Cloudland Canyon State Park Campground - Trenton GA Camping

Date of Trip: 8/8/2002
Rating:
Review: My wife and I are occasional backpackers, in the fall and spring, and we recently acquired a pop-up camper and drove it to Cloudland Canyon from our home in Gainesville, GA. There are two places you can set up your camper, the West or the East rim camping areas, with the West rim definitely being the superior area for two reasons: one, the camp sites are more secluded and woodsy, and two, you are exposed to very little traffic, unlike on the East rim. The East rim seems like it would be a nice place to set up for a couple with children due to the playgrounds and larger open areas in which to play. Some of the hook-ups in the West rim are badly placed, as was ours, and you should plan on bringing an extension cord if your cord is shorter than 20 feet. The bathrooms were very well kept, and we didnt notice much trash at all anywhere in the park. Access to the rim trails(4.5 miles) is well marked, and the views around the gorge are breathtaking, and would probably be even more so in the fall when the leaves are changing. Going down in the gorge (approx. 1 mile down) to view the two falls is a somewhat strenuous undertaking, especially for someone with two bad knees. There is another trail (7 miles) that is supposed to be open in the park, but part of it is on private lands and the forestry service is considering discontinuing maintenance on the trail all together. If you want to see the waterfalls falling, call ahead to see how the river is flowing. We didnt see much water coming over the falls, but the rest of the scenery was well worth the hike down into the gorge. We took our dog, and the park is extremely dog friendly if you keep him or her on a leash. There are many places to get lost from all the other campers in the park if you get a little adventurous, and we saw many well set up places to tent camp, and we are considering tent camping in the park in the fall. We were going to play tennis but there was too much to see and do on the trails. We had also planned on swimming in the pool in the park, but it was closed due for maintenance. There is disc golf course, which we wanted to play, but didnt have time. You can bring your own disc or borrow one from the attendants at the front desk. Overall, Cloudland Canyon State Park has much to offer for tent or rave campers (there are also cabins), and I would recommend the park to anyone wanting to get away for a relaxing weekend.