Sawnee
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 60All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 14 notices
In the agency’s own words
Sawnee Campground lies just north of the Buford Dam on Lake Sidney Lanier. The campground features beautiful views of the lake as well as excellent access to boating and swimming. The lake, named for the poet, Sidney Lanier, is well known for its aqua-blue colored water, spectacular scenery and variety of recreational activities. Each year, over 11 million people come to visit. Keep reading
Recreation
Sawnee Campground offers many outdoor recreation opportunities including fishing and swimming. On the lake there are opportunities for wake boarding, kayaking, boating and much more. There's also a swimming beach, playground and boat ramp available for campers.
Facilities
Sawnee Campground offers 43 campsites with electric and water hookups (no sewer), 5 tent walk-in campsites with water and electric hookups, and 11 walk-in campsites without hookups. Additional amenities include restrooms/bathouses, laundry facilities, a playground and sandy swimming beach.
Natural Features
Lake Lanier boasts 38,000 surface water acres, 690 miles of shoreline and over 100 small islands. Its location in the forested foothills of the Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains, makes for a beautiful backdrop to any activity. The reservior was created in 1956 with the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River.
Nearby Attractions
Take in views of the dam at the nearby Westbank Overlook, or head northwest of the campground for scenic drives and wildlife spotting opportunities at the Sawnee Mountain Preserve. The city of Cumming is nearby and has shopping, restuarants, a fairground and much more.
Charges & Cancellations
Cancellations must be made via the online/phone reservation system or in person at the gatehouse. Cancellation calls to the gatehouse will not be honored.
What the agency tells you
Alcoholic beverages are prohibited.
Check-in is 3:00 p.m., and check out is by 1:00 p.m.
Due to COVID-19, camper registration will take place through the gatehouse window. Upon arrival to the campground, please have your ID, license plate number, camping unit’s license plate number, site number, and discount pass (if applicable) ready to give the Park Attendant. Please approach the gatehouse slowly and bring your vehicle close to the window. At no point should you park and walk to the gatehouse window. Do not attempt to enter the gatehouse.
Everything else this campground posts · 11
Gatehouse open 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday - Thursday. Gatehouse open 7 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday - Sunday.
Payments are not accepted at the gatehouse.
For more information on Lake Sidney Lanier, please go to: http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Recreation/Lake-Sidney-Lanier/
The campground does not accept mail or food deliveries for campers in the campground. Campers must coordinate to accept these items at a location outside the campground gate.
Gates lock at 10:30pm and reopen at 7am.
"NO SHOWS" will be charged the full amount for their reservation.
DISCOUNT PASSES must be presented upon arrival and can only be used for ONE site where the cardholder is the REGISTERED camper. Fraudulent use of a discount pass may result in a mandatory appearance in court in accordance with Title 36 CFR 327.23 (d) RECREATION FEES. DISCOUNT PASSES must be applied at the time the reservation is made.
Gatehouse Attendants have limited or no internet access and are unable to perform actions affecting a reservation.
LENGTH OF STAY for campers is no longer than 14 days during any 30 consecutive day period for any USACE campground on Lake Lanier (Ex. Cannot stay at Bolding Mill Campground 14 days with another reservation immediately following at another USACE operated campground on Lake Lanier). Consecutive reservations under different names that exceed 14 days are not authorized and are subject to eviction and/or the issuance of a citation in accordance with Title 36 CFR 327.7 (b).
Commercial operations are prohibited in USACE operated campgrounds. Rental campers must be operated and set up by the registered camper.
Day using is prohibited. Registered campers must occupy their site overnight.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 60 · 17 tent-only
- Hookups
- 49 electric, 48 water
- Longest rig
- 85 ft
- Paved pads
- All
- Accessible sites
- 3
- Pets
- Allowed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Yes, the record doesn't say what kind
- “Additional amenities include restrooms/bathouses, laundry facilities, a playground and sandy swimming beach.”
- Dump station
- Yes
- recreation.gov lists “Dump Station”
- Boat ramp
- Yes
- Playground
- Yes
- Camp host
- On site
- recreation.gov lists “Host”
- Stay limit
- 14 nights
- recreation.gov facility rule maxStay
Around the campground
- On the water
- Lake, River, Beach
- Boating
- Fishing
- Picnicking
- Swimming
- Water access
- Night sky · 95th darkest of 96 in GA
- Bortle 6
- Fall color · reported 3 days ago, 17 km away
- Patchy color
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
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.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 10
What you actually pay
“Cancellations must be made via the online/phone reservation system or in person at the gatehouse. Cancellation calls to the gatehouse will not be honored.” · this campground’s own terms
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
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · record Aug 23, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
60 sites · which ones have room · the site map
The sites, ranked
from 59 mapped sitesAll 60 sites
Toilet distances are OpenStreetMap’s, measured for 59 of the 60 sites listed. A site with no reading is unknown, never far.
| SAWN | 01 | standard electric | 20 ft | 30 amp | 59 ft | 122 ft | 265 ft | |
| SAWN | 02 | standard electric | 20 ft | 30 amp | 59 ft | 102 ft | 320 ft | |
| SAWN | 03 | standard electric | 20 ft | 30 amp | 69 ft | 77 ft | 388 ft | |
| SAWN | 04 | standard electric | 20 ft | 30 amp | 71 ft | 79 ft | 446 ft | |
| SAWN | 05 | standard electric | 20 ft | 30 amp | 95 ft | 108 ft | 531 ft | |
| SAWN | 06 | standard electric | 43 ft | 30 amp | 102 ft | 116 ft | 224 ft | |
| SAWN | 07 | standard electric | 32 ft | 30 amp | 91 ft | 89 ft | 319 ft | |
| SAWN | 08 | standard electric | 30 ft | 30 amp | 88 ft | 79 ft | 388 ft | |
| SAWN | 09 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 56 ft | 116 ft | 405 ft | |
| SAWN | 10 | standard electric | 22 ft | 30 amp | 49 ft | 75 ft | 452 ft | |
| SAWN | 11 | standard electric | 23 ft | 30 amp | 49 ft | 61 ft | 439 ft | |
| SAWN | 12 | standard electric | 45 ft | 30 amp | 151 ft | 57 ft | 327 ft | |
| SAWN | 13 | tent only nonelectric | 90 ft | 93 ft | 284 ft | |||
| SAWN | 14 | tent only nonelectric | 90 ft | 90 ft | 262 ft | |||
| SAWN | 15 | tent only nonelectric | 93 ft | 78 ft | 225 ft | |||
| SAWN | 16 | standard electric | 65 ft | 30 amp | 57 ft | 54 ft | 1,019 ft | |
| SAWN | 17 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 57 ft | 60 ft | 1,005 ft | |
| SAWN | 18 | standard electric | 44 ft | 30 amp | 78 ft | 57 ft | 982 ft | |
| SAWN | 19 | standard electric | 75 ft | 50 amp | 76 ft | 110 ft | 866 ft | |
| SAWN | 20 | standard electric | 57 ft | 30 amp | 76 ft | 55 ft | 799 ft | |
| SAWN | 21 | standard electric | 80 ft | 50 amp | 98 ft | 90 ft | 715 ft | |
| SAWN | 22 | standard electric | 44 ft | 50 amp | 107 ft | 109 ft | 609 ft | |
| SAWN | 23 | standard electric | 65 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 81 ft | 490 ft | |
| SAWN | 24 | standard electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | 61 ft | 65 ft | 428 ft | |
| SAWN | 25 | standard electric | 75 ft | 30 amp | 152 ft | 133 ft | 161 ft | |
| SAWN | 26 | standard electric | 48 ft | 30 amp | 79 ft | 226 ft | 282 ft | |
| SAWN | 27 | standard electric | 55 ft | 50 amp | 56 ft | 304 ft | 304 ft | |
| SAWN | 28 | standard electric | 75 ft | 50 amp | yes | 53 ft | 374 ft | 324 ft |
| SAWN | 29 | standard electric | 70 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 301 ft | 249 ft | |
| SAWN | 30 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 316 ft | 199 ft | |
| SAWN | 31 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 69 ft | 475 ft | 271 ft | |
| SAWN | 32 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 418 ft | 172 ft | |
| SAWN | 33 | standard electric | 60 ft | 50 amp | 69 ft | 472 ft | 262 ft | |
| SAWN | 34 | standard electric | 50 ft | 50 amp | 53 ft | 396 ft | 200 ft | |
| SAWN | 35A | tent only nonelectric | 111 ft | 39 ft | 450 ft | |||
| SAWN | 35B | tent only nonelectric | 111 ft | 27 ft | 484 ft | |||
| SAWN | 35C | tent only nonelectric | 154 ft | 21 ft | 362 ft | |||
| SAWN | 36 | standard electric | 75 ft | 50 amp | 99 ft | 339 ft | 265 ft | |
| SAWN | 37 | standard electric | 43 ft | 30 amp | 99 ft | 407 ft | 357 ft | |
| SAWN | 38 | standard electric | 70 ft | 30 amp | 110 ft | 513 ft | 442 ft | |
| SAWN | 39 | tent only electric | 30 amp | 66 ft | 80 ft | 347 ft | ||
| SAWN | 40 | tent only electric | 30 amp | 66 ft | 81 ft | 292 ft | ||
| SAWN | 41 | tent only nonelectric | 129 ft | 165 ft | 168 ft | |||
| SAWN | 42 | tent only nonelectric | 114 ft | 14 ft | 782 ft | |||
| SAWN | 43 | tent only nonelectric | 72 ft | 36 ft | 871 ft | |||
| SAWN | 44 | tent only nonelectric | 72 ft | under 10 ft | 885 ft | |||
| SAWN | 45-46 | tent only nonelectric | 195 ft | 38 ft | 965 ft | |||
| SAWN | 47 | standard electric | 30 ft | 30 amp | yes | 98 ft | 536 ft | 360 ft |
| SAWN | 48 | standard electric | 35 ft | 30 amp | 104 ft | 623 ft | 521 ft | |
| SAWN | 49 | standard electric | 30 ft | 30 amp | 77 ft | 579 ft | 459 ft | |
| SAWN | 50 | tent only electric | 30 amp | 104 ft | 577 ft | 564 ft | ||
| SAWN | 51 | standard electric | 85 ft | 30 amp | 104 ft | 518 ft | 660 ft | |
| SAWN | 52 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 55 ft | 506 ft | 482 ft | |
| SAWN | 53 | standard electric | 41 ft | 30 amp | 55 ft | 457 ft | 512 ft | |
| SAWN | 54 | standard electric | 40 ft | 30 amp | 72 ft | 421 ft | 441 ft | |
| SAWN | 55 | standard electric | 50 ft | 30 amp | 98 ft | 522 ft | 383 ft | |
| SAWN | 56 | standard electric | 60 ft | 30 amp | yes | 53 ft | 424 ft | 330 ft |
| SAWN | 57 | tent only electric | 30 amp | 68 ft | 202 ft | 163 ft | ||
| SAWN | 58 | tent only electric | 30 amp | 68 ft | 217 ft | 173 ft | ||
| SAWN | 59 | tent only electric |
25 of 60 listed
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Bald Ridge Creek2.3 mi
Old Federal8.1 mi
Duckett Mill12 mi
Bolding Mill13 mi
Toto Creek Campground16 mi
Sweetwater Campground29 miTake US 400 north exit 14, turn right on Highway 20 east, turn left onto Sanders Rd, at first stop sign turn right on Buford Dam Rd. Campground is on the left.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Sugar Hill, GA
Typical weather
Typical October night 49°F, day 73°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 31°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
who answers for it
Who answers for this land
Sawnee is in Georgia’s 7th congressional district. Its representative, Rich McCormick (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →