Johnny Molloy - The Best in Tent Camping: Georgia: A Guide for Car Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos

H EADING TO THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN Georgia was a natural extension of my camping, hiking, and paddling obsession that began in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee more than two decades ago. My very first trip in Georgia was to Cloudland Canyon, led by Calvin Milam. We camped and explored the trails and vistas that opened my eyes to all the possibilities here. More trips covered the Cohutta Mountains and the ridges where the Appalachian Trail headed from Springer Mountain toward its ultimate destination in Maine.

Later, I moved to Atlanta, and adventuring in Georgia became much easier. I explored the mountains from top to bottom and also began canoeing down many of the states rivers, from the Etowah to the Chattahoochee and waterways beyond. More trips led south to Cumberland Island National Seashore and the one and only Okefenokee Swamp. I have made repeated trips to these south Georgia treasures, paddling along the dark water trails of the swamp that contrast mightily with the open, sandy Atlantic shoreline of Cumberland Island.

Time passed, and I began writing outdoor guidebookscamping for keeps, if you will. The opportunity arose to write this guidebook and I jumped on it excitedly, and began systematically exploring the Georgia landscape for the best tent campgrounds in the state. The first surprise came at Cotton Hill, an Army Corps of Engineers campground on Lake Eufaula. The walk-in tent campsites offered first-rate waterfront camping with knockout views. Next I headed to Kolomoki Mounds in southwest Georgia and delved into the past of this land, inspecting the largest Indian mounds east of the Mississippi River. Kolomoki Mounds demonstrate that human and natural history, as well as quality outdoor recreation, are important components of the best tent campgrounds in Georgia. River Junction Campground on Lake Seminole provided further evidence that the Peach States abundant lakes offer watery recreation from top to bottom. It was hard to pick the best among all of Georgias large lakes, much less the smaller ones, like Lake Winfield Scott, a serene mountain impoundment in the Chattahoochee National Forest, where no gas motors are allowed. In many places, well-located campgrounds allowed both water and land recreation, like Rood Creek Campground, near Providence Canyon State Park, known as Georgias Little Grand Canyon.

The Peach State has some of the most appealing coastline in America, with its large rivers following gravity, mixing in with salt water, melding into the marsh islands and sea islands of the Atlantic Ocean. I especially enjoyed Fort McAllister State Park with its campground on a small sea island and fascinating Civil War fort, which Confederate General Robert E. Lee helped design. Speaking of history, anyone who hasnt visited the F. D. Roosevelt State Park is missing out on a brilliant melding of beauty and history atop Pine Mountain in middle Georgia near Columbus. Here, the campground serves as a base camp for walks on the Pine Mountain Trail, to see rustic stone buildings that are works of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Magnolia Springs State Park is another regional treasure. The spring itself, brilliant blue to behold, also has a place in Civil War history.