# Mistletoe State Park reviews?



## cjones

Looking to take the family camping this weekend and wife wants somewhere with running water and a bathhouse for our first family endeavour with the 5 y/o and 2 y/o.  I swear... no sense of adventure. 

Nearly every state park is booked up this weekend EXCEPT Mistletoe SP.  Any idea why this park is so empty this weekend?  Is there some insider info that doesn't show up on the website that keeps people away?


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## Bob Shaw

You could try R Shaefer Heard COE on Lake West Point. Nice water sites with water, electric and bath houses.


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## 3ringer

I have never camped at Mistletoe. We had to make reservations for Vogel a year in advance for October. Check out Trackrock campground in Blairsville. They may have a cancellation. They have the prettiest valley in NG. They also have a hayride for families in the evening.


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## Dog Hunter

Stayed there before and enjoyed.  It is a first come and pick campground if I remember right.  Petersburg is down the road.  Also nice.


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## 3ringer

I use two different apps for campground reviews. I use TripAdvisor and rvparkreviews.com. Both are very helpful with photos and honest reviews. Also look on YouTube. Someone has taken the time to video campsites at campgrounds at several parks. This is very helpful when you are making reservations for a specific site. I think most Georgia parks you check in and then ride around and look for a site.


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## cjones

Thanks for the great feedback.  I'll check those places out.

CJ


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## Artfuldodger

Mistletoe probably has openings because there are so many other campgrounds located on Clark Hill Lake. The Army Corp Campgrounds on the various Army Corp lakes have nice campgrounds as well.

Good luck finding a place.


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## Bama B

Its a nice campground.


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## WayneB

It was full of folk drinking malt liquor and listening to rap music last time we went.
 Infer from that what you will..
 Not someplace I would recommend for gentle peoples.


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## Artfuldodger

WayneB said:


> It was full of folk drinking malt liquor and listening to rap music last time we went.
> Infer from that what you will..
> Not someplace I would recommend for gentle peoples.



I didn't think malt liquor drinkers camped. It'll be too cold for malt liquor drinkers this weekend.


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## Oldstick

It is a very nice place, we experienced nothing like mentioned above when we went on July 4th weekend of 2015.  

Search for previous posts and pictures on here.  I seem to recall they had tree damage from a tornado this past spring or summer though.  Don't know how much that impacted the operations.


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## Artfuldodger

I looked at a few state parks and none of them has any sites to reserve but Mistletoe. I understand North Georgia because of the leaves changing but I looked in middle and south Georgia too.

Maybe they only reserve a few and leave the rest for first come, first serve. 

Is camping this time of the year that popular?


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## Oldstick

We found almost everything filled in the latter part of the week before last going into the Columbus Day weekend.  Partly to to the holiday, but also greatly due to the hurricane evacuations in GA and FL.  Possibly there is some holdover from the evacuations  going on?

As to why Mistletoe is the only one available, it was also the only one available last minute for the 4th Holiday last year when we were looking.  The only possible negatives I can think of, is there is not a lot else to do in the immediate area other than camp and the lake access.  Also a pretty good ways away from grocery stores and such.


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## 3ringer

Artfuldodger said:


> I didn't think malt liquor drinkers camped. It'll be too cold for malt liquor drinkers this weekend.



I was thinking the same thing. Don't see many malt liquor drinkers where I camp. Maybe some shine drinkers lol


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## Artfuldodger

Some of those shine drinkers can get quite loud. We camped at Huguenot Park near Jacksonville, Fl. and campers hooped and hollered quite a bit.

We prefer Winfield Army Corp Campground very near Mistletoe SP. There used to be a little store near the entrance of those two campgrounds. Winfield just seemed to be laid out a little better with more water front sites.

There really isn't much difference from a campground on a Army Corp Reservoir anywhere in Georgia. Winfield looks much like Cotton Hill on Lake Eufaula. Cotton Hill is near George T. Bagby State Park. We liked Cotton Hill better. 

Sometimes there will be a nice little town nearby to get away from the campground for a few hours. Fort Gaines is nice. For the most part though it's all about the lake.


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## Bob Shaw

Before deciding on a COE park, you may want to check Reserve America, because many of the Corp parks close after Labor Day.


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## cjones

Got lucky this morning.  I set up a notification if spots opened up at FD Roosevelt and at High Falls and got notification this morning that a spot opened up at High Falls, so we're booked there for Sat-Sun. Much closer than Mistletoe. I'm guessing the 'falls' are more of a light trickle this year.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. Lots of good info.


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## riprap

cjones said:


> Got lucky this morning.  I set up a notification if spots opened up at FD Roosevelt and at High Falls and got notification this morning that a spot opened up at High Falls, so we're booked there for Sat-Sun. Much closer than Mistletoe. I'm guessing the 'falls' are more of a light trickle this year.
> 
> Thanks again for all the suggestions. Lots of good info.



Too bad you couldn't get Roosevelt. Pine Mountain and that area is as nice to look at as anything in north ga. There is the pine mtn RVC park just north of town on hwy 27. They are pricey though. A lot of folks stay there and visit Calloway. I see a good many high dollar rigs in there when I pass by. I hunt just south of Hamilton.


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## cjones

Had a pretty good weekend at High Falls.  It was a good learning experience for us.  Camping with kids is a different ballgame than when we would go out before kids. ha.  Nice park. Campsites aren't too crowded (at least on the Lake side where we were).  A few good trails to keep the kids occupied. Would have taken the kayaks for the lake if it hadn't been windy and cool this weekend.

The biggest frustration was fighting wet firewood. We were tight on space, so I didn't bring any of the 2 y/o cut wood that we have at the house and decided to buy from the park.  I was trying to work a few pieces up into kindling and it was hard as a rock and wouldn't bust at all.  Finally got enough small pieces to get something going and when I would put a big piece on, it would just sizzle and smolder.  Extremely frustrating when you've got two kids whining about food and a usually VERY patient wife getting down to the end of her rope.  Finally got enough coals built up that it would half-way burn the wet wood after about 4 hours.

Other than that it was a good first 'family of four' trip for us.  Nothing happened that made us say "Never again!" - just some "OK, next time we will..." lists that came up.

Thanks again for the suggestions here.  We'll check out those places next time around.


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## 3ringer

cjones said:


> Had a pretty good weekend at High Falls.  It was a good learning experience for us.  Camping with kids is a different ballgame than when we would go out before kids. ha.  Nice park. Campsites aren't too crowded (at least on the Lake side where we were).  A few good trails to keep the kids occupied. Would have taken the kayaks for the lake if it hadn't been windy and cool this weekend.
> 
> The biggest frustration was fighting wet firewood. We were tight on space, so I didn't bring any of the 2 y/o cut wood that we have at the house and decided to buy from the park.  I was trying to work a few pieces up into kindling and it was hard as a rock and wouldn't bust at all.  Finally got enough small pieces to get something going and when I would put a big piece on, it would just sizzle and smolder.  Extremely frustrating when you've got two kids whining about food and a usually VERY patient wife getting down to the end of her rope.  Finally got enough coals built up that it would half-way burn the wet wood after about 4 hours.
> 
> Other than that it was a good first 'family of four' trip for us.  Nothing happened that made us say "Never again!" - just some "OK, next time we will..." lists that came up.
> 
> Thanks again for the suggestions here.  We'll check out those places next time around.



I take charcoal and a chimney charcoal lighter with me. I will place the chimney full of charcoal on my Coleman stove for about 10 minutes. Then I will take it off the stove for another 10 minutes until the coal on top are burning. Empty the coals into your fire pit  and throw wood on top. This works great for wet wood.


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## Paymaster

3ringer said:


> I take charcoal and a chimney charcoal lighter with me. I will place the chimney full of charcoal on my Coleman stove for about 10 minutes. Then I will take it off the stove for another 10 minutes until the coal on top are burning. Empty the coals into your fire pit  and throw wood on top. This works great for wet wood.



Same method I use as well. Works great!


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## Oldstick

I have experienced the same problem with some of the firewood purchased at GA state parks.  Was it in a mesh bag labeled "North GA Firewood Co." or something like that?  It seemed to be good and dry, but it was almost like it was treated with some kind of flame reducing chemical.

It would eventually burn up if you maintained a good coal bed all night, but not flame up like normal dry seasoned hardwood does.  Almost like it was buried in wet GA clay first then dried out.


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## cjones

Oldstick said:


> I have experienced the same problem with some of the firewood purchased at GA state parks.  Was it in a mesh bag labeled "North GA Firewood Co." or something like that?  It seemed to be good and dry, but it was almost like it was treated with some kind of flame reducing chemical.
> 
> It would eventually burn up if you maintained a good coal bed all night, but not flame up like normal dry seasoned hardwood does.  Almost like it was buried in wet GA clay first then dried out.



This came out of a small enclosed shed next to the camp host's site.  I was trying to think if there were storms that went through that area this summer and that this firewood came from the park's storm cleanup, so it was still green.  Dunno...

$5 for 6 sticks.  My grandad was rolling over in his grave, I'm sure.


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## Dog Hunter

I've always hit the woods and gathered up my own


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## Oldstick

Dog Hunter said:


> I've always hit the woods and gathered up my own



I usually try to also.  If you bring your own they accuse you of importing beetles, if you gather on site they accuse you of harming the beetle habitat.


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## Artfuldodger

We used to take a small rope with a rock tied to it to pull dead limbs out of trees.


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## Oldstick

Artfuldodger said:


> We used to take a small rope with a rock tied to it to pull dead limbs out of trees.



Destroying roach/beetle habitats for generations into the future...


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## Artfuldodger

Oldstick said:


> Destroying roach/beetle habitats for generations into the future...



I'm sure it all started with man building fires thousands of years ago. Fires that started the downfall of our environment. Cooking meat. Leading to our high cholesterol levels. Leading to our environment's high pollution levels.
Fire eventually lead to internal combustion engines which eventually lead to nuclear fusion. 
Fire was also the path to heating and air conditioning which opened the door to refrigerants which helped destroy our atmosphere.
Also it lead the way to destroying our environment by excavating coal and drilling for oil. 

The earth would have been a much better place without man gaining the ability to build fire.

The beetles? I'm sure that's our fault. The Beatles? Most definitely our fault. Came by the way of fire for distillation.


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## Artfuldodger

I am glad that someone had the foresight to save some land for public use, whoever that may have been. 
I wish they could have saved more, like half the state of Georgia.


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