CAMPANAC.Powered by public lands intelligenceMore Than Just Parks

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · GA

Doll Mountain Campground

Reservable, and full this SaturdayEvery one of the 49 sites on offer is taken this Saturday, and the record lists no site held back for a walk-up. read 16:03 UTC

We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →

Watch for a cancellation Book on recreation.gov ↗

Right now: Taking bookingsSites offered on 15 of the next 15 nights read 16:03 UTC
A night: $26–$42Across the site types the agency prices
Sites: 6849 on recreation.gov

Photos · USACE

55 ftLongest rig

1,150 ftElevation

287 ftWater · Carters Lake

6 miSW of Ellijay, GA

85%Tree cover

The place

the agency’s own description · what’s there · 4 notices

In the agency’s own words

Doll Mountain Campground is located in the North Georgia Mountains on beautiful Carters Lake, Which is just a short 70 miles north of Atlanta. Carters Lake provides clean, safe, and quiet campgrounds that help you escape the hustle and bustle of your day to day routine and relax with your family. Doll Mountain offers boating, picnicking at the day use area, and many other summer time activities. Doll Mountain, one of the larger campgrounds offering 68 campsites to choose from.The majority of them are RV hook ups, so you can enjoy the great outdoors while remaining comfortable with your family. Doll Mountain also provides easy access to the water with its own boat ramp and boat trailer parking area. Facilities include, play ground, and two large, restrooms with showers. Doll Mountain guarantees a pleasant camping experience and several summer activities for the whole family to enjoy. Keep reading

Recreation

Boaters visit Carters Lake to enjoy its solitude and scenic beauty. Whether in a powerboat or sailboat on the open water or paddling along the shoreline in a canoe, Carters Lake offers enjoyable boating experiences for everyone. Fishing is a popular activity on the lake. Major species include bass (largemouth, smallmouth, hybrid, striped and spotted) crappie, walleye, bream and catfish. Bank fishing locations are limited due to steep shoreline terrain, but six boat ramps are scattered around the shoreline, offering easy access to the lake.

Facilities

The heavily wooded campground contains RV and tent-only sites, many of which have electric hookups. Flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. Additional amenities include a children's playground and a dump station.

Natural Features

Carters Lake embraces a spectacular tract of foothills scenery in the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia. It covers 3,200 surface acres and has 62 miles of undeveloped shoreline. Contact Info For local information, please call (706) 276-4413 or call (706) 334-2248 for general information.

Nearby Attractions

Ridgeway Park and the Woodring Branch Recreation Area are each located within a 45-minute drive from Doll Mountain Campground. Hiking and mountain biking trails in each park offer beautiful scenery and a mix of easy to challenging terrain.

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

What the agency tells you

Rule

- ALL CAMPERS MUST HAVE A RESERVATION BEFORE ENTERING CAMPGROUND - Campsite occupancy is limited to maximum of eight (8) and two (2) vehicles and one (1) boat. - Campers must self-register at Gatehouse - No transactions will be done at gatehouse

Rule

The park access road has a steep downhill grade; campers should use caution when entering.

Rule

Camping at one or more campsites at Carters Lake Project for a period longer than 14 days during a 30 day period is prohibited. Title 36 CFR 327.7B.

Everything else this campground posts · 1

Rule

Don't Move Firewood; Protect your forest from tree killing pests by buying your firewood locally and burning it on-site. Visit Dontmovefirewood.org for more information.

Read them on the agency’s own page →

Source: recreation.gov facility notices, quoted verbatim · Sep 9, 2026

Tents and rigs

Sites: 68 · 14 tent-only, 1 group
Hookups: 36 electric, 41 water, 4 sewer
Longest rig: 55 ft
Paved pads: 22 of 68
Accessible sites: 2
Pets: Allowed
Campfires: Allowed, barring fire bans
Shade: Every site

Source: Recreation.gov campsite records · Aug 23, 2026

Facilities

Toilets: Flush Toilets; ACCESSIBLE FLUSH TOILETS on 7 of 68 campsite records
Showers: Accessible Showers; ACCESSIBLE SHOWERS on 8 of 68 campsite records
Drinking water: Yes; ACCESSIBLE DRINKING WATER on 7 of 68 campsite records
Dump station: Yes
Boat ramp: Yes
Playground: Yes
Stay limit: 14 nights; recreation.gov facility rule maxStay

Source: Stated in the agency description · Aug 23, 2026

Water, toilets and showers: counted from this campground’s own campsite records, shown above · Sep 12, 2026

Around the campground

On the water: Lake, Beach; Boating; Fishing
Night sky · 64th darkest of 96 in GA: Bortle 4

Source: Recreation.gov activity records · Aug 23, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Full this Saturdayread 16:03 UTC

How full the weekend is nationally.

1 campground has sites open within 30 miles, read 16:42 UTC. See them

OpenBooked

Every one of the 49 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 18 are free on Wed, Oct 21. read 16:03 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t

Booking windowThrough October 31Bookable now through October 31, 2026, the end of this reservable season, and again for April 5, 2027 through April 16, 2027. Today at 10 AM ET, availability opens through April 17, 2027.recreation.gov

Max stay14 nights2-night minimum on weekendsthe facility record

A night$26–$42plus $8 to reserve, once per bookingthe agency’s rate schedule

A weekend$60–$92DerivedFriday and Saturday, everything includedours, from the lines above

If plans change$10 to cancel$10 to change a reservationrecreation.gov’s schedule

Runs itU.S. Army Corps of EngineersBooked through recreation.govthe agency’s record

Watch for a cancellation

Watch this campground

One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Tell me when the season opens

Watch for the season to open

One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.

We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.

Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.

Free forever, no booking kickbacks.

Where there’s room this weekend Book on recreation.gov ↗

We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.

Every line of the receipt · 16

What you actually pay

The sign priceU.S. Army Corps of Engineers

A night, per site$26–$42

Tent Only Nonelectric$26

Tent Only Electric$30

Standard Electric$36

Standard Electric$42

Group area, a night$100

Rates for the season the campground is in now, Apr 15, 2026 to Oct 31, 2026.

The booking feerecreation.gov

Reservation fee, booked online$8

One fee per reservation, however many nights you book, and it’s non-refundable. $9 if you book by phone, $3 in person.

Pass discounts only apply to the recreation (or use) fee for the facility. Other charges such as electricity or water hookups, reservation or other fees are not eligible for a discount.

What a stay costs

One nightDerived$34–$50

A weekend, Friday and SaturdayDerived$60–$92

Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $26–$42 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.

If your plans changerecreation.gov

Change fee, moving to dates outside your booking$10

Cancellation fee$10

Cancelling the day before, or the day of$10 + your first night

No-show$20 + your first night

Who keeps the booking fee

The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →

How we know this receipt · 5

Sign price: recreation.gov facility rate schedule, quoted as the agency publishes it · Sep 10, 2026

Booking fee, change fee, cancellation fee, no-show: Rules and Reservation Policies, Recreation.gov, the published fee schedule, curated by hand into lib/reservation-fee-schedule.json (9 rows, each carrying its own verbatim sentence). The publisher states these policies were last updated September 2019. · Sep 9, 2026

The two totals: Derived by CAMPANAC by adding the agency’s own published nightly rate to recreation.gov’s own published reservation fee. Both components are cited above; the addition is ours and is shown only where every component is known. · Sep 9, 2026

Who keeps the booking fee: Recreation.gov facility policy text, Dead Swede Campground (facility 234221) · Not on the national policy page. This is agency policy text recreation.gov publishes on individual campground pages; this site holds it verbatim on 45 active campgrounds (campground_rules.cancellation_description, scripts/load-facility-rules.mjs). · Sep 9, 2026

The contract: Reservation Gods: Who Stole Our Campsites and Sold Them Back to Us, More Than Just Parks, April 2025 · Apr 1, 2025

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Open within 30 miles this weekend · 1

Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:42 UTC

Morganton PointChattahoochee-Oconee National Forest · 28 mi · 1 of 80 site-nights open

Open this weekend: recreation.gov availability · derived by CAMPANAC: site-nights the agency offered this weekend that nobody has taken, within the radius, closures removed by the closure rule · Oct 16, 2026

recreation.gov availability, read 16:03 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

The sites

68 sites · which ones have room · the site map

The sites, ranked

from 48 mapped sites

111 ftbetween you and the next site, typically

Most roomDMT. 14 487 ftDMT. 38 384 ftDMT. 18 206 ftDMT. 24 201 ftDMT. 22 193 ft

Least roomDMT. 31 42 ftDMT. 32 42 ftDMT. 36 58 ft

Source: Derived by CAMPANAC from recreation.gov per-site coordinates (nearest-neighbor distance) · Oct 12, 2026

All 68 sites

61 of 68 sites located

Tent only13RV / electric35Type not stated13

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 152 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 C2 H-2

Aerial · Esri World Imagery

Sites: recreation.gov (RIDB), coordinates as published · Aug 23, 2026

Imagery: Esri World Imagery

SleepsTakes aUp to

Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 54 of the 68 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.

The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 49 of the 68 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.


DMT.	01	standard electric	40 ft	20/30/50 amp		137 ft	131 ft	2,725 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	02	standard electric	40 ft	20/30/50 amp		90 ft	178 ft	2,628 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	03	standard electric	40 ft	20/30/50 amp		90 ft	153 ft	2,718 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	04	standard electric	40 ft	20/30/50 amp		118 ft	186 ft	2,651 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	05	standard electric	40 ft	20/30/50 amp		94 ft	159 ft	2,741 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	06	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		122 ft	169 ft	2,773 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	07	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		115 ft	145 ft	2,700 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	08	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		109 ft	105 ft	2,657 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	09	standard electric	30 ft	50 amp		109 ft	158 ft	2,634 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	10	type not stated	30 ft	50 amp			165 ft	2,614 ft
DMT.	11	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		122 ft	149 ft	2,740 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	12	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		114 ft	185 ft	2,747 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	13	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		110 ft	166 ft	2,789 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	14	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp		487 ft	357 ft	2,333 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	15	type not stated	40 ft	50 amp			342 ft	2,240 ft
DMT.	15A	type not stated	40 ft	50 amp			342 ft	2,240 ft
DMT.	16	type not stated	40 ft	50 amp			258 ft	2,187 ft
DMT.	17	type not stated	40 ft	50 amp			242 ft	2,138 ft
DMT.	18	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			206 ft	184 ft	1,849 ft	$26
DMT.	19	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			111 ft	142 ft	1,720 ft	$26
DMT.	20	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			111 ft	89 ft	1,717 ft	$26
DMT.	21	standard electric	40 ft	30 amp		171 ft	247 ft	1,679 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	22	standard electric	30 ft	30 amp		193 ft	135 ft	1,490 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	23	standard electric	25 ft	30 amp		171 ft	149 ft	1,787 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	24	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		201 ft	202 ft	1,524 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	25	standard electric	55 ft	30 amp		145 ft	197 ft	1,149 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	26	standard electric	32 ft	30 amp		145 ft	134 ft	1,160 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	27	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		86 ft	155 ft	955 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	28	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		86 ft	103 ft	975 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	29	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		116 ft	96 ft	1,036 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	30	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		72 ft	119 ft	951 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	31	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		42 ft	97 ft	879 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	32	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		42 ft	69 ft	840 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	33	standard electric	40 ft	50 amp		118 ft	176 ft	850 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	34	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			98 ft	109 ft	555 ft	$26
DMT.	35	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			107 ft	39 ft	646 ft	$26
DMT.	36	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			58 ft	50 ft	545 ft	$26
DMT.	37	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			58 ft	33 ft	576 ft	$26
DMT.	38	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			384 ft	98 ft	134 ft	$26
DMT.	39	standard electric	27 ft	50 amp		138 ft	310 ft	424 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	40	standard electric	25 ft	50 amp		134 ft	221 ft	391 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	41	standard electric	27 ft	30 amp		109 ft	171 ft	470 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	42	standard electric	27 ft	30 amp		85 ft	156 ft	575 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	43	standard electric	27 ft	30 amp		85 ft	148 ft	644 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	44	standard electric	27 ft	30 amp		93 ft	160 ft	720 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	45	tent only electric	15 ft	30 amp		106 ft	131 ft	794 ft	$30
DMT.	46	standard electric	26 ft	30 amp		106 ft	188 ft	691 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	47	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			157 ft	535 ft	1,093 ft	$26
DMT.	48	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			127 ft	379 ft	1,014 ft	$26
DMT.	49	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			116 ft	378 ft	1,112 ft	$26
DMT.	50	tent only nonelectric	15 ft			116 ft	354 ft	1,216 ft	$26
DMT.	51	type not stated	15 ft				184 ft
DMT.	52	type not stated	15 ft				205 ft
DMT.	53	type not stated	15 ft				168 ft
DMT.	54	type not stated	15 ft				91 ft
DMT.	55	type not stated	15 ft				171 ft
DMT.	56	type not stated	15 ft				272 ft
DMT.	57	type not stated	15 ft				139 ft
DMT.	A	type not stated	15 ft
DMT.	B	type not stated	15 ft
DMT.	C	type not stated	15 ft				196 ft	2,617 ft
DMT.	D	type not stated	15 ft
DMT.	E	type not stated	15 ft
DMT.	F	type not stated	15 ft
DMT.	G	type not stated	15 ft
DMT.	Group Site	group tent only area nonelectric	15 ft						$100
DMT.	H-1	standard electric	40 ft	20/30/50 amp	yes	106 ft	196 ft	2,617 ft	$36–$42
DMT.	H-2	standard electric	40 ft	20/30/50 amp	yes	110 ft	156 ft	2,822 ft	$36–$42

Price: Derived by CAMPANAC: each site takes the per-night rate this campground publishes for the site’s own site type (recreation.gov rate schedule). recreation.gov publishes no per-campsite fee, and a site whose type carries no published rate is left blank rather than called free · Sep 11, 2026

25 of 68 listed

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

Getting there

the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number

Coordinate34.61333, -84.62389

The mapSee it on the map

The driveDirections ↗

The phone706-276-4413

The agency’s pageOfficial page ↗

Where it is

Also near here

Woodring Campground (GA)1.1 mi Woodring Branch Primitive Campground1.2 mi

Lake Conasauga Overflow CampgroundChattahoochee National Forest · 17 mi

Lake Conasauga CampgroundChattahoochee National Forest · 17 mi

Jacks River Fields CampgroundChattahoochee National Forest · 18 mi Hickey Gap CampgroundChattahoochee National Forest · 20 mi

Getting there

From Atlanta, take I-75 north to Exit 293, then Highway 411 north to Highway 136. Turn right on Highway 136 and follow to Highway 382. Turn left on Highway 382 and look for signs to the campground-- access road is directly across from the volunteer fire station.

Physical address is 1362 Doll Mountain Road,Ellijay, GA 30540

Directions: Driving directions as the agency wrote them · Sep 9, 2026

Source: Recreation.gov data (RIDB), full extract · Aug 23, 2026

The weather

the next four days · the thirty-year normal

Next four days, and the thirty-year normal

Forecast

Tonight47°Chance Rain Showers26% rain

Saturday61°Mostly Sunny1% rain

Saturday Night39°Clear

Sunday67°Sunny

NWS forecast for Ellijay, GA

Source: National Weather Service, FFC forecast office · Oct 17, 2026

Typical weather

Typical October night 48°F, day 74°F.

Coldest month of the year: typical January night 30°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.

100°32°20°

Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more

A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.

Measured at: CHATSWORTH 2, GA (USC00091863), 13 miles away and 440 ft lower

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020, monthly normals · Sep 8, 2026

The land, and who answers for it

who answers for it · a letter you can send

Who answers for this land

Doll Mountain Campground is in Georgia’s 9th congressional district. Its representative, Andrew Clyde (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →

Seen something wrong here? Tell us.

Source: U.S. Census district boundaries and the MTJP Congressional Public Lands Score

Who can change it · 3

Write to somebody who can change it

Two offices, two different asks. The draft to the agency asks it to set aside a published share of the sites here for whoever drives up. The draft to Congress asks why that share is zero and presses for a published minimum at the campgrounds it funds.

The member who votes the moneyAndrew S. ClydeU.S. Representative · Georgia’s 9th district
Open their contact form ↗Their record →
Your senator, on the same appropriationJon OssoffU.S. Senator · Georgia
Open their contact form ↗
Your senator, on the same appropriationRaphael G. WarnockU.S. Senator · Georgia
Open their contact form ↗

Read the draft, or change the wording

For the camper who turned up, or tried to book, and couldn’t get in. Every draft is written from this campground’s own record (its agency, its unit, its site count and its own weekend) and the buttons above copy whichever wording is selected here.

To Andrew S. Clyde

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Doll Mountain Campground, Georgia

Dear Andrew S. Clyde,

I’m a constituent in Georgia’s 9th district. I tried to camp at Doll Mountain Campground, Georgia, and couldn’t.

recreation.gov lists 49 of the 68 campsites the agency files at Doll Mountain Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 49 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked.

1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Doll Mountain Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Doll Mountain Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Doll Mountain Campground (Georgia) via campanac.com

To Jon Ossoff

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Doll Mountain Campground, Georgia

Dear Jon Ossoff,

I’m a constituent in Georgia. I tried to camp at Doll Mountain Campground, Georgia, and couldn’t.

recreation.gov lists 49 of the 68 campsites the agency files at Doll Mountain Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 49 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked.

1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Doll Mountain Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Doll Mountain Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Doll Mountain Campground (Georgia) via campanac.com

To Raphael G. Warnock

Asks them to put the question to the agency in writing, and to press for a published minimum share of walk-up sites across the campgrounds they fund.

Subject Walk-up camping at Doll Mountain Campground, Georgia

Dear Raphael G. Warnock,

I’m a constituent in Georgia. I tried to camp at Doll Mountain Campground, Georgia, and couldn’t.

recreation.gov lists 49 of the 68 campsites the agency files at Doll Mountain Campground, and every one of them is booked ahead, and the agency's own record lists none held back for somebody who drives up. On Saturday, October 17, all 49 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked.

1,623 of the 7,639 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Doll Mountain Campground keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule.

I’m not asking you to run Doll Mountain Campground. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in writing: why is the share of first-come sites there zero, and what would a published minimum share cost? Please press for that minimum at the federal campgrounds you fund.

The people who open these campgrounds, collect the fees and keep the water running are seasonal positions. At GS-5, base pay plus the government's own 36.25% benefit factor, one costs about $47,414 a year. One percent of the $13.3 billion the USS Gerald R. Ford cost to procure would pay for about 2,800 of them for a year. Both figures are the government's own (a Congressional Research Service report and an OPM pay table), and I’m glad to send them.

Sent about Doll Mountain Campground (Georgia) via campanac.com

How we know this · 4

Contacts: Contact forms from @unitedstates/congress-legislators · Sep 9, 2026

The figures in these drafts: Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress (CRS Report RS20643) · Updated December 4, 2025 · “The ship’s final procurement cost was $13,316.5 million (i.e., about $13.3 billion) in then-year dollars.”

The figures in these drafts: Salary Table 2026-GS, Incorporating the 1% General Schedule Increase, Effective January 2026 (U.S. Office of Personnel Management) · Effective January 2026 · “Grade 5, Step 1: $34,799 (annual rate, before locality pay).”

The figures in these drafts: Update to Civilian Position Full Fringe Benefit Cost Factor, Federal Pay Raise Assumptions, and Inflation Factors used in OMB Circular No. A-76 (OMB Memorandum M-08-13) · March 11, 2008 · “the civilian position full fringe benefit cost factor needs to be adjusted downward, from 36.45 percent to 36.25 percent”

How we know

every fact on this page, and where it came from

Right now: recreation.gov is offering sites on 15 of the next 15 nights, which isn’t something a closed campground does.

Sites on recreation.gov: recreation.gov’s own month availability payload for this facility, asked for October 2026, November 2026 and July 2027. It names 49 of the 68 campsites the agency files here, and every one of them carries an answer either way. A campground nobody has read carries no answer at all, never a no. · Oct 11, 2026

Elevation: USGS 3DEP elevation point query at this campground’s coordinate · Sep 7, 2026

Tree cover: NLCD Tree Canopy Cover 2024 (USDA Forest Service / MRLC), one 30 m cell at this coordinate, taken as the median across the 61 campsites here that carry a reading · Sep 9, 2026

Water: USGS National Hydrography Dataset, nearest perennial lake, reservoir, river or stream to this campground’s coordinate · Sep 8, 2026

Night sky: VIIRS Day/Night Band annual cloud-free composite, VNL V2 2024 (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of Mines), read at the published coordinate: 1.1 mcd/m² of artificial all-sky glow, ranked against the 96 rated federal campgrounds in Georgia · Sep 8, 2026

Sky-glow model: Duriscoe, Anderson, Luginbuhl and Baugh (2018), a simplified model of all-sky artificial sky glow derived from VIIRS Day/Night band data, the National Park Service sky-glow model

Cell signal: the Army Corps’s own campground description, read as text by CAMPANAC. None of this is a measurement. It’s what the land manager published about the place, and phones, carriers and weather all disagree with each other; treat it as a warning, not a promise.

Nearest town: U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 places, measured by CAMPANAC to the town boundary; population is the ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimate · Sep 9, 2026