Campground Review: Duckett Mill near Gainesville, GA

If you are looking for a place to get away from it all, then Duckett Mill Campground on Lake Sidney Lanier near Gainesville, Georgia may be the just the place for you. This Army Corp of Engineer's campground may not have fancy amenities but the natural beauty and lake views make this a wonderful place to build your campfire, sit back and unwind.  Lake Lanier provides acres of water for boaters, fishermen, and sailors.

I stayed two nights at Duckett Mill Campground and liked it so much, I put this campground on my list of places to visit again. The campground wasn't that noisy or busy but this experience is based on a mid-week stay in July 2020 during the COVID19 pandemic, so your experience may be different based on when you come. I imagine this is a very busy place, especially with boats on the lake, during weekends and normal summer days.

Campsite Review: Site #2

During my stay, I was assigned to campsite #2. For $24 a night I had electric and water hookups. The tap water was brown when I first turned it on. The site has a moderately sloping driveway that ends at a flat, concrete paved pad. My Itasca 30T (approximately 33 feet long with 3 slides) fit well on the pad. If you have a longer RV, the sloping driveway could cause leveling problems. There are lots of nice trees all around and the RV is shaded most of the day. The site is fairly private, especially on the patio side. While I could see my neighbors, I did not really ever hear them. Next to the paved pad is a sandy area with a picnic table, lantern hook, and a fire ring.  Access to the water is by means of a sloping dirt bank. The site faces northwest.  Looking out my passenger side windows, the view of the lake is AMAZING! 

Cell Service, Wireless and Data Speeds

• There is no campground wifi service available.
• My Verizon Mifi jet pack had 1 bar. I tested speeds with and without using my Netgear antenna. Without using the antenna the ping was 30, download speed was 13 Mbps and upload speed was 1 Mbps. Using the Netgear antenna the ping was 30, download speed was 7 Mbps and upload speed was 2 Mbps. 
• My AT&T iPhone 7 had 1 bar. 

Since I was moving my camper from Alabama to North Carolina, I took a few days off from working online, so I was not worried about having strong internet connections. On the day I was there, I did have internet access for email and even some video watching at lower resolutions. I would not count on having strong high-speed internet for things like online teaching, uploading YouTube videos, or Zoom work calls.

Campground Amenities 

There was a bathhouse nearby, but since I have my own bathroom in the RV, I did not use it. I did stop in to look and can say that everything was very clean. The showers did not have a dry dressing area only a hook to hang things on.  The sink area has no counters to place your supplies on, so consider bringing some sort of caddy to place on the floor.

There is a dump station for emptying your black and gray tanks on your way out and dumpsters nearby for your trash. The campground does not participate in any recycling. Near the entrance to the park, there is a small beach area for swimming. There are no lifeguards. Around the campground, there are parking spaces for your boat trailer or extra cars. There is a boat ramp nearby.

Other RV Sites I Liked

I did take a quick tour of the campground and decided that there were a few other sites I might like to stay on when I come back again. My criteria for picking a site are easy back-in, flat pad where RV will be, water views, some privacy, and general overall beauty of the site. 

2 - this was my site on this visit

3 - my neighbor's site did not have access to the lake, but did have water views
42 - water view facing west
53 - water view with a flat driveway
80 - water view with a fairly level driveway. Parking for a boat trailer is right there
82 - water view facing west, with fairly level driveway
97 - water view with sloped driveway
103- water view with access to the water, facing west
104 - water view facing south with steep-sloped access to the water. Sloped driveway
107R - water view with no access to the water
109R - water on three sides with a "beach-ish" sloped area

"Tent-Only" Site Recommendation

If you want to camp at Duckett Mill campground using tents, there is really only one "tents-only" campsite I would recommend: Site #55R. This tent site is located at the end of a peninsula. You park your car in a small parking lot and then walk past the other tent sites to get to it. The site is large, clean, and has beautiful views of the water on three sides facing east, north, and south. Access to the water is down dirt slopes and there is a very little beach area where you can pull up kayaks or small boats. You could also take a chair down and sit with your feet in the water. I don't think I would swim there. The site has a picnic table, a lantern hook, and a fire ring. This site is so beautiful, I'd be tempted to camp-out in a tent just to enjoy the views and the sounds of the water.

Most of the other tent sites are set up too close to each other or only have a small area for your tent with limited privacy. If the tent site I recommend isn't available, then I would suggest that you camp in the sandy patio areas on some of the RV sites. That way you would have more privacy.

Final Thoughts 

Site 2 view toward my neighbor's site

This campground is a great, quiet, beautiful place, but it would be even better with a sewer hookup on the site. That way I could stay for two weeks and I wouldn't have to move the RV to dump my tanks. I would also like it even more if there were hiking trails. Next time I come back, I will need to bring an inflatable inner tube or a paddleboard so I can use the water more.

Contact Information
Duckett Mill Campground
3720 Duckett Mill Road
Gainesville, GA 30506
(770) 532-9802

Reservations: 1-877-444-6777
http://www.recreation.gov

Twin Lakes, Hartwell Lake, SC Campground Review

Twin Lakes Campground was our stop on the second day of our 1000 mile drive from Maryland to Alabama. Twin Lakes is on Hartwell Lake on the South Carolina and Georgia border. Ironically, each of our overnight stops on this RV trip was located on reservoirs that are on state borders and are managed by the Army Corp of Engineers. Similar to Kerr Lake, Hartwell Lake was drained somewhat in anticipation of Hurricane Irma. We didn't mind as the evening sunset reflecting on the water was just as beautiful with less water. I love the peace and quiet of the state parks. Maybe these parks are quieter because without wifi or cable people can't set up their outdoor televisions, so the types of people who pick these parks must be looking to get away from the chaos and stress of everyday life. I paid $26 for a night's stay.

In the morning we ate a breakfast of steel-cut oatmeal and coffee. (Yes, the Keurig coffee maker made the cut during my ruthless minimizing.) We took extra time before prepping the RV for travel to sit and look out over the lake. While we ate breakfast Susie and I reviewed what we liked and didn't like about the park. First, we loved the privacy of the campsite. It was easy to access and there were plenty of trees between ourselves and our neighbors. Second, we loved that on this site we were able to see the lake from inside the RV (Susie was actually able to see the lake from the sofa sleeper. She drank her coffee while looking out at the water all wrapped up in her comforter). Third, I loved that it had fresh water and electric hookups. (The electric eliminated the need for generators, so there was no motor noise) Fourth, the dump station was easy to access and included a hose to clean out the stinky slinky. The only downside was no wifi for blogging.

Since we only stayed one night, we didn't use any of the other extras like the beach. In an ideal world, I would have taken more days to head south so we could go exploring in the area, but with Hurricane Irma quickly heading north we decided to push on through. Speaking of Irma, thanks to everyone for checking in on us and for the extra prayers. We are safe now in Alabama and other than a few gusts of wind, we haven't been affected by the hurricane.  (Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are still struggling with the problems that come after a hurricane hits).

That's all folks. Check back for my next post which will review our stop at West Point Lake on the Georgia and Alabama state line.