Overview
Lake Sidney Lanier is a large 38,000 acre Army Corps of Engineers lake located less than an hour northeast of Atlanta. The lake is fed by the Chattahoochee and Chestatee rivers, and the water is cool and clear. Unfortunately, the water level is low, and has been for some time. Water seems to be quite a valuable in-demand commodity in the areas downstream. The communities southwest of Lake Lanier are among the fastest growing in the nation. Hopefully the rainfall will increase soon, and the lake will once again be at full pool.

The water levels have adversely affected local businesses because boating and camping on the lake are way down. It's unfortunate, because even with the level low, the lake is still plenty large and quite beautiful. The biggest problems we experienced were the beaches and boat ramps.

The dry land around Lake Lanier is also quite beautiful and wooded. There are numerous campgrounds nestled in the trees along the shoreline. We can recommend Shoal Creek campground, but are not familiar with any others.

With regards to attractions, Lanier Islands Resort hosts Lanier World, an amusement park of sorts with a water theme. They have a massive beach, several water slides, wild water tubing, a wave pool, food and drink, and more. If you camp at Shoal Creek, the $15 per car admission to Lanier Islands Resort is waived, but there is still a fee for the water park. There are also discounts for those tickets if you are staying on the property (Shoal Creek included).

Adventure Journal
Entry Date: September 2012
We were so excited to visit Lake Lanier. We'd heard about Lanier World, and it looked like the kind of place we could have some serious fun. We arrived at the lake on a Friday afternoon with just enough time to set-up the camper and take a walk around the campground. We chose Shoal Creek Campground for this visit because of its proximity to Lanier World. We expected the campground to be pretty full. It was, after all, Labor Day weekend. Surprisingly, the campground was sparsely populated. In fact, our site hadn't been camped in for almost a month. Why? I guess it might have something to do with the lake's water level. We visited the campground's beach and boat ramp, both left high and dry by the receding waterline.

Saturday morning came with a few sprinkles, just enough to give us an excuse to sleep in a bit. Fortunately it soon cleared off and we emerged from our home away from home, ready for adventure. One of our first priorities was to investigate Lanier World. We decided to take the short drive over to the park to find out what the admission would be, and if there were any special package prices for Lanier Island Resort guests. We learned there is a discount  admission, and Shoal Creek campground is a part of the resort. Additionally, as a guest, the $15 per car fee to enter the resort is also waived. That benefit alone reduces the actual cost of staying at the campground considerably. We were favorably impressed with the resort's beautiful landscaping and maintenance. Very nice!

Our next objective was to get the boat in the water and explore the lake a bit. As I mentioned before, the Shoal Creek Campground boat ramp was closed, but another ramp was located just outside the campground's entrance. It was sufficient to put in, but the end of the dock was several feet from the edge of the water. This made for some muddy feet when loading the boat. The water seemed very clean, and traffic on the lake wasn't terribly bad. Some of the boats that were on the lake seemed to be rather erratic, so we tried to maintain our distance from most. We explored the coastline for a while before heading to Sunset Cove, the location of Lanier World. We thought we might be able to grab a spot at the dock, or maybe even park the boat right off the beach. When we pulled into the cove, it was very crowded. There were numerous large boats densely anchored with dozens of people on the boats and on floats drinking. There was a lot of partying going on, and it made us wonder if anyone was policing the activity. It seemed to be a very dangerous situation, and the rangers didn't appear concerned. We left immediately, opting for the land route to the water park.

When we finally made it to the park that evening, many of the boats in the cove had dispersed. We paid our admission, and proceeded to each of Lanier World's attractions. The first stop was a large inflatable obstacle course in the lagoon. From there, we visited each of the attractions (some were not open). The kids especially enjoyed the water slides and the wild river tube ride. As the sun set, we settled in at the wave pool to watch Jurassic Park. They call this a "dive-in movie," and it was really cool. The kids spent the entire movie watching from the pool. It was after 11pm by the time we headed back to the campground that night. What an awesome time we all had.

Sunday was spent at the campground exploring and  looking for rocks. When the water level is this low, it makes for good rockhounding. Lake Lanier is fed by the Chattahoochee river which flows from the gold-rich mountains around Dahlonega. That means lots of quartz of varying clarity and color. We found some pretty nice rocks, but we didn't pan for gold here because the Army Corps of Engineers frowns on such activity. We did have a fire-building contest though, and the kids collected dozens of shed cicada exoskeletons. Pretty much a typical day camping with the Richardson Tribe.

In summary, we had a good time at Lake Lanier and want to go back sometime in the future. We were disappointed in the water levels, and somewhat disappointed in the condition of the campground, but we'd still recommend both. Our biggest concern was the blatant partying that was happening on the water.

The Richardson Tribe

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Chattanooga Zoo
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Lula Lake Land Trust
Mammoth Cave National Park
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McKinney Campground
Moto Mountain Powersports
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