When we travel, we often have a general plan of where we are going but few, if any, reservations. However on our journey north this year, we knew where we going and where we wanted to stay. Reservations seemed prudent for Georgia State Camping since Georgia school vacation was the same week that we would be traveling.
When we arrived at the Stephen C Foster State Park, we checked in and received a tag for the post. We were surprised there was no reserved sign on the site though. This happened again at Gordonia-Alatahama.
When we arrived late at Watson’s Mill Bridge and the office was closed, we expected a reserve tag on the site, possibly with our name on it. There was nothing. There was also no camp host. We were lucky we had cell signal so that we could pull up our confirmation email and find what site we had reserved.
We spoke to a park ranger the next day and he said they did not do reserved tags any more. If you want to find out if an empty site is available you need to check with the office. If they are closed you need to go online and check the web site. If it is available you need to book it on-line. No after hours check in with an envelope and some cash or settling up the next morning.
So if you are heading to a Georgia State Campground and think you may arrive after the office is closed, you could roll the dice and hope there is an empty site and that you cell service. Or you could make a reservation on the road while you have cell service before you arrive.