Lake Campsites

Lets talk about all aspects of camping & Fishing... location, gear, tips & tricks, ect... (credit for this section goes to backlash)

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LadyGT
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Lake Campsites

#1 Post by LadyGT » Sat May 09, 2015 2:26 pm

I love boating and camping! If I cannot fish from my campsite, I don't want to be there. Can anybody recommend lakes in the South that offer level campsites right on the water?
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Bamaman
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Re: Lake Campsites

#2 Post by Bamaman » Sat May 09, 2015 5:09 pm

Lake Lanier Islands have two fine campgrounds. There are also a number of fine Corp of Engineer campgrounds on Lake Lanier.

The City of Hiawassee has a great campground on Chatuge Lake--a TVA impoundment.

Stone Mountain has a beautiful campground on their lake--waterfront.

I don't know what facilities are closer to you on Lake Sinclair and on Oconee Lake.

We moved from the Atlanta area to the Tennessee River, and we have a 16,000 acre lake in our front yard. There are also a city campground on Pickwick Lake and four fine state park campgrounds within an hour of our house. But our camping is done in the North Georgia Mountains.
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LadyGT
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Re: Lake Campsites

#3 Post by LadyGT » Sun May 10, 2015 12:31 pm

Are the temps much cooler in the northern GA mountains than the plains region? We are originally from CA and Sierra Nevada Mountains there are usually 6k-7k feet above sea level which makes it about 20 degrees cooler than the valley which is why I asked such a dumb question. From what I have seen, the Blue Ridge range are ant hills in comparison to the Sierras.

We have only 1 tow vehicle so we may have to go back to tent camping if we want to camp with our boat. When we camped with the kids, I took everything but the kitchen sink and took a half day to pack and unpack so we bought a travel trailer. Unfortunately, we cannot tow both at the same time.
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zoom650
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Re: Lake Campsites

#4 Post by zoom650 » Mon May 11, 2015 9:50 am

Buying your boat where you did, I assume you know Tobo has several lakeside camp grounds. My kids were out at Arrowhead this past weekend visiting their friends who were camped out there.

I used to boat Sinclair years back, and I think there is (or used to be) a campground at the first 441 bridge. I remember tieing my sailboat up to their seawall and walking across the highway to the catfish restaurant. http://galakecountry.com/camping.php

Lake Lanier would be a very good choice. Take a look at a map for their designated areas.

Here's something for Lake Hartwell from the Corp of Engineers site: http://www.sas.usace.army.mil/About/Div ... ounds.aspx
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Re: Lake Campsites

#5 Post by Bamby » Mon May 11, 2015 10:33 am

Humph, couldn't find a photo of your boat.... Anyway on a lot of pontoon boats some or should I say enough of the furniture is laid out where a couple of people can stretch out and sleep comfortably on the boat. We used to on ours a lot before we moved up to a small houseboat. It simply can't be beat, find a quiet cove where the fishing potential looks decent and settle in for the night. Beats any campground I've ever been in and no annoyances from the neighbors. One another note the saved campground fee can then be utilized for a good meal at a waterside restaurant of your choosing.
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Re: Lake Campsites

#6 Post by LadyGT » Mon May 11, 2015 11:29 am

Never thought about sleeping on the boat overnight. My only problem with it is that there is no protection from mosquitos. I am considering making my own screen room so it may be an option in the future.

I have looked into one of the campgrounds at Lake Tobosofkee but don't remember which one it was. I noticed that particular one's sites are not level and not much space between the camp sites. I noticed one of campgrounds while boat looked relatively new, but to beach the boat may mess up the toons because it looked rocky. I will have to make a point to go look again at all of the campgrounds and see if improvements have been made about spacing. It would be great to camp at Tobosofkee because we could trailer in the boat and trailer because we are only 40 minutes away and could double back for one or the other.

We were looking at property at Lake Sinclair and decided against it because of the coal ash ponds. No guarantee that those ponds would not pollute the underground water tables or the lake in the future. Lake Juliette has already had issues with folks getting cancer from their coal ash ponds so we decided not to chance it.
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Re: Lake Campsites

#7 Post by Bamby » Tue May 12, 2015 7:04 am

First tip, the blood suckers do not frequent open water they perch on trees and grass and other cover in wait of a warm blooded victim. Mosquitoes are attracted to the 'Smell Of Carbon Dioxide Exhaled' by our breathing and as long as a person keeps far enough away from foliage cover that our breath has dissipated we're unlikely to be bothered by them.
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Re: Lake Campsites

#8 Post by trucky » Mon May 18, 2015 8:56 am

A little further north in WNC near Robbinsville is Lake Santeetlah. There are a few dozen forest service rustic campsites spread around the lake on a first come first serve basis. Each site has a level area with picnic table, campfire, BBQ grill, lantern hanger. Great spot on a beautiful and mostly quiet lake.

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Re: Lake Campsites

#9 Post by trucky » Mon May 18, 2015 9:01 am

As for the skeeters... here's the redneck way. Find an old tent about the same size as your toon and cut the floor out. Easy peasy.

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Re: Lake Campsites

#10 Post by smltooner » Mon May 18, 2015 6:11 pm

I don't know about Georgia, but Virginia has very nice State Parks on several lakes, with campgrounds, rental cabins and docking and swimming facilities.
We have been to a couple of them and they are a great deal.
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Re: Lake Campsites

#11 Post by curtiscapk » Mon May 18, 2015 7:31 pm

trucky wrote:As for the skeeters... here's the redneck way. Find an old tent about the same size as your toon and cut the floor out. Easy peasy.

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Re: Lake Campsites

#12 Post by Ditchdoc » Sat Jun 04, 2016 7:40 pm

Clark's hill isn't too terribly far from you and there are tons of camp grounds there.
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Re: Lake Campsites

#13 Post by PlaynDoc » Wed Jun 08, 2016 8:00 pm

check out West Point Lake...

we are staying at Holiday Campground, June 16 - 19

we have a lake front campsite, 20 steps from water, gentle slope to water... lots of shade

the campground spots are huge, as compared to 'private' campgrounds, like KOA, etc...
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Re: Lake Campsites

#14 Post by PlaynDoc » Thu Jun 09, 2016 1:00 pm

LadyGT wrote:"but to beach the boat may mess up the toons because it looked rocky."
i use the Anchor Bungee, https://www.amazon.com/Airhead-AHAB-1-A ... hor+bungee for anchoring close to shore with easy retrieval. I too, do not want my logs banged against the rocks of shallow water.

here's a video from youtube. simply drop anchor (attached to anchor bungee) into deeper water, drive boat to shore, get off boat, attach another line at opposite end of boat, to tie to tree, let the anchor bungee pull boat back into deeper water. tie it off.

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LadyGT
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Re: Lake Campsites

#15 Post by LadyGT » Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:54 pm

Bamby wrote:Humph, couldn't find a photo of your boat.... Anyway on a lot of pontoon boats some or should I say enough of the furniture is laid out where a couple of people can stretch out and sleep comfortably on the boat. We used to on ours a lot before we moved up to a small houseboat. It simply can't be beat, find a quiet cove where the fishing potential looks decent and settle in for the night. Beats any campground I've ever been in and no annoyances from the neighbors. One another note the saved campground fee can then be utilized for a good meal at a waterside restaurant of your choosing.
No pics because I am electronically challenged. LOl. I should take some because I really love it. Posting them here would require some step by step instructions.

I checked out the campgrounds at Lake Tobosofkee and they are terrible. It packs you in like sardines and difficult to park a 29' travel trailer because the sites are horribly unlevel. Lake Blackshear has much better accommodations. Unfortunately, it is an hour away. If we camp for a week, we go back for the boat after setting up camp.
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