What a gem! Just a short drive from Atlanta, this is a gorgeous park with great hiking trails and a beautiful lake for boating and swimming. My only complaint is with the reservation system - while you can make a camping reservation, you cannot reserve a specific site. We were coming from Florida, meeting a family from Nashville so neither of us could be there at check-in time (I was told there was a long line at check-in to get the best spots early - likely the lakefront sites). By the time we got there in the evening, we were told there were just a few sites together and likely not together. We got incredibly lucky and were able to find two fabulous sites together (sites 75 and 79) on a loop with lots of room for the kids to roam and play. While a lot of the sites in the campground didn't look like they would even fit our tent (it's giant at 10x20 - we have four kids), these two sites were a wonderful site for our family set-up. We loved hiking the trails and spent hours swimming in the lake. Overall a great experience aside from the stress of trying to find sites.

We came in not knowing what to expect. This campground has everything you could want for a day out on the water or hiking through the woods. This campground is located right off of I-75 perfect stop if you’re not trying to get to far off the highway. We took a backpacking trail right out of the campground. Perfvt morning hike then headed right off of the campsite to get into the lake. If you’re a fisher/ boater there are plenty of prey to catch, and a launch site right near the front. This place was the perfect spot for kids to Haag our in the lake or play on the playground and cook out! This place gets 5 star rating because of all of the amenities it offers along with the amazing group sites. They have an ample amount of hiking, tennis, basketball, fishing and boating. Somewhere for the whole family to have fun. The campground has many bathrooms to clean up in, the ones towards the front are much better and cleaner than the ones in the back. Also scoop out the place you may find a hidden gem spot right on the lake like we did.

I made reservations online and it said you would be assigned a site on arrival. We were driving fro about 500 miles away so we knew we would be arriving late. I called the reservation number to check on the late arrival procedure and they informed me that if we arrived after 10pm that they close the gates and we forfeit our site.

This is not stated anywhere on the GA state parks reservation website nor in the confirmation email. I did find it on the Red Top Mountain specific site tucked into one of the general description paragraphs.

Anyway I called the information number and was able to find the Assistant Managers phone number and called them. They said that they have a gate but it's usually open. Arriving late was not an issue. He said to grab our packet of info from the registration booth and then choose any open site. He stressed to try to be courteous to other campers when arriving so late.

We arrived after midnight. Grabbed our packet then headed into the campground. Long story short... we couldn't find an open site. We drove around and around, which we really didn't want to because it was so late. In the dark it was hard to see the markings and some sites had long driveways so you couldn't see if it was taken or not. We would have to get out and walk into the site only to find it was taken. After 40 minutes of looking, and feeling like we were disturbing the whole campground we left and got a hotel for $67 about 10 minutes north of the campground.

The next morning we went back. I told the clerk/ranger what happened. She was pretty unsympathetic. She just said to go into the campground now and find a spot for our 2nd night of 2-night stay. She advised us to attach our name card to the site number post and leave some of our gear at the site so it was clear that the site was taken. We did that. We attached our reservation card to the post and left some of our camp chairs and a table at the site. We then headed into Atlanta for the day.

When we returned around 8:30pm we found that our site now had a huge camper parked in it and all of our stuff was gone. You got to be kidding me! This time we called the manager. Apparently, they do a sweep of the sites and mark whose names are on each site. He soon found our name on a totally different site. The people with the trailer had moved our reservation ticket and all our stuff to a different site and taken the site we had reserved. Very rude. By this time is was past 9pm and dark... I didn't want to argue anymore. So we just set up camp at the other site which was fine...just not as nice as the one that was swiped from us. The manager did end up crediting us the first night and 25% of the 2nd night for all the trouble.

Anyway... sorry for the rant. Needed to vent.

The park was nice. Well maintained. Wish we had more time to check out the lake. The cicadas were very loud! If you are a light sleeper bring some ear plugs. It was also very hot and humid but that's camping in July in Georgia.

Campground Review:

Red Top Mountain State Park is located in Acworth, GA. The park is located around 12,000-acre Lake Allatoona, which made it perfect for summer camping. The park has about 15 miles worth of shaded trails for hiking and mountain biking. The park also has RV, yurt, and cottage options for camping. We rented a first come first serve RV/Tent campsite during our visit, and the price was $35 for one night. The campsite was gate access and had electric/water hookups with 2 car spaces, a BBQ grill, picnic table, and a lot of trees. We had access to a public restroom, showers, and laundry. There were also primitive campsites available to rent, which were closer to the lake. Our group decided to stay at this park because we wanted to utilize the lake. The lake is beautiful; however, it was very crowded the weekend we went. The park overall has a lot of “things to do” and is family friendly, but it was given 4 stars because of how busy and crowded it was during our visit.

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get to test products. At this campground, I had the opportunity to test the Tentsile Flite +, which is a tent and hammock fusion. I was super excited to use this product because I am a hammock camper and there are times I wish I had the option of tent camping. The design and uniqueness of Tentsile Flite + is amazing, and I would consider it more of a tent instead of a hammock, because of how flat it lays when suspended in the air.

Pros:

• Comfortable to lay in and no need for sleeping pads or cushions.
• If you are a hammock camper, you can share this tent with another person comfortably.
• The rainfly is clutch and depending on preference it can be attached to the tent, staked to the ground, or tied to the trees.
• The Tensile Flite + is light and can be ideal for backpacking.
• The tent roof is all netting which is great for having ventilation during the summer, keeping bugs out, and also good for sky gazing.

Cons:

• Setup time and the difficulty of getting the right angle and tension.
• It was difficult finding the right trees suspend to.

Overall the Tentsile Flite + is perfect for someone who loves hammock camping, but want to enjoy some of the features tents have. I love the design and the wow factor it has on people. Also the company’s mission is very noble and how they help people in need and the environment.

Here is a video of setting up the Tensile Flite +

Only lotsa green! Red Top Mountain, GA is a short drive off I75 north of Atlanta. A beautiful, busy and relaxing area!

The campground is gate code controlled and sprawled across a tree covered, large hilly area. Depending on where you camp will determine the amount of space and privacy you will enjoy.

Primitive camping is first come, first choice after 1600( 4pm for you civilians) The choices range from lakeside to have to walk a bit, but all of them are nice.

The bathhouses are newer , clean and well maintained. There is a playground and pavilion in the gated area as well as an access trail to the park office.

The trails are wide, varied and also hilly (it is a mountain) but nothing to strenuous. There is a map at the office and the trails are pretty well marked.

Then there is the lake front recreation area. This is where the crowd comes into play. When we visited pretty much every square foot of lake front was taken up by people. The scenery was nice and Kato enjoyed the water.