Coosawattee River Resort

What you get staying here is what you bring. Mother Nature will supply the rest. Do not expect to use the private pool unless you paid for it specifically. There is a river if you wish to get wet. Its not a giant campground nor is it tiny. Think of it like camping in the back of a huge subdivision. Its absolutely beautiful depending on your taste in foliage. The Coosawattee is constantly warmed by the factories use of it up stream so there is definitely a lack of fish. Floating the river is a favorite in the summer when the water lever is up after a big summer rain storm. Dont miss Fife bridge exit or your in for a 3 hr tour. The local dogs bark constantly, peace and quiet is rare. The playground is perfect for kids and pedestrian bridge to the dog park is great for photos of the river. Expect to have a difficult time at the dump station as it has not been updated and shows that this is not a 5 star campground and doesnt look like they plan to be. I liken it to that hole in wall restaurant that you love to go to but the bathrooms suck and your shoes stick to the floor.

We needed a place to stay in northern Georgia due to work. This was the first/only place we could find with any openings. Obviously, there was a reason why.

First, we were told yes they had sites available. They said it was only 30 amp electric. That was my first clue that there might be an issue. I asked if they would be able to accommodate a “bigger rig” at 43’. They said they could, and we discussed the rate ($25/night, no lower rate for weekly or monthly). We paid our deposit, and we’re eager to show up and see the “resort.”

The drive into the “RV park” section of the resort was nothing short of terrifying. The road splits after the gate with the right side of the road on a VERY NARROW level with a deep runoff ditch on the right side and traffic in the opposite direction a several feet below. VERY WINDY roads and blind corners with deer everywhere (DO NOT COME IN AT NIGHT YOUR FIRST TIME IF YOU’RE UNFAMILIAR), STEEP grades (we scraped the back end of our camper and broke the mechanism to mount the spare tire underneath as a result).

Once we got to the site, backing in was also a death defying feat! A DEEP DITCH lines the right side of the road that we had to avoid with the truck as we tried to maneuver into the VERY NARROW site. There were trees with LOW HANGING BRANCHES, so we hoped we didn’t break anything up on the roof, but couldn’t get up there to check once we were done because we could no longer access our ladder because the back end of our camper overhung the site down the back edge of the cliff we were on (which was about a 10 foot drop) by several feet. (We cracked our AC shroud we later found out after we left and were able to get up there). Our autolevelers had a field day and dropped the door side to the ground to compensate for how unlevel. We couldn’t unfold our stairs all the way as a result. Trash cans by each site looked like they never get emptied, and other people from around the rest of the resort stopped by to dump their trash in them regularly.

The scenery was beautiful with peaceful deer roaming everywhere and the river close by, but we knew this was not the place for us and left as soon as we found another site (so ended up being a 2 night stay).

We would go again, only if we were staying in a MUCH SMALLER camper (like a van or SMALL class C) or staying in one of the villas and used our car to drive around.

Let me start this review with disclosure: my parents owned a lot in CRR from the early 80s until 2007 or so. I literally grew up tent camping in CRR at least 3 or 4 times per year. This was my first time back in 15 years, now that they allow non-owners to camp.

Let's be fair and start with the pros:
The site was very cheap by 2021 RV camping standards at $20 a night for standard RV hookups (30 amp and water).

We were ~40 feet from the Coosawattee River, providing easy access for fishing and tubing (if you have two cars, you can tube entirely inside the resort for free).

It was surprisingly easy to get a reservation for 2021, we are used to waiting up til midnight on the night windows open to get sites.

Unfortunately, that's where the good stuff ends. Here are the cons:
We were only informed AFTER WE ARRIVED that campers who do not own property are not allowed to use any of the 4 pools (including the one literally at the Fish Trap campground where we were staying) or any facilities of any kind. Nowhere in any of our communications with CRR, on their website or in any of our paperwork is this mentioned. When we called on Saturday morning to ask the reservations manager about it, she seemed surprised it was a problem and told us there was nothing she could do.

The campground itself was fairly difficult to access with a TT in tow. We have a modestly sized 26' TT and it was very tight in several turns coming in, the tail skids hit the ground a couple of times and the roads are frequently one lane around blind turns while going uphill. The gate we were required to use was on a very steep hill, which required us to stop on a ~50%+ grade with the camper in tow to input the gate code and then start again.

The dump "station" was nothing more than a PVC pipe sticking up out of the ground, which requires you to park your RV in the middle of the one-way exit from the campground and block everyone from exiting while you dump your tanks. This portion itself is on a somewhat steep hill, which meant out black tank did not dump completely, and because this section was gravel, we actually had to back up after dumping to get a running start at the hill as we got stuck the first attempt.

The comfort station was atrocious. I do not use this word lightly. These are the same comfort stations that were present when I was camping here back in the '80s, just with a "log cabin" facade applied to freshen the look. The men's room had no urinals and only two stalls, one of which did not latch, and the other was literally covered in feces for the duration of our stay. The women's room likewise had two stalls, neither with functioning latches. The showers were almost unusably tiny, with no attached dressing area which means you almost have to shower with the curtain open to the rest of the bathroom so you have room to turn around. There was zero hot water, so I hope you like cold showers.

The site itself almost seemed like an afterthought. The pad was large-stone crush and run and looked like it was last graveled 10 years ago. The gravel was so impacted into the soil, I almost didn't see our pad as we approached it. The pad was not level (not as bad as some others we've used though). The picnic table was in very poor shape, rotting and unlevel. The awning area was not flat in any way, the "fire ring" was tiny and in poor shape and it was obvious that the whole area would flood in a rain (luckily, it did not rain during our stay for me to test this theory). The power pedestal was standard fare, 15 amp and 30 amp hookups, although I don't think you could get an RV large enough to require a 50 amp hookup back to the site.

In summary:
The site location is nice and convenient to the river. 7/10. The pricing is unbelievably cheap. 10/10. You cannot use any of the facilities (pools, tennis, arcade, etc) even as a camper unless you own property at the resort. They do not mention this in their literature or correspondence. 0/10. The roads into and out of the campground vary from acceptable to dangerous, with a lot of difficult and inconvenient in between. 4/10. Whatever you do, DON'T plan on using the comfort stations. -1/10. Ew. The site itself needs some maintenance and grading. 5/10.

CRR needs to charge another 15 bucks a night and update (or just clean and maintain) the comfort stations, grade the sites and provide access to at least the swimming pool at the campground.

This is a beautiful place to visit.... in a small vehicle! The roads are very, very narrow and winding up and down very steep hills. Once you get in the gate, there’s no turning back, so proceed with caution.
Once parked, it is stunning. Beautiful landscape, full hook ups. Lots of deer will visit your campsite. Most folks are friendly but we were warned about questionable characters using the bath house.
We had a great time here, but the anxiety of driving our big rig in and out will keep us from going back. I wish the roads were wider...