Pine Lake Campground – Wandering Dawgs

Best Campgrounds of the year – 2018

December 28, 2018Posted in Florida, Georgia, RVing, State ParksTagged campgrounds, camping, Fifth Wheel, Pine Lake Campground, River Vista Mountain Village, Silver Springs State Park, Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center15 Comments

These days we are taking shorter RV trips and staying close to our home state of Georgia. It’s no wonder that this year our top three parks are either in Georgia or Florida. All three campgrounds are parks we have returned to numerous times during the years.

Number 3 – Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, White Springs, FL

We’ve been returning to this park over and over since we first discovered it in 2009. This year we camped here twice. Spring flowers were blooming in late February and the Festival of Lights were the highlight of our December stay.

February Azaleas blooming in White Springs

Festival of Lights at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center

All of the sites are large with water and electric hookups, a fire ring and picnic table. The bells from the carillon tower can be heard all through the campground.

20181210-Stephen-Foster-Site-9-(2) — Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park

Located on the Suwannee River, the park has a museum honoring Stephen Foster, hiking and biking trails (currently closed for maintenance), a gift shop and craft village with local artisans. Just outside the park is the historic Spring House and the town of White Springs.

Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center Museum

Carillon at Stephen Foster Folk Cultural Center

Suwanee River in White Springs, FL

Spring House at White Springs, Florida

There’s more about our latest stay at Festival of Lights and the Suwannee River

Number 2 – Pine Lake RV Campground in Bishop, GA

Located less than 15 miles from Athens and the University of Georgia, this private park is well maintained with large sites, sparkling clean bath houses, full hookups, and fantastic staff.

Whether you stay here to attend a Georgia Bulldogs football game, to visit the University of Georgia or are just passing through, this quiet campground can’t be beat.

20180928-Pine-Lake-(5) — Pine Lake Campground, Bishop, Georgia

Read more about our latest stay at A favorite campground and Georgia Bulldogs Football

Number 1 – Silver Springs State Park in Silver Springs, FL

20180220Gopher-Tortoise-Silver-Springs-(2) — Silver Springs State Park

By far one of our favorite Florida state parks, we have returned to Silver Springs State Park a number of times since we first discovered it in 2009. The sites are all very large with fire rings, picnic tables, water and electric hookups. A few of the sites have been upgraded to full hookup. The bath houses are clean and each one has a washer and dryer.

Located close to the three campground loops are hiking and biking trails, an educational center, and observation decks on the Silver River. Just up the road at the Silver Springs Historic Entrance are the famous Glass Bottom Boat Tours, canoe and kayak launch and rental, more walking trails, a gift shop and snack bar.

20180221Silver-Springs-Glass-Bottom-Boat-(11) — Glass bottom boat at Silver Springs

20180222Kayaking-(17) — Kayaking the Silver River at Silver Springs

Many birds and other wildlife can be seen in the park. Watch out for the monkeys!

Monkeys in Florida?

Gopher Tortoise by our campsite at Silver Springs State Park

There’s more about this year’s visit at Historic Silver Springs

Honorable Mention:

Always a favorite, we camped this February at Stephen C. Foster State Park, Fargo, GA, Number 2 in our “Best Campgrounds of the Year – 2016“.
River Vista Mountain Village, Dillard, GA – This large, well maintained private park in the north eastern Georgia mountains is a great location to use as a home base to explore the area. There’s more about our latest stay at Blue Ridge Scenic Railway

Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2019 filled with safe travels and happy trails!

A favorite campground and Georgia Bulldogs Football

October 1, 2018Posted in Georgia, RVing, Sporting EventsTagged Georgia Bulldogs, Pine Lake Campground, Sanford Stadium, SEC Football, UGA vs Tennessee, University of Georgia11 Comments

For the third year in a row we towed our fifth wheel to Pine Lake Campground in Bishop, Georgia to attend a home football game at the nearby University of Georgia.

There have been a few upgrades to this great campground since our first visit. The new owners have been hard at work upgrading the facilities and are in the process of adding more sites. The staff is friendly and helpful and they always remember us. It’s become one of our favorite campgrounds.

Pine Lake Campground, Bishop, Georgia

On game day, we always enjoy tailgating with friends before the game on the University of Georgia campus.

There have been some major upgrades at Sanford Stadium since last football season. There is a brand new scoreboard and the new team locker room is at our end end of the stadium. Now the team enters the field right in front of us.

Go Dawgs!

Saturday in Athens

October 17, 2017March 10, 2018Posted in Georgia, RVing, Sporting EventsTagged Fifth Wheel, Georgia Bulldogs, Pine Lake Campground, SEC Football, Tailgating13 Comments

On Saturdays in the fall when the Georgia Bulldogs have a home game, all roads leading to Athens are lined with vehicles flying their Georgia flags and the entire campus is filled with red Georgia tents and fans dressed in red and black.

We have had season tickets to Georgia’s home games since 1980 and our fall weekends revolve around home football games. This past weekend was the SEC showdown between UGA and visiting University of Missouri. We usually stay in a town about 50 miles from campus but we decided to take the fifth wheel closer to Athens for this game. Last year we discovered Pine Lake campground in Bishop, about 15 miles from the UGA campus. With spacious wooded campsites, a lake, and even a small waterfall it is a well run private RV park that feels more like a state park.

20171014Pine-Lake-(6) — The lake at Pine Lake Campground

20171014Pine-Lake-(5) — Waterfall in the Pine Lake Campground

The SEC Nation pregame TV show was broadcasting live that morning just behind our tailgate area. Crews were in the process of breaking down the set when we arrived. Several semi tractor trailers were still there but we just missed seeing Tim Tebow, Paul Finebaum and the other announcers. It’s amazing how much equipment is required for these broadcasts.

20171014UGA-53-Mizzou-28-(1) — SEC Nation was live on campus before the game. We arrived as they were tearing down the set.

After a fun afternoon visiting with friends, eating delicious food, and enjoying an adult beverage or two, we headed to the stadium for a 7:30 kickoff. It was a great night for the Georgia Bulldogs as the Dawgs won and went on to become the number 3 ranked team in the country. Go Dawgs!