George L. Smith State Park

Stayed for 2wks as part of our 23-24' wintering stint. Camped in pull-thru site #2 right next to campground host. mostly level and super long. This site is right along the park drive so there is occasional road noise, but nothing much. 50/30/20A power and water access. Dump station and dumpsters are located on the way out of the CG. Good restful stay - very quiet while we were here. Verizon service was possible with an external antenna- was able to stream and hold video calls. AT&T was spotty at best but internet connectivity was possible; TMobile was hit or miss.

Bathhouse has 2 showers for the mens and women's side; They are very clean. The bathroom lights are on timers in case you decide to take a longer shower. Laundry room on the opposite side of bath house has 2 washer and dryers as well as a sink.

There are two main hiking trails in the state park - these traverse in a loop with some parts following the shore of the lake. There are paddling trails, but we didn't access them.

This is an absolute hidden gem. Most sites are staggered so there’s great privacy and the views of the gorgeous pond are amazing. It’s a small park with a cute hiking trail and amazing kayaking. The blazed trails are unique and make you feel like you’re on a very private adventure. Playground is far from campground, which is great as we saw few families and almost no little ones running around and making noise. We got site 3 and as we got there saw that it was a buddy site with 4. This means shared area for fire pit and tables. Also, two big rigs would NOT do well there. We ended up reserving 4 to avoid issues with neighbors. So stay away from sites 3 and 4 unless you get both.

We stayed here for 5 nights in late March, 2023. Picked site #16 as launching a kayak from our site looked super easy! Sadly, I fell at Magnolia Springs a few days before & fractured a bone in my left arm, so kayaking was out. But - if you need any medical care while here, Metter has a great urgent care & hospital!
Site was long enough, mostly level - used one block under our passenger side. Incredible view from our site!
Bathhouses were spotless - both sets of camphosts were awesome - friendly, always out, super nice! I only walked the trail to the old mill - great little trail. And yes, the Kwik Mart (or whatever) across from the Pig Wig in Twin Cities had a decent selection of craft beer! We are definitely coming back here some day, as the canoe / kayak trails look incredible.

Visited in Jan 2022. Immediately fell in love with the site when we got here. Plenty of space for us to spread out (2 vehicles and a 14’ camper). Easy access to water if you want to put your kayaks in at your site. Bathrooms very clean. Camp host welcoming and has fire wood for sale (Not many places around had this). There is a small museum that you walk through to get to the three mile deer trail loop. There is not much around for stores except the piggly wiggly, dollar tree and Mill Pond Trading post (all with limited items). We did favor the Mill pond trading post because they could give you cash and have firewood available. There is also a small but good selection of meats frozen veggies and wine! A small restaurant in the back serving breakfast and lunch only, days open unknown. All in all would recommend coming back!

We loved it here. Heading toward Florida we took a detour and we lucked out with site 15. Right on the water with the cypress trees and their magical reflection in the water was amazing. The site was perfectly level so much so that kids made me take a picture of our level to prove it! We launched the paddle board right there and skimmed through the trees. The playground was great and the trail was fun too. We will be back to do more paddle boarding in thr future. The electrical and water hookups were well maintained and I felt as if the site was nicely spaced with steps down to the picnic table and the water

Our site, a long pull through, was nestled in shady pines twenty feet or so from the water. The mill pond, as they call it, is gorgeous, a fairy tale of a thing full of gators and eager fishermen.

Birds and squirrels forage for whatever loose goods they can find. In early March the campground was maybe half full, quiet for the most part, though we were here weekdays only. A ½ mile trail leads from the premium sites campground to the visitors center, which sells souvenirs, ice and soda. Some water, camping supplies or propane canisters would be better as goods than plush teddy bears, but that’s my only complaint.

Should you want to take a bike ride to town, perhaps you don’t feel like packing up your rig or your baby is sleeping and you could use the exercise, it’s 9 miles best navigated via Parrish Pond Road, so as to avoid the shoulderless Highway 80. Town has little to offer, an old Piggley Wiggly sells nothing useful for camping, though the beer store across the Highway does offer craft beers in a moderate amount.

Verizon service was great, wavering from 1-3 bars but sufficient for The Last Kingdom marathons and toiling away at building the Internet.

Lovely experience all around, but note that not all sites are equally private.

Price reflects online reservation fees but doesn’t include the $5 / day it costs to just be in the park.

Waking every day to a forest of cypress trees is surreal. This campground is very relaxing, and the sites mostly well spaced out. Many are waterfront with a private terrace with a picnic table.

During our visit, the water levels were low due to upcoming maintenance - so canoe rentals were shut down. So wish we had brought our own paddle boards!

We had a delightful stay here while evacuating for a hurricane and wouldn't hesitate to return.

Cellular service is a bit wonky here however, with variable speeds on both Verizon and AT&T. We could not manage stellar upload speeds and had to cancel a live broadcast - and uploading videos was painfully slow (even with boosters and antennas).