Established campgrounds that welcome vehicle-based travelers, from public campgrounds on the way to somewhere to private camps worth a stay of their own.
Buffalo National River, Arkansas
We’re working on adding the latest campgrounds in Georgia here.
In the meantime, BLM campgrounds are already on the public land map, with the fees and stay limits the agency publishes and a link to each one.
On the Towns and Union county line. Our own query of the USGS elevation surface at the summit reads 4,773. The low point is the Atlantic Ocean at sea level
Across 26 counties and four ranger districts, with approximately 850 miles of recreation trails. The CRS puts all Forest Service land in Georgia at 868,513 acres
The 1895 to 2020 average. Over 70 inches in the northeastern mountains and around 45 in the southeast. Yearly snowfall in the northern mountains averages 5 inches
Designated by the state transportation department. One of them, the Russell-Brasstown, also carries National Scenic Byway status, awarded June 15, 2000
Camping on public land in Georgia
Our build of the federal recreation database finds 52 campgrounds a vehicle can reach in Georgia: 26 on Corps of Engineers lakes, 25 on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest and one in a Park Service unit, with 49 of them bookable ahead. Add 41 state parks sharing more than 2,700 campsites.
Dispersed camping means national forest. It is allowed in most places inside the forest boundary, capped at 14 days, and a new campsite may not be re-established on national forest land for 30 days after that. On a Corps lake the limit is 14 days in any 30 consecutive days and camping is only at designated sites.
Developed campgrounds have numbered sites, toilets, often water, usually a fee and sometimes reservations. They are the easy night on the way to somewhere.
Dispersed camping means no facilities and no fee. It is allowed on much Bureau of Land Management and National Forest land, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether you can have a fire.
Private campgrounds and ranch stays add showers, laundry and hookups: the reset day in the middle of a long trip.
How to find a good one
The managing agency's own page is the only source for current status.
01Check the agency page for closures, fire restrictions and water before you drive in.
02Check the stay limit. Many public lands use fourteen days within a set period, but it varies by office.
03Check vehicle length limits and the condition of the access road.
04Arrive before dark, and have a second option.
Camp so it stays open
Most closures of dispersed areas follow the same pattern of trash, new fire rings and driving off the track.
01Use sites that already exist rather than making new ones.
02Pack out everything, including human waste where it is required.
03Have fires only where and when they are allowed, and drown them.
04Leave gates as you found them.
Questions people ask
Is dispersed camping legal?
On much BLM and National Forest land, yes, within local rules on where you can pull off, how long you can stay and whether fires are allowed. Rules are set by the local office and change with conditions, so check before you go. The public land map shows who manages the ground.
How long can I stay?
Many public lands use a 14-day limit within a set period, but it varies by office and by area. The campground details on the public land map show the stay limit the BLM publishes for each site.
Do I need a reservation?
For popular developed campgrounds in season, often. Many public campgrounds are first come, first served. Recreation.gov handles reservations for most federal campgrounds that take them.
How high is Georgia?
From Saint Marys at 10 feet to Brasstown Bald at 4,784.
Altitude decides what your engine, your brakes and your lungs have to work with, and how late in the year the passes open.
02,0004,0006,000
Feet above sea level
Towns
SuchesA settlement at 2,796 feet where GA 60 and GA 180 cross, ringed by national forest, with Deep Hole and the Toccoa River a few miles off.2,796 ft
HiawasseeTowns County seat on US 76 beside Lake Chatuge. The GA Spur 180 turn to the Brasstown Bald parking lot is southwest of town.1,969 ft
ClaytonRabun County seat where US 76 crosses US 441, in the county that holds the Chattooga Wild and Scenic River, Rabun Bald and the Oakey Mountain trails.1,933 ft
BlairsvilleUnion County seat where US 76 meets US 19 and 129. Blue Ridge Ranger District office, Beasley Knob two miles east, Brasstown Bald to the southeast.1,891 ft
Blue RidgeFannin County seat on GA 515. The only approach to Jacks River Fields from January through March, and the town beside Lake Blue Ridge.1,765 ft
ClevelandWhite County seat on US 129. The Chattahoochee Wildlife Management Area check station is about eight miles north by US 129 and GA 75 Alternate.1,569 ft
DahlonegaWhere GA 60 and US 19 start climbing into the Blue Ridge. The road to Woody Gap, Dockery Lake and the Whissenhunt trails leaves from here.1,454 ft
HelenOn GA 75 in the upper Chattahoochee valley, at the eastern end of the Russell-Brasstown byway below Unicoi Gap and Anna Ruby Falls.1,443 ft
EllijayGilmer County seat where GA 52 meets GA 515. The Gates Chapel Road approach onto Forest Road 90 and Forest Road 68 starts here.1,283 ft
GainesvilleSupervisor’s office for the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, on Lake Lanier, and the last full-size service town before the mountains.1,242 ft
LaFayetteWalker County seat on US 27 in the Armuchee country, near the Ridge and Valley byway, Johns Mountain and Keown Falls.823 ft
DaltonOn I-75 in the Great Valley. Houston Valley, the largest Forest Service off-highway vehicle system in Georgia, lies just west of town.761 ft
ChatsworthMurray County seat on US 411 under the Cohutta front. Conasauga Ranger District office, and the bottom of the gravel road to Lake Conasauga.746 ft
EatontonPutnam County seat between Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair, and the Oconee Ranger District office about 60 miles southeast of Atlanta.568 ft
FolkstonCharlton County town on US 1, the last services before the Suwannee Canal entrance to the Okefenokee and Swamp Island Drive.79 ft
Saint MarysEnd of GA 40 off I-95 and the mainland dock for the Cumberland Island ferry. Vehicles stay parked on this side of the sound.10 ft
Passes, high roads and summits
Brasstown BaldBrasstown Bald Spur (GA Spur 180): GA 180 to the Brasstown Bald parking lot4,784 ft
Rabun BaldRabun County, near the Carolina line. Our own measurement at the USGS point, not an agency figure4,697 ft
Blood MountainUnion County, above Neel Gap. State Parks calls it the highest summit on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. Our own measurement at the USGS point4,454 ft
Tray MountainTowns County. Anna Ruby Falls drops 153 feet off its flank. Our own measurement at the USGS point4,422 ft
Springer MountainFannin County, southern end of the Appalachian Trail. Our own measurement at the USGS point3,780 ft
Grassy MountainOld CCC Camp Road, Forest Road 18 and Forest Road 68 to Lake Conasauga: Eton on US 411 to Lake Conasauga, or Gates Chapel Road and Forest Road 90 from Ellijay3,688 ft
Black Rock MountainBlack Rock Mountain State Park road: US 441 at Mountain City up to the summit visitor centre in Rabun County3,640 ft
Hogpen GapRussell-Brasstown Scenic Byway: A loop on GA 75 Alternate, GA 180, GA 348 and GA 17 and 75 north of Helen3,499 ft
Woody GapGA 60 and GA 180 through Suches: Dahlonega north over Woody Gap to Suches, then GA 180 east to US 19 and 1293,177 ft
Neel GapUS 19 and US 129 over Neel Gap: Cleveland and Dahlonega north to Blairsville, past Vogel State Park3,099 ft
Unicoi GapTowns County, where GA 75 crosses the Blue Ridge north of Helen. Our own measurement at the USGS point2,956 ft
Fort MountainCohutta-Chattahoochee Scenic Byway: Prater’s Mill in Whitfield County to a mountaintop overlook in Murray County, by GA 2, US 41 and GA 522,850 ft
Johns MountainRidge and Valley Scenic Byway: A loop on US 27, GA 156, GA 136 and rural county roads, reached from I-75 exits 306 and 3201,878 ft
Pass, road and summit elevations are the figures published by the agency that manages them. Town elevations are the town’s or county’s own
figure where it publishes an exact one; the rest are from the U.S. Geological Survey (3D Elevation Program at the place’s official coordinates),
retrieved September 18, 2026. Every source is listed at the foot of the page.
