Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area
We don’t think it should be. Every campground should hold some sites for whoever drives up.Tell your representative →
- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $30–$40Across the site types the agency prices
- Sites
- 7775 on recreation.gov
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 6 notices
In the agency’s own words
Cradled in the hills of the North Georgia Mountains overlooking beautiful Lake Rabun, this developed recreation area offers camping and hiking. Across the road, the lake offers plenty of water activities like swimming, boating, fishing, and ample opportunities to absorb the peaceful lake scenery. Keep reading
Recreation
At the rear of the campground, visitors will find the trailhead for the popular Angel Falls/Panther Falls Hiking Trail (trail length 1.7 miles). The swim area has two picnic tables, a roped-off area for swimmers and restrooms. A boat launch area and a fishing peer are near the swimming area, Lake Rabun is home to bass, bream, perch, trout and catfish. Check State regulations before you fish.
Facilities
The campground offers 80 campsites, 21 of these campsites have electricity and a majority have water. The restroom facilities include hot water showers. Each campsite includes a grill, picnic table and lantern post. The campground features one group campsite which includes five campsites. Firewood can be purchased at the campground. On-site camp hosts are available and the campground features a boat ramp and dump station.
Natural Features
Lake Rabun is located in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, a place of exploration and wonder. This National Forest is rich in history and is said to be a hiker's paradise with its winding trails, scenic mountains and rolling hills.
Nearby Attractions
Visitors to the campground can enjoy nearby Anna Ruby Falls; Brasstown Bald Recreation Area (Georgia's highest point); Minnehaha Falls; Panther Creek Falls; Tallulah Gorge State Park; Clayton, GA; historic Lakemont, GA; whitewater rafting on the Chattooga River.
What the agency tells you
Generators may be used up to 4 hours per day between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. are quiet hours. Generators are to be at a volume as to not unreasonably disturb other campers. If they are disturbing other campers you may be asked to turn them off.
First-come, first-served sites are also available.
Click here for more information on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest
Everything else this campground posts · 3
Don't Move Firewood: Help protect our forests! Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood at or near your destination and burning it on-site. Moving firewood is illegal in some states. Visit dontmovefirewood.org to learn more.
No hunting within any developed campground, developed campsite, developed trail, or other developed recreation site on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.
Camping or maintaining a campsite in developed and dispersed areas in excess of 14 days within any 30-day time period. After the camper(s) has accumulated 14 days within any 30-day time period, the camper(s) must leave that area/campground and move from Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest land before returning for another stay. 36 CFR Section 261.58(a).
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 77 · 1 group
- Hookups
- 25 electric, 25 water
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Showers
- Yes, the record doesn’t say what kind
- “The restroom facilities include hot water showers.”
- Dump station
- Yes
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Firewood
- Sold here
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Creek
- Boating
- Fishing
- Swimming
Full this Saturdayread 16:53 UTC
How full the weekend is nationally.
2 campgrounds have sites open within 30 miles, read 16:34 UTC. See them
OpenBooked
Every one of the 41 sites on offer is taken this Saturday. 34 are free on Wed, Oct 21. read 16:53 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
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.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 14
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rates for this season, $30–$40 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.
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
Open within 30 miles this weekend · 2
Sites the agency is offering this Friday and Saturday that nobody has taken, nearest first. read 16:34 UTC
- Jackrabbit MountainNational Forests in North Carolina · 25 mi · 4 of 182 site-nights open
- Cherry Hill CampgroundSumter National Forest · 26 mi · 1 of 56 site-nights open
recreation.gov availability, read 16:53 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
77 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 75 mapped sites14 sites share one published coordinate and are left out of the rankings.
All 77 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 77 of the 77 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Loop 1 | 01-Management | type not stated | 215 ft | $26 | ||
| Loop 1 | 02 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 89 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 03 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 88 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 04 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 1 | 05 | standard nonelectric | 90 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 1 | 06 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 91 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 07 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 94 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 08 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 95 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 09 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 95 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 10 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 95 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 11 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 96 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 12 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 127 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 13 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 126 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 14 | standard nonelectric | 128 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 1 | 15 | standard nonelectric | 128 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 1 | 16 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 130 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 17 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 132 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 18 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 133 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 19 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 134 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 20 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 133 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 21 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 135 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 22 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 160 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 23 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 159 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 24 | standard nonelectric | 161 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 1 | 25 | standard nonelectric | 161 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 1 | 26 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 162 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 27 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 165 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 28 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 166 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 29 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 167 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 30 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 166 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 31 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 167 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 32 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 186 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 33 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 185 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 34 | standard nonelectric | 187 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 1 | 35 | standard nonelectric | 187 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 1 | 36 | standard nonelectric | 24 ft | 189 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 37 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 191 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 38 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 192 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 39 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 193 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 40 | standard nonelectric | 19 ft | 192 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 41 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 193 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 42 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 213 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 43 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 213 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 1 | 44 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 215 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 2 | 45-Management | standard electric | 50 amp | 28 ft | 307 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 46 | standard electric | 50 amp | 24 ft | 216 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 47 | standard electric | 30 amp | 23 ft | 218 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 48 | standard electric | 50 amp | 23 ft | 219 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 49 | standard electric | 50 amp | 19 ft | 220 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 50 | standard electric | 50 amp | 19 ft | 219 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 51 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 221 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 2 | 52 | standard electric | 50 amp | 20 ft | 245 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 53 | standard electric | 30 amp | 18 ft | 244 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 54 | standard electric | 30 amp | 246 ft | $40 | |
| Loop 2 | 55-Management | type not stated | 309 ft | $26 | ||
| Loop 2 | 56 | standard electric | 30 amp | 246 ft | $40 | |
| Loop 2 | 57 | standard electric | 30 amp | 24 ft | 247 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 58 | standard electric | 50 amp | 23 ft | 250 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 59 | standard electric | 50 amp | 23 ft | 251 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 60 | standard electric | 50 amp | 19 ft | 252 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 61 | standard electric | 50 amp | 19 ft | 251 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 62 | standard electric | 30 amp | 23 ft | 252 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 63 | standard electric | 30 amp | 20 ft | 278 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 64 | standard electric | 30 amp | 18 ft | 277 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 65 | standard electric | 30 amp | 279 ft | $40 | |
| Loop 2 | 66 | standard electric | 50 amp | 279 ft | $40 | |
| Loop 2 | 67 | standard electric | 50 amp | 24 ft | 280 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 68 | standard electric | 50 amp | 23 ft | 282 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 69 | standard electric | 50 amp | 23 ft | 283 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 70 | standard electric | 30 amp | 19 ft | 284 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 71 | standard electric | 30 amp | 19 ft | 284 ft | $40 |
| Loop 2 | 72 | standard nonelectric | 23 ft | 285 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 2 | 73 | standard nonelectric | 20 ft | 305 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 2 | 74 | standard nonelectric | 18 ft | 304 ft | $30 | |
| Loop 2 | 75 | standard nonelectric | 306 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 2 | 76 | standard nonelectric | 306 ft | $30 | ||
| Loop 2 | Grp 1 | group standard area nonelectric | 28 ft | 310 ft | $85 |
25 of 77 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Low Gap CampgroundChattahoochee National Forest · 12 mi
Tallulah River CampgroundChattahoochee National Forest · 12 miTake U.S. 441/23 south from Clayton for 5.4 miles; turn right on Wiley Connector for 0.1 mile; turn left (south) on Georgia 15 (Historic 441) for 1.4 miles; turn right on Lake Rabun Road (County Road 10) for 5 miles.
If pulling a trailer, the best route is to go west on Hwy 76 for 7 miles; turn left on Charlie Mtn. Road for 3.5 miles; turn right on Bridge Creek Road for 2 miles; turn left on Burton Dam Road for 5.4 miles. The campground will be on your left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Tallulah Falls, GA
Typical weather
Typical October night 46°F, day 72°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 29°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
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.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it · a letter you can send
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area 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 →
Who can change it · 3
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
- Your senator, on the same appropriationJon OssoffU.S. Senator · Georgia
- Your senator, on the same appropriationRaphael G. WarnockU.S. Senator · Georgia
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.
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 Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia
Dear Andrew S. Clyde, I’m a constituent in Georgia’s 9th district. I tried to camp at Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 75 of the 77 campsites the agency files at Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, 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 41 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area (Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia) via campanac.com
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 Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia
Dear Jon Ossoff, I’m a constituent in Georgia. I tried to camp at Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 75 of the 77 campsites the agency files at Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, 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 41 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area (Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia) via campanac.com
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 Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia
Dear Raphael G. Warnock, I’m a constituent in Georgia. I tried to camp at Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia, and couldn’t. recreation.gov lists 75 of the 77 campsites the agency files at Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area, 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 41 sites recreation.gov was offering there were already booked. 1,623 of the 7,647 federal campgrounds in this country still keep at least some sites for whoever arrives first. Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area keeps none, and that’s a choice somebody made rather than a rule. I’m not asking you to run Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area. I’m asking you to put it to the U.S. Forest Service 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 Lake Rabun Beach Recreation Area (Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia) via campanac.com