Stone Mountain Park Campground

The person at check-in must have had a bad customer before us because she wasn't very friendly; later, when we called she was great. Everyone else we've come into contact with was very friendly. $20/vehicle to get in and a pass for the duration of our stay. Every time we left, when we came back, we were waved in. Our spot was overlooking the lake (on trail G) and beautiful but NOT even remotely level. Would have been better if we had we had a short trailer.

Everyone was nice and helpful.
Our spot was quiet except for any sirens on the highway outside the park.
Campstore had the necessities.
We were here at the wrong time for really exploring the park (museum, gondola) but we did climb Stone Mountain and that was good.

Negatives: Road to campsites is terrible! Make sure everything is secured!
Laundry facilities were clean and old. In the 2 we tried to use, one had 3 washers (and a place for a 4th) and only 2 worked; the second had 4 washers and 3 worked.
No cable, at least at our spot.
WiFi was not strong and unreliable; I used my hotspot most of the time.

We’ve been here a couple of times, most recently in December. Stayed 3 nights in back-in site 286 (“M” loop). A little narrower than 288 next door, might try to get that one next time. Nice, level gravel site, all hookups good, with good water pressure and clean power. Not very close to either bath house, the price you pay for overlooking the lake and mountainside. Used bath house on “N” loop, clean, heated, good water pressure, but has those weird beach nozzle shower heads that deliver a powerful single stream. Sites are well spaced and offer true camping in the woods, with most sites giving that cool mountain view, so prime areas can fill up, but it will still not feel crowded.

The campground is a part of Stone Mountain Park, a Georgia tourist attraction including an amusement park, which may explain the relatively high cost. All sites are FHU. Campground roads are paved, but in poor repair -- tree roots, potholes, etc. My site was very unlevel, as were many others. Had to raise one side of the camper more than 7" to get level. Some sites are paved, but most are dirt (not gravel!) and needed cleaning. Paper scraps, candy wrappers, etc. were everywhere including the grill. Bathroom building was clean, but very old; lots of rust and mildew. The sites are heavily wooded, so no chance of satellite. The cable TV is old and analog, however I got excellent reception over the air of all networks, so didn't need it unless you want to watch basic cable channels. Customer service leaves a bit to be desired -- there was a substantial stand of poison ivy on my site surrounding the electric pedestal and the water tap. I reported this to the office, but four days later no one had shown up to spray. They pick up garbage at your site every day, which is convenient. WiFi was non-existent at my site, and cell service (unboosted) was one or two bars. There is a railroad ride in the amusement park, and nightly re-enactments of the battle, both of which can be clearly heard in the campground (train whistle and cannon rounds.)

I stayed here for two, 2 week periods in March and April of 2023. I was in town to visit friends in Atlanta and found this was the closest non-state park campground.

I enjoyed my stay. I found the campground to be mostly quiet (I was near the pool which generated some noise but was not really a nuisance), clean (although I did not use the restrooms extensively) and all utilities at the two sties I used functioned well. The campground has a 2 week stay limit, but the staff allowed me to extend one day on my second 2 week stint for medical reasons.

The grounds are wooded and many are on the lake which have nice views. Cell service was very good and more than sufficient bandwidth to run my Verizon Home Internet box and stream movies. Cable worked well.

Some have talked about the issues finding the campground. A quick look at Goggle Maps should solve that: I found, GMaps and RV Trip Wizard to give accurate directions.

There are multiple dump stations and a propane filling area which I found very convenient.

First, we got lost on our way in, as the main entrance is a wide road and we missed the sign for the campground as it is pretty much an immediate left after the main gate. The park is huge and if you miss that turn, you'll need to drive for a bit before you can turn around, so keep an eye out for that.

As far as the campground and campsite goes, I liked having full hook ups, and the scenery was great. We were in the red section, trail M. We had a really nice view of the lake and the mountain from our site, and could even walk between other sites to sit closer to the water. Our site was a pull through which was nice, however, it was also awkward because it was on a sloped, elevated corner. We had to spend a bit of effort to get level, and also didn't have a great "patio" area to hang out on, because of the slope and no level ground to easily place our chairs and grill on. It rained on several days of our stay, creating a lot of mud sliding down the slope and puddles of water around our stuff. Also, one day during our stay we saw a large Class A in the loop next to us that had somehow gotten themselves stuck falling of a slope and a large rig tow truck had to try to pull them out, probably from backing up too far. The sites that line the edge of the lake pretty much are all small cliffs, so be very careful when backing up into these.

Another thing that was interesting about the campground is that they offer trash pickup, and you can leave your trash outside by the road everyday and someone will come around to pick it up, but when we did this squirrels almost immediately got into ours, and I noticed this on other sites as well. Starlink did not work here, yes because of the heavy tree coverage but I also don't think this area of Georgia has full starlink access yet. Our Verizon and AT&T hot spots worked ok for us, Verizon slightly better than AT&T.

The price for a full hook up was average, I guess, but as others have mentioned, that extra $20 parking fee was annoying. They will also charge uber or Lyft drivers to enter the park if you request a ride share.

The camp store is small and offers some basics, but nothing fancy. We used the laundry, and it was sufficient. We didn't use any other amenities so I can't comment on those.

Do to our own personal time constraints (9-5 remote work), we didn't get to see or do any activities at the actual Stone Mountain Park. In the evenings we went out to the nearby towns a few times and found that the drive in and out of the park was tedious. I think staying at this campground is ideal if you're planning to do and see the park activities and not leave the property too often.

Side note about the park's history that they don't really discuss on the website, the entire park is basically a confederate memorial, by Georgia state law. I think they may be trying to rebrand and tuck that history away, but it's still pretty prevalent, as evidenced by the street names and the giant carving on the mountain, and a few minutes of googling will also bring up some other ugly moments in the park's past. As recently as this year (2023) they have hosted a confederate Memorial Day which attracts an interesting assortment of people to the park.

We had a wonderful spring break visit in March 2023 we stayed in, according to map, red #279. The road needs a little work but it’s drivable. The site needed the leaves removed but it didn’t stop us. We fit the site. It was snug but we loved it. The view was fantastic and just what I was looking for! I know they have been making improvements and hope they get to the inner side of the circles. I would love to go back to this area again. I would suggest an outside rug. It was wonderful to have!

Arrival - Super easy navigation to the campground with great registration lanes on arrival. Navigation through the campground is super easy as was backing into our site.

Tips - LOW CLEARANCE WARNING: GPS may route you to enter the Park's West Gate in which you will encounter a 12' underpass. To avoid the low underpass use Stone Mountain Park's East Gate via Exit 8 on US-78.

Favorite things - Scenery, cleanliness, site quality, friendly grounds staff, and close proximity to major Atlanta attractions like the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, Georgia Aquarium, and the Coca Cola Museum.

Negatives - None to speak of.

(Sept 21-28, 2022)
East of Atlanta, lots to do & see just at the Park, let alone Atlanta & vicinity. Careful entrance through the kiosk's at the entrance, take the first left (Stonewall Jackson Drive), do not follow your GPS, it will fail you! Tons of spaces for a variety of prices and features. The least expensive (360 series) sites have uneven asphalt and are mostly back-in and narrow. We opted for a bit better with a level concrete lined gravel site. Good utilities, restroom facilities, trails and attractions. Take the aerial tram to the top of Stone Mountain for the view. You should have bicycles or golf cart if you don't want to drive all around. Funny that there is no safe beach area or swimming - the lake is off-limits to swimming, fishing & boating only.