From the Feedback Page
Subject: Recent Camping Trip to Doll Mountain
Guest: Trenton & Elaine
Reports: Beautiful well kept campground.  Staff went above and beyond on being helpful.  We will definitely go back, and highly recommend this camp to anyone we like.

Overview

Doll Mountain campground is perched on a peninsula formed by a ridge protruding into Carters Lake. The 3,200 acre lake, located near Ellijay in north Georgia, is contained by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the largest earthen dam east of the Mississippi (the lake is 450 ' deep). The Coosawattee River feeds the lake cool clean water year round, providing great conditions for wildlife observation, fishing, and water sports. This is an Army Corps of Engineers lake, and our experience has been good with Corps facilities, especially of the camping variety. Doll Mountain campground is no exception. It's a beautiful campground.

This is definitely a boaters campground. There is a boat ramp and additional parking. Unfortunately, most of the sites do not facilitate easy access to a launched boat. The ridge that forms the campground is still pretty high, and the slopes are rather steep. If you plan to anchor your boat offshore, make sure you can access it. Water levels can change pretty quickly her overnight as well, so make sure to do a good job tying up those water craft (we had a PWC float away here one night many years ago).

The campsites, for the most part, are very nice. Their size and features can vary greatly. Some of the sites in the older section have very large decks with nice views. Doll Mountain's sites have water and electric, but no sewer.

The area has a lot to offer. Nearby Ellijay hosts the annual Apple Fest every fall, and it's a pretty little town to visit any time of year. Fort Mountain State Park, located on the edge of the Cohutta Wilderness, is just right up the road. Another must-see that's about a half hour away is New Echota, the only official capitol of the Cherokee Nation. There's much more (see the PB&J Map on our home page)

Please scroll down for lots of  pictures and a PB&J Adventure Journal Entry.


Features

Rating (1-10)

Description

Official website 9 The Army Corps of Engineers has a very nice website, but as usual, pictures are in short supply. Making reservations is a great experience because the website provides campsite specific details and an interactive campground map.
Campground - Reserve

8

56 Campsites (**$22 +/-) - No full hookups. Awesome campground.
Beach 8

A boat or car ride away. There is more than one, and they are relatively nice. Cool clean water!

Playgrounds

*

There is a playground, but we were there to play in the water. We'll check it out next time. There is an outdoor basketball goal. It's a very well kept and clean campground.
Hiking 8 They don't really list it as a feature, but there is plenty of hiking nearby. Carters lake is nestled in the first foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Cohutta Wilderness and Fort Mountain are very near, and the Pinhoti Trail provides many miles of trekking on foot or bike. 
Geocaching

*

Geocaching is available, but we didn't have a chance.
Rockhounding

*

There are rockhounding opportunities everywhere. The largest gold nugget found in Georgia was found near here in Gilmer County!
Local Attractions

7

Carters Lake, Fort Mountain State Park, Cohutta Wilderness, New Echota, Ellijay, Chattahoochee National Forest, Woodring Campground.
*Note: We rate only the amenities we have personally reviewed.
**Accommodation pricing is based on 2010 Army Corps of Engineers website pricing.

No financial consideration or favor has been received for listing in PB&J Adventures' website. We are in no way affiliated with this facility or any other facility we review. Any paid advertising seen on this site was arranged after the destination was reviewed. You can trust the reviews to be unbiased.

Adventure Journal
Entry Date: July 2011
The building of Carters lake was a pretty big deal when I was a kid back in the '70's. The dam is massive, the largest dam east of the Mississippi. The lake is an incredible 450' deep at it's deepest point. Its capacity to generate electricity was welcome back in the day, but possibly more important was the dam's ability to regulate the frequent floodwaters that often caused damage to communities and crops in the valley below. Rebecca and I know. We grew up in that valley.

In the early years of our marriage, Rebecca and I came here often. We had a personal watercraft, and enjoyed the lake's many primitive camping opportunities. We could tell you stories of riding-out storms in our tent, snake encounters, and searching for missing personal water craft gone missing overnight, but...

Now we're much older and have an RV and four young children. So, a real campground with water and electric was our goal. There are two Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds on the lake. We opted for Doll Mountain because it's just a little closer to home, and Woodring campground happened to be fully booked this weekend.

When we arrived at the campground, we were pleased with its layout. Our site, high atop a little branch ridge, had a beautiful view to the west, over the water (as in great sunsets). It was apparent that it would not be easy to keep the boat in the water overnight because of our distance "down" to the water., It was really no problem though, because the campsite's driveway was plenty long for the motorhome, the Jeep, and the boat pulled end-to-end. Wonderful!

It has been an unusually hot summer this year, so on our first evening at Doll Mountain, the entire Richardson Tribe was very happy to feel a steady breeze blowing cross the lake and up the ridge. It was the first pleasant evening we'd had in weeks, with regards to temperature.

Over the course of the next two days, we spent a lot of time in the boat. We never even set foot on the beach as planned. The beach is not a part of the campground, so it's either a short ride by boat, or a longer ride by car.  We did some fishing, but kept the tube busy quite a lot. The kids are getting braver on the tube. Lee Thomas is even standing on it now.

Our meals were exceptional on this trip. The kids have grown very fond of salad, especially spinach (I'm shocked!). Rebecca used the cast pie irons to make calzones using canned pizza crust, turkey pepperoni, pizza sauce, and lots of yummy cheese.

We are anxious to come back in the fall before the campground closes for the season. We'd like to get the very same site so we can enjoy the sunset through the colorful fall leaves. CAN'T WAIT!


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