Red Top Mountain State Park — Attraction in Cartersville

I was highly disappointed by the campground given the area, I would have expected the campground to be a little nicer. The parking lot to get to the trading post (check in) can be tight for larger campers depending on the direction you come in from. The TP is also about a half mile from the campground which really isn't a big deal but traffic is terrible so be careful. Even though the speed limit is 30mph people fly down the main road through the park. The campground entrance is tight, the roads are tight, and the sites are tight. Signage and directional arrows in the park are lackluster. Once again people fly through the campground even though there are blind turns and hills. We originally reserved site 62 which is really in a tent only spot (20' towable), we could have got in the spot but would have had a hard time getting out especially if all the sites were full. Luckily we were able to move to site 68 which was a lot better but the site was narrow and very unlevel. We checked out some other sites and some were nice and others made me question how they expect you to get a camper in the site. If you have a tent, small teardrop, van, or truck topper you're good to go. The bath house in our area was clean and well kept but only had one shower in it. The grounds could use some attention, I understand some areas can't be cut but a little cleaning up around the sites would be nice. Lastly the dump station makes no sense at all. It has 2 dumps but there is a curb separating it from the parking lot they call and entrance/exit, this means you can't get in or out, just simply wait in line like a packed gas station. I can't imagine how bad this is on a busy day with several campers trying to leave. The water hoses for the dump station only has a high pressure nozzle and not a standard hose thread, which means you can't hook up to your flushing system for your RV, WHO THOUGHT THAT'S A GOOD IDEA? This campground makes no sense at all, it's definitely not a "destination" park like some of the others parks we have stayed at. I would return but simply to enjoy Lake Allatoona and not...

My kids and I stayed in a yurt this past week over the 4th. We enjoyed our stay.We have stayed in yurts all across the GA state parks that have them, and these had some of the best views, right on the lake. We could just pop down for a quick swim. However, all the other yurts had full size bunk beds, with a couch futon. These yurts had a twin sized bunk bed, then a couch that could be pulled out. Problem was, there was a MASSIVE table that took up half of the yurt. We had no choice but to rearrange to pull the bed out. Even still, this massive table was in the way the whole time. With a yurt, you have to have a cooler for your stuff, but ice at the trading post cost me almost $5 for a small bag! That’s crazy! We had to drive into town each day to get ice cause I wasn’t paying that. This park got insanely busy up til the 4th. Cars were parked along the street. There was no way to get to the beach without walking a long ways. Luckily there are multiple places to just hop in the lake. The beach is small and cute, right in a cove. It was very pretty, but just couldn’t hold that large of a crowd. All of the rangers and workers were all incredibly nice and one even told us about some fireworks happening right in the park. So my kids and I were able to get a great view without going into town. We walked a few trails and the lakeside one leading to the Vaughan cabin was so nice and peaceful. The one leading out to the tiny peninsula for fishing was absolutely covered in trash though…I don’t think that one was state park...

Red Top Mountain-Iron Hill Trail

Nice 4-5 mile trail that runs into the woods and around part of the lake offered nice views of the lake and is mostly protected from the summer heat by densely populated forest area over the trail essentially acting as a shaded canopy. This is a state owned park so our federal park pass was not accepted and a small fee of 5 dollars per vehicle is required for all day access. A park ranger was present who gladly gave information about Red Top Mountain park trails.

Unique features: plenty of shaded areas for family picnics along the lake.

Quality: nicely maintained walking trails, plenty of beautiful lake scenery throughout the trail including on bridges.

Problems/issues: We followed the blue diamond sign all the way to the end, which lets you know where to turn on the trail and not get lost, and we ended up in a RV camping spot instead of back on the car parking lot where we started. It took some figuring out, and using google maps, for us to find our way back to our car. Signage for directions back to the parking lot might be inadequate.

Things that are different: Compared to Lake Lanier, the waters are heavily populated by boaters. Water temperature seems to be warmer than our usual Lake...