Camping & Glamping Guide

The Helen, Georgia area has real camping options at every comfort level. You can pitch a tent on a quiet site at Unicoi State Park, park your RV with full hookups, or sleep in an air-conditioned glamping tent with a real bed and coffee maker. Between Unicoi, the Chattahoochee National Forest, and surrounding public lands, there are thousands of acres of campable wilderness within minutes of downtown Helen.

Unicoi State Park serves as the hub for organized camping near Helen. The park's campground offers developed sites for tents and RVs in a forested setting near Unicoi Lake, providing the infrastructure that makes camping accessible to families and beginners while maintaining the natural atmosphere that experienced campers seek. Beyond the developed campground, the surrounding national forest offers dispersed camping opportunities for those who prefer a more primitive experience far from paved roads and bathhouses.

Unicoi's tent camping area sits under mature hardwoods and pines, with individual sites spaced well apart. Each site has a fire ring, picnic table, and level tent pad. The campground is close enough to Unicoi Lake that morning fog drifts through the sites, which makes for good coffee-on-the-picnic-table mornings if you are an early riser.

The bathhouses have hot showers and flush toilets, which matters if you are camping with kids or anyone who is new to sleeping outside. A camp store near the entrance sells firewood, snacks, and basic supplies, and the lodge restaurant is a short walk away for nights when you would rather eat someone else's cooking. From the campground, you can walk to the hiking trails, the lake beach, the bike rentals, and the zip line canopy tour.

Unicoi's RV sites have full hookups: water, electric (30 and 50 amp), and sewer connections. The sites are level and paved with room for slideouts and your outdoor setup. It is a good base camp arrangement because you get the comforts of your own rig and all of Unicoi's trails, lake access, and activities right outside.

The RV area is in the same wooded setting as the tent sites, so it still feels like you are camping in the woods. A lot of RV visitors use Unicoi as home base for day trips to Helen, Appalachian Trail trailheads, wineries, and waterfalls. Downtown Helen is only two miles away, which is especially handy during Oktoberfest when parking in town gets difficult.

If you want to sleep in the woods but not on the ground, the glamping tents at Unicoi are worth a look. These are large, permanent canvas tents on raised wooden platforms, tucked into a wooded section of the park. Inside, you get a real bed with linens, air conditioning and heat, a coffee maker, electric lights, and enough space to stand and walk around. Each tent has a covered front porch with chairs, which is where you will end up most mornings with your coffee.

It is not quite a cabin and not quite camping. The canvas walls let in forest sounds and cool night air, but you have a proper bed, climate control, and outlets for charging your phone. Shared bathhouse facilities with hot showers serve the glamping area, and the lodge restaurant is available when you do not feel like cooking.

These tents book up fast, especially on weekends in spring and fall. Couples, families with young kids, and people who have never camped before all seem to gravitate toward them. If you want one, reserve well in advance.