There are plenty of camping opportunities in and around the Helen Georgia area. All you have to do is look. The first thing you have to ask yourself is how many people are going? Campgrounds and camping spots vary in size and can only hold a certain number of people.
The next thing you'll want to ask yourself is how many people do you want to have around you? Are you looking for somewhere rather secluded that you may not see someone all weekend long, or are you looking for a campground where you can sit around a campfire with new friends telling stories and singing songs?
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Now, let's start with the last one... campgrounds:
Andrews Cove Campground
US Forest Service
Chattooga River Ranger District
706-782-3320
www.fs.fed.us/conf/andrcove.shtml
Unicoi State Park and Lodge
1788 Highway 356
Helen, GA 30545
(800) 864-7275
(706) 878-2201
www.gastateparks.org/info/unicoi
Yonah Mountain Campground
3678 Helen Hwy
Cleveland, GA 30528
706-865-6546
www.yonahcampground.com
Now, if you're looking for something a little bit more off the beaten path, you'll just have to follow some easy directions:
1. Take GA 75 North from Helen into Robertstown. There's a flea market on the left with a bridge that crosses over the Chattahoochee. Take a left across the bridge and then a right onto the road that goes beside the Chattahoochee. It turns into a Forest Service (FS) road that will take you to the top of the mountain. It's a nice gravel road that will wind back and forth and provide some great scenery along the way. You'll go past plenty of campsites, so just pick one before you get back to GA 75. Some are more private than others.
2. Another option is the Indian Grave Gap / Tray Mountain area. Take GA 75 North from Helen, go up the mountain and then back down. As you reach the bottom, you should see a small forest service road to your right. Turn down that road. Just keep on going until you see a suitable campsite. It's not a bad idea to get a map of the forest service roads in the area before heading up there either or taking your GPS along. REI in the Atlanta area sometimes carries maps of these areas.
As far as other secluded spots in this area, I'm just going to keep them to myself. If you ask nicely, maybe I'll take you along sometime. ;-)
