Historic Watson Mill Bridge State Park — Attraction in Athens-Clarke County Unified Government

Lovely 1000+ acre State Park near Comer, Ga. The covered bridge and falls are a must see, so plan to spend a day enjoying the falls, water and park area. The campground has mostly pull through heavily shaded sites with two bathhouses. The bathhouses are showing their age and subject to out of order. Frankly, the circa 1885 bridge is in better shape than the campground. The hosts are lovely and eager to help. While the camp hosts are doing their best, the state needs to focus attention on roads and campsites. They are tired and need attention. Big rigs and even a 28’ trailer will slip into a rut in the turns in the campground. Be careful. The 50amp power is clean and consistent. The water ran clear with good pressure. The single dump station located in the center of the park is a lesson in patience and maneuvering skill. During our stay we had a tornado watch and the camp host went from site to site alerting each on what to do and where to go. That’s next level attention. Verizon service was better than ATT. Pay attention to how you enter the park as the covered bridge has a 9’ height limit. Enter the park from the west off of Georgia Highway 22. If you come from the East, off Georgia Highway 72 you’ll have to cross the bridge be subjected to the bridge limit. The town of Comer is 4 miles away if you need to stock up on groceries, fuel or enjoy a small but lovely Mexican restaurant or diner.

Lovely park and with some attention from the Parks Department, it could be a crown jewel. I regret the 4 stars but it’s just not 5 star right now. Still...

This is a very conflicted five star review….. I love this state park and have been coming to camp here most of my adult life. I would recommend it to anyone… That being said, My last overnight camping experience was terrifying. A lone Approached my campsite straight out of the middle of the woods. Once they 2 to 300 yards of my campfire, they turned their flashlight off…. I assumed that they kept walking onto their campsite. OH NO. Fast-forward three hours later. I turn out all of the lights hop in the bed of my truck for a little truck camping. It takes me forever to fall asleep. I’ve had some iced tea at dinner time….. THANK JESUS! About 45 minutes after all the lights are out I am laying there silently staring at the stars when I hear footsteps on gravel are within 10 feet of my truck bed on the woods side. I assume I’m hallucinating and lay there quietly. Another, then another, and definitely getting closer.

I instinctively shoot straight up to my feet and bark as loud as I can “HEY WHAT THE FUGG ARE DOING?!?!” In three leaps a full grown man made it from the side of my truck, over the fire embers, and straight back into the woods from whenst it came…..

BEWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS.

I am going back this weekend. I still love this place. Beware of foolishness and ignorance....

The park itself is nice. Beautiful scenery and rich history along with good trails to explore. I would recommend the park. However, a few months after going out there for the first time, we decided to give the campsite a go. THAT is what I was disappointed about. We were hoping for a nice, spaced out, secluded site, and thought that's what we getting according to the map on the GA state park site. But when we got there we realized it's 20 campsites crammed on top of each other in a tiny loop. There's no privacy or seclusion about this place. It was one of the worst campgrounds I've seen and was very disappointing. Needless to say, we pull up and pulled right back out and got a partial refund. We got there right at dark (around 730-8 pm) and it was already so quiet and no one was outside...no one sitting by any campfires, no grilling , no one just hanging out under their RV awning...the whole site was pitch back and so quiet I was afraid to just get out and close the truck door, let alone set up camp, without feeling like i would be disturbing anyone. Like I said, the park itself is nice and would make a great day trip if you're local, but that kind of camping is not what I expect when...