Best Cabin Camping near Jackson, SC

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 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 stayed here on a weekend during the summer. I really liked this campground and park. It is the site of a Civil War prison camp and has a museum onsite as well as previous earth works from the site which you can walk to. Our site was nice and large with lots of shade. It was possibly the best pull thru site in my opinion due to its proximity to the playground and bathhouse for my kids. Site 16 would be the best back in site since it is right on the lake. The bathhouse was clean and large. There was a laundry area as well. There is usually a splash pad available during the summer but it was closed when we went due to COVID. There is also obviously a spring there and it was really neat to look at because the water is so clear. There were also alligators and turtles in the pond. The turtles would swam up to the railing wanting someone to drop them some food. There was a little trail through the wooded area beside the springs going back to the campground and we did hike it. There were other trails through the woods by the campground lake which we hiked as well. In addition to campsites they did have cabin rentals as well. You can put in your own boat and fish in the lake if desired or rent a boat. We rented canoes and rowed around the lake. It was very nice. There were lots of alligators in the lake. It was hard to fish from the dock and shore due to the alligators trying to get your bait. We did really enjoy this park and would go back. It is pretty rural as well but there were a few small restaurants and stores within a 10-15 minute drive.

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.

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.

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.

This is a review of the four walk-in tent sites at Mistletoe State Park.  I personally stayed in #4 and had a look at the others. 

The best site is definitely #2 -- feet from the water, spacious, suitable for more than one tent or hammock (better for tents as it is mostly open, but there are places for hammocks along the edges). 

Site #4 is probably second best, better for a hammocks probably (which is what I had) as no great level ground. It is not right on the water but has it's own private path to the water(couple hundred feet to the water).

Sites #1 & #3 do not really have access to the water without climbing down something steeply dangerous or through thick trees.  (The water access from the other sites is right in the middle of those other sites so you couldn't really share that unless they are empty or occupied by friends.)  Still #1 is a pretty good site.  #3 is the least interesting and smallest, but still secluded -- I wouldn't call any of these bad.

None of these sites have groomed tent pads -- just gravelly ground.   They do each have a table, fire pit, and lantern pole.  #1 & #2 are best for tents.  There is good separation between all sites.  Sites #2 & #3 are within shouting distance of each other and you'd be able to see tents, etc at one from the other.  There is an outhouse between sites #1 & #2, and another another between sites #3 & #4.  It is a 5 minute (or so) walk to the real bathroom (which also has showers) back in the main campground.

Other than the lake itself at sites #2 & #4, I didn't see any dedicated water source for these sites.  (The lake is silty -- pre-filtering recommended if you are using a filter.)  So you'd have to bring in water or get it from the bathroom area or maybe from an empty RV site which all have spigots.  You'll have to pack out your trash, and there are definitely critters around that will get in your trash so it should be secured somehow.  (Hanging it from the lantern pole isn't good enough -- you'll wake up to find a hole in the bag and it strewn around, ask me how I know.)

Everything in the park was very clean and well-maintained, although when I was here in September (during the week), the whole place was basically deserted anyway.

The water access at sites #2 & #4 is nice but it is not a real beach -- it is all large rocks for the most part and they were very slippery even when dry so be careful.  The water level was also extremely low when I was there so some of those rocks are probably covered by water earlier in the year.