Fort McAllister State Park

This is a beautiful park, we barely got a spot at this campground due to being full online but when we arrived plenty of spots were available for multiple days we were there so not sure why it appears sold out online. When we arrived we also noticed there are 4 or 5 camp hosts and they all have prime spots, we waived hello to 2 separate hosts upon arrival and they just stared at us, one lady host even gave us a look so not sure what that's about but this place is close to savanna and a nice setting with spaced out spots. Make sure you wear your bug spray I got destroyed while dumping our tanks.

We were making a trip through the South East states visiting family and friends and scheduled places to stop. Fort McAllister State Park was on that list and did not disappoint. The pull through site was so scenic with water and electricity. The staff was so helpful even during the restriction from Covid. They have a little musuem and tips to help you make your stay wonderul. The wildlife, deer, armadillo's, birds and of course the Spanish Moss hangng off the trees made the stay very memorable. Though there were many RV's in the park we did not feel crowded. Definetly a place to visit more often

Stayed here for a week to explore Savannah and it was about 40 min to the downtown and 60 min to Tybee. We had a 30 Amp site with water cause the FHU sites were full. Our surge protector indicated “no ground”. We reported this to the office but nothing was done about it. Other than this issue the site was wonderful. Large level pull through surrounded by trees dripping Spanish moss. Dump station was close by. Nats we’re always bugging us while outdoors. On-site fort very interesting to visit and there was a mile long nature trail to stretch your legs. Camping price reflects senior discount which is available upon check in.

We booked this campground to split up our drive into two days and it was the only one with last minute availability. The campground itself is nice enough - many sites quite large and can feel secluded. Surrounded by marsh, great little nature trail right in the campground and we just love the GA low country.

But check-in did not feel safe. We've done lots of FL State Park and National Forrest camping all pandemic long and have gotten spoiled with contactless check-in and staff/volunteer masking (and many campers masking as well). Guess that's not the case in GA!

Check-in is in their building, and staff are NOT required to wear masks - and none were during our visit. They do have a couple Xs on the floor to mark 6' distancing while in line. There is a partition between the staff, but that only helps so much. Other patrons in the gift shop were not masked or respectful, sometimes even bumping into campers because the ice cream freezer is right at the check-in counter.

To their credit, when we left a complaint to their requested online feedback - someone from the office called and apologized, saying that the GA state government doesn't allow employers to require employee masking and several of their staff have refused (personally, I'd say - 'Fine, then you can't work the front counter.'). But he did say that you can request contactless check-in and they'll have your check-in stuff ready for pickup upon arrival. If we venture into GA parks in the future, we'll keep that in mind and call ahead.

We ended up not staying very long due to finding out friends were in the area.

Didn't even have time to test the internet connectivity.

We began our experience here with the rangers screaming at some people about parking in the (unmarked) employee only parking area. Always a great start.

Then late night, some guy named Ted’s friends were having a great time drinking beers around the fire, but Ted just wasn’t having it. Despite his pals’ imploring him to just relax and enjoy the night, he took it so far that his wife had to warn him, “We gone roll Ted, we gone roll!” That settled him down a bit.

Sandwich between those two experiences, the park is nice enough. We snagged a tent spot thinking they’d be more secluded, but that wasn’t exactly the case. And at $40 and some change, though they do come with water and electric, it didn’t seem all that worth it since we were wide open and visible in our massive, shaded site. Aside from Ted, the tent area was pretty quiet after 10pm. Raccoons, which Starlord informed us are now being called trash pandas, were abundant. A horde of ten or so circled our campsite and showed no signs of fear. Somehow our neighbor, who left his trash bag hanging out overnight, escaped their wrath but other campers weren’t so lucky. Despite these little bandits, the place is super clean.

Both laundry machines didn’t work in the one “comfort station” which left a bit of a line at the sole machine in the other area, but I suppose complaining that there was only one set of working washer/dryer is like telling your kid “You can’t just eat the icing, you have to eat the cake too.”

Cell service was slow at times but then kicked in well enough to stream a movie at night.

The sites 2,4,6,8,9,11,13,15 and 16 have sunrise swampfront views and are secluded, near the entrance and host sites. 43-52 then are the next most secluded. The rest, and all tent sites, are more wide open.

I’d say this place is too expensive for what it is, but it’s actually cheaper than many other coastal Southeast state parks so maybe I’m just in the wrong part of the country.

Fort McAllister was a great stay, only about 1/3 of the sites have full hookups. We stayed in spot 15 which had full hookups but limited shade for a few days, then spot 25 for two weeks on a separate trip. It can be buggy at times and the wildlife is everywhere. Make sure you take your trash out often, the raccoons have no fear and will get within feet of you. Didn’t bother us too much but they will get to the trash. It’s an awesome spot if you have a boat, you can leave it docked at the pier. All in all we would stay there again!

We thoroughly enjoyed our week here. We had full hookups in our pull through site. Our site was gravel with a picnic table and fire pit.

Pros:
Secure with locked gate to access the campground.
Roads were black topped and not too bad to maneuver.
Sites were spacious
Easy drive into Savannah, about 30 minutes
Saw many birds and small deer
Nice area for walking along the causeway to the campground
Short drive to a few restaurants and grocery.

Cons:
Road to the state park was under construction and was backed up frequently and traffic moved very slow.
Bugs were bad as sites are near a marsh.