathhouse was clean and the water hot. They had added a place to hang clothes while showering. There is not bench to set things down, and that would be my only suggestion. My husband said the shower in the men’s room was plumbed backwards and hot was cold and cold was hot. No issues in the women’s.

The rangers were fantastic and friendly. We participated in a hike with the park manager where she told us about the animals in the park and even let us feel grey fox and beaver pelts. We saw vultures and an armadillo. That finished with hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows! On Saturday we took the beginner archery lesson with another ranger. She was so patient with our 6 year old who gets frustrated very easily. It was so much fun! It was obvious that this particular ranger was great kids. The archery lesson was fun for the adults too. Later in the afternoon we participated in a scavenger hunt. Also done very well, definitely geared towards kids, (as expected) but it was definitely fun for the whole family. All the activities were well done. You can also rent paddle boats, canoes, kayaks, and bikes. All the trailers are family friendly. I think this park is perfect for families with young kids.

See this pictures for the best campsites. In short, 16 is the best site by far. Only one with a lake view. 12&14 would be my pick for two campers camping together.

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!