We took the
Boler out this past weekend to Lake Russell Recreation Area which is part of the US Forest Service. There are about 40 sites here most of which are perfect for small campers, with some sites appearing to be tent only, (all had a tent pad) and a some appear to be able to handle larger rigs. The sites are only $14 a night (I like that alot - as opposed to $30 & up for most RV park/carmpgrounds) There are bathrooms and showers there and a campground host on duty. All sites appeared to have a grill or a fire ring. The sites do not have water or electric but there are water spigots scattered around and a dump station. It has a beach for swimming (no sand just a grassy area with steps/rails going in to the water and a buoy marker in the water for the swimming area. Boat ramp and fishing dock but only allows electric motors, the lake is about a mile or so long, and Nancytown Lake next to it also offers good fishing opportunities. We saw some good bass in the clear water and our son caught a nice bream. Was told it is stocked with trout, bass, catfish, crappie and bream. The leaves were not really turning yet at this lower elevation, but we drove to Brasstown Bald Sunday evening and the view was spectacular as we watched the sun set from top of the mountain, with lots of color at the highest point in GA.
I chose this site as it is off the beaten path and it is much like
boondocking and I wanted my wife and son to experience camping in the woods as opposed to an rv park with full hookups. It is very serene and quite, and out of 40+ sites we were only a hand full of camper there (mostly tent campers but we did see a few big rigs in loop B on Friday night but they were gone come Saturday).
Also, I wanted to see how our
battery and water setup worked without hookups and I must say I was very pleased. I charged up and used my trolling motor
battery that had been in storage for a few years and it lasted all weekend for running our
led lights and the Seaflow water pump. I would like to add an small inverter and a 100 watt
solar panel so we can run the
fridge and a small tv or radio but no sure if the 12v marine
battery will handle that, but I have 2 Trojan T-125 240 AH 6 volt batteries I can swap out if need be that will be about 4 times the AH.
Our Boler's water system worked very well too! The Fastar tankless
propane water heater worked well with the Seaflo water pump and our 16 gallon water tank allowing for 2 hot showers and a bath for the little one and some hand washing before I needed to refill the tank. The Seaflo pump is loud but for the low price of the pump I can't complain, it delivered enough water pressure for the water heater to run and to shower with.
Anyway, if you are looking for something different, low cost, or off the beaten path this is a nice place to camp.