Raven Cliff Falls camping

This trail is one of North Georgia’s most popular camping destinations. Trailhead campsites offer fantastic stream-side camping just steps from the car, and a fantastic base camp for hiking the Raven Cliff Falls Trail during the day. The trail is also dotted with many backpacking campsites on the creek’s level banks, offering a little more solitude for campers willing to backpack it in.

Black bears frequent this wilderness area. Keep all food items and fragrant cosmetics out of reach in a bear canister: many years ago, we lost our camp stove, food and cookware to a trio of bears in a traditionally-hung bear bag along this trail.

Campsites are free and first-come, first-claimed. Pack out everything you pack in: this is one of Georgia’s most beautiful Wilderness areas, so please, please leave no trace. (What is Wilderness, and why is it important? Read more in our guide to Wilderness areas in the South.)

Raven Cliff Falls

We camped 2 nights in the very first camp site, our last night camping we were awakened by a mama bear and her 2 cubs. We are seasoned campers therefore we had no trash, food, cooking gear, or toiletries in our site. We did have 2 water bottles that she found. She and her cubs wandered up the trail just out of sight for a few minutes but she returned and came right up to our tent. So be forewarned there is an active mama and 2 cubs in this area. We did let the people down at smith gall woods know so that they can pass the message along to the park ranger.

Beautiful wilderness area

Raven Cliff Falls is another popular spot in Northeast Georgia. Its on one one of the most scenic highways and s in a great location if you want to venture into Helen, Brasstown, Bald, or Hiawassee. Most visitors cone for a day hike to the falls but there are a ton of secluded backwoods camping spots tucked off the forestry road that connects you to the trail.

We camped here in June with a group of our close friends. It was a bit humid and warm, which is no surprise for a North Georgia summer, but still well worth the peace and relaxation. Our spot was about a quarter mile from the parking area which has public restrooms available, and we were right next to Dodd Creek so we had the peaceful sounds of running water to put us to sleep at night. There was plenty of room for multiple tents and hammocks, and we had a nic3 stone fire ring to cook on.

If you are going to camp here, rem2mber to Leave No Trace even if the campers before you did, and keep in mind that this is b3ar country. Its always a good idea to keep food out of tents, in a bear proof container, and hung up at least 14 feet off the ground. also make sure you bring everything you need , this is rustic camping, and while its not too terribly far to town its always better to have what you need to begin with.

Basecamp Tucked Away from Civilzation

I’ve camped at this location multiple times and each time was better than the last. It feels like a very primitive spot with the ease of car camping. You have the choice to walk in further but it accommodates all campers. Be careful of the bears and always leave no trace.

Underrated Camping Spot

You can camp anywhere you want on the trails! Load in light if you are planning to camp near the falls though!

I've been to many georgia campgrounds... this is by far my favorite!

This place is one of the best and most beautiful places to back pack! with several waterfalls within just a 5 mile hike its a great place to camp and explore. also great tent camping areas to set up camp at! water is no problem with the entire trail being directly on a solid flowing stream.

primitive, explore, backpacking 

great packing trail and place to explore.

beauty 

My wife and I have been to Raven Cliffs a few times but never camped. Well we finally decided to do an overnighter and it was well worth the blowout we had on the interstate and the creepy tow truck driver and the Walmart tire center that was closed but fixed our tire anyway! But Raven cliffs offers both walk-in campsite and a lot of hike to camp sites. The trail has some great views and different terrain from small creek crossings to some steep hills and valleys. There is a restroom and trash receptacles at the trailhead and they are very close to the walk-in camp sites. There is plenty of room for group camping at both the walk-in and hike to sites. The trail is also pet friendly so you get to see a lot of pups on the trail. If you want a walk-in campsite and it’s the weekend, you better get there early. We arrived at dusk on a Friday and got the last walk-in site available. Overall, I highly recommend coming here and staying a night or two! Love this place.

Beautiful! Such an awesome place to soak up some nature.

So far, this is our favorite car campsite in Georgia. Take the gravel road past the Raven Cliff Trail parking lot to find many great campsites. A few are available before you get to a water crossing, and there are at least a dozen more after the water but only cross in a AWD/truck/etc. We did it once in a sedan but it hadn’t rained in a while. Most are along a water source with lots of trees for hammocks, quite secluded and peaceful in the national forest. It’s all very primitive with no amenities except some makeshift fire rings, but sites are close to your car. Two great hikes in the area, Raven Cliff and Dukes Creek falls. Please pack out your trash! Get there early to claim the best sites if it’s a nice weekend.

Awesome dispersed camping in a national forest

This is a scenic easy-moderate level trail. It follows a creek that has open flat land next to it of pine needles. Perfect for camping, having a midhike fire, or just stopping to dip your toes the water and rest. At waterfall at the end requires scrambling over boulders, but is worth the climb. Beautiful fall nestled in the crevices of the mountain. Don’t forget the $5 donation to maintain the trail, due at parking lot. 

Amazing creekside campfire spots

Raven cliff is a great place to walk in Camp. There are tons of sites along the path to the falls and in a back area by the parking lot. You could go with a large group or a small tent and I feel like there would always be a site available. Keep in mind there are restrooms at the parking lot but no other facilities. I did not have cell phone service while I was there. There is a lot of bear activity here, so make sure you don't have any food or toiletries in your tent. We saw a cub and a mom while we were there. Many sites are by the river, it is quiet and nice to be able to walk to the falls from your site. Even in the summer, it was nice and cool by the river.

Great for walk in camping 

Once you get into the parking lot it’s confusing to find the trail head because there is no sign to it. But once you find it you can camp on any part of the trail. I just walked into the woods near my car and found a fire pit and set up near a creek and oh my gosh it was really something else. I’d recommend to walk off trail in the woods near the parking lot because there is little to no foot traffic there during the day considering it’s not part of the trail. 

Peaceful & quiet  

Great spots that were plentiful, but sad to say that there was so much trash left in many of the fire pits at each one. Pack your trash out, or don't camp. Because of this behavior, bears with their cubs are extremely common and we had 2 other campers mention a run in the night before we got there. Keep your coolers in the car, and anything smelly in a bear vault 100 ft. Away from your site.

Really nice campsites located off of the trails

I’m a new camper so this app helped me a lot when I went to the Raven Cliff trailhead and camped. There’s 25 parking spots to start but when we got there around 1:30pm on a Sunday, the lot was almost full with lots of people parking on the sides of the lot and making their one spots. There is also a $5 fee per day . Most reviews tell you to go further into the trail and find a cleared out spot to camp, it’s true if you mind the tons of hikers that are in and out of the trail from the parking lot and the road that is pretty close near by (you can hear every car). This was our first camping trip so we chose the first camp site you see when you walk on the trail. It was probably 100 ft from the creek and you could see our tent from the top of the trail as you walk by (if you mind that there are plenty of spots further in). 
With that being said the hours online says the trail closes at 5pm, but the gates never close so we heard and saw people walking out as late at 10pm. Lots of noise that was somewhat masked by the rushing creek water. But the morning time was filled with surreal sounds of wildlife and it was very peaceful. Only a few other cars were in the parking lot in the morning time so that made the trail a lot less chaotic until about 9a.m. 
Lastly, there are lots of reviews about the black bears in the area, along with a few signs when you get to the parking lot. Personally, we did not physically see any bears nor did we see any trace of them. But keep in mind we left all of the food and portable stove in the car when we were done using it and our tent was somewhat close to the parking lot so the noise might have deterred them from our area. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry, keep your food as far away from your tent as possible. 
Happy camping! 

Surreal Experience 

Was a great spot! Got there on a Friday afternoon and there were still lots of camping spots open along the gravel drive past the main parking lot. We found even more hidden spots when we walked around the area. Got a great spot near the stream. Was pretty close to two other spots that were claimed soon after we arrived—luckily both groups were pretty quiet and we barely noticed them. 
Whoever camped at our spot before had the worst etiquette—found they used the river bank (about 5 feet from the fire ring) as a toilet. Didn’t bury and left dirty paper towels. Preeeeeetty gross. 
The hike to the falls was really nice. I wouldn’t call it “easy”. More of a moderate trail in my opinion. Lots of up hill, unstable rocks, jutting roots and muddy spots. Not difficult or anything but we felt listing it as easy can be misleading. 
Would definitely go back. 

Great Fall Weekend

We love this place, and generally camp along the trail head.  The falls are cool and it is a decent hike.  There is a lot of traffic heading to the falls, so be aware if you’re camping off the trail.  

We found a lot of garbage that we packed out.  Please pack out your trash.  While there this most recent time, we were stalked by a bear trying to enter our camp.  It made repeated attempts to come into our camp and we chased it away, but it lingered. 

Fortunately, we were close enough to the parking lot to leave our cooler in the car.  It’s a great place to camp. 

Dude, that’s a bear

While I do enjoy the woods and easy walk of raven cliff falls. Prepare for the humidity. Upon arriving and carrying things to camp I left a bundle of wood outside my car for me to return and get but within minutes it was stolen. I’ve spent months out west camping and traveling with great experience. Welcome to Georgia! 

Leave it to Georgia 

Raven Cliff Falls trail is a 2.5 miles hike that ends at a breathtaking waterfall, but the trail doesn’t quite end there. Once you arrive at the falls there’s plenty of room to roam the dozens of rock structures. This is one you’ll definitely want to bring your camera with. There are laboratories located at the trail head. 

Chattahoochee National Park 

Being a Ga native, this was my first time to Raven Cliff Falls. It is a beautiful place to camp but very busy on the beautiful April 2021 day that I visited. The creek was clear, cold and sounded amazing running by the campsite. It’s definitely on my list to return to this year. 

Beautiful but crowded

For anyone who’s never camped at this location, the campsites are located in a few places (keep reading) which isn’t listed on the map by the (vault) toilets, no running water other than the creek, and NO CELL SERVICE. 

Upon turning off the main road into the Raven Cliff Falls area there’s a trail on the right prior to the bridge. This trail leads to a few tent campsites. 

Cross the bridge, you can continue straight down the gravel road that reads “Dead End” or turn left into the parking lot which is a loop. 

Left into the lot, circle around to the backside. Behind the parking lot there are quite a few campsites. There’s a yellow sign posted on a fence that says No Camping behind this fence, with two picnic tables behind the fence in a small grassy area. Just inside the woods to the right of the grassy area is where the campsites are located!! They’re spread along the stream, in the shade and accessible by well worn paths. So you’ll have to pack in your items. We camped along the creek at one of these sites. We absolutely loved being by the creek, and a lot of the sites are spread out to give a good bit of privacy. We were visited by a bear two of the nights. The bear took our neighbors dog food they forgot to pack out. So pack out all food items and trash or hang a bear bag. 
 
If these sites don’t do it for you, you can go down the Dead End road. You’ll find numerous dispersed sites, some of which you can park next to, some you’ll have to carry your things in approximately 20yards.

There’s also campsites along the trail to Raven Cliff Falls, which is a 5mi. round trip hike. 

We enjoyed camping here and will definitely return. 



If you arrive in the dark while it’s pouring rain

This is a great spot to camp. Lots of rock fire pits about and the river running by is peaceful. The bathrooms in the parking area are filthy. The spots behind the parking lot feel a bit exposed to day hikers, but the spots past the dead end road are amazing. Just keep going down that road to find other options

Beautiful spot

Stayed here during the holiday heatwave and it was completely empty! I realize few people want to camp on Christmas, or in December in general, but it was amazing. 

  

Plenty of camping options up the DEAD END road to the right of the parking lot. Several are drive-up which is great because of the prevalence of bears in the area. Thanks to the winter months, creek water was crisp and cool, no bugs, and no bears (at least, none that I saw!). 

  

I say this is great for beginners because there are plenty of spots with level ground, pre-made fire pits, and more than enough kindling. 

  

I note there are also several camp sites along the trail heading up to Raven Cliff Falls. These would have to be hiked to, maybe 1-1.5miles in, but the hike is easy-moderate. Would definitely visit again in warmer months!

Great for Beginners

There were 2 open campsites right off the trail at the beginning near the creek (Fall break, end of September)! Of course, as you hike further in, availability is more likely, however, keep in mind you have to carry your gear from the parking lot to your campsite.
The hike itself was beautiful. I received mild complaints from my kids, but they made the approximate 2.5mi hike each way! I would personally hike to the halfway point to the small waterfall just over a mile in, relax, then turn back, as it was more beautiful than the top waterfall at the end of the trail.