Campground Review: Mountain View Campground, Hiawassee, GA

We arrived at our first Georgia campground a day early, thanks to making a serious dent in our travels up from Florida and covering 450 miles on our first day of travel. Turns out we lucked out with our early arrival. Not only did that mean avoiding traveling during a tornado watch, but we also got to spend an overnight in this beautiful site overlooking the mountains. It was such a scenic welcome for us as we officially arrived to higher elevations after spending over a month at sea level.

Even better, it also meant that we arrived in time for karaoke night! But before we get into that, we need to talk about Mountain View Campground, how we ended up staying here, and the memorable week we had surrounded by these gorgeous mountains.

We first heard about Mountain View Campground while watching one of our favorite RV YouTube channels. It looked like a beautiful, quaint campground, but I didn't think much of it at the time because I had no plans to be in the Georgia Mountains anytime soon. All that changed when our launch plans got delayed. Our trailer service appointment that had been booked for February in North Carolina was postponed to May. This meant that, once we launched, we'd head south to Florida but then would need to head back north right after. It seemed like a great time to check Georgia off our list, since we traveled right through it on our way south without getting to stop and explore. In 2017, we had visited Savannah on our East Coast Road Trip, and though we thought it was spectacular, we decided to visit somewhere different this time. After spending our entire year near the coast so far, the mountains were calling. So I began my research to find suitable campgrounds in the Blue Ridge mountains of Georgia. I never expected Mountain View Campground to have availability. Not only was it made famous by the visit from Keep Your Daydream, but I had also heard that it was ranked Campendium's number 1 campground in the US, among lots of other accolades. However, to my surprise, there was one site available for the week I was looking, helped by the fact that we had a little flexibility of our arrival and departure dates, and it was still early in the season for the campground. I excitedly booked our reservation.

Owners Louie and PJ are known for their unparalleled hospitality. The campground's reviews rave about the homey atmosphere, stating that you arrive as strangers but leave as family. We're not typically ones to seek out campgrounds with such a strong community, but our goal for this year is to try all types. When we were greeted by a smiling Louie inviting us to karaoke that evening, we knew we were in for quite an experience during our week at Mountain View.

Let's face it, no one ever needs to twist our arm to do karaoke. Once a monthly occurrence in Boston, we've gotten really comfortable with the stage. Only we hadn't graced a stage in years, due to the pandemic closing down our two favorite karaoke bars. Between our rustiness and our tiredness from the travel day, we didn't have our best performances, but it was a great way to meet our fellow campers and get a sense of the vibe of the campground.

The following day, Louie helped us move up to our site that would be home for the rest of the week. We went from mountain views to campground views, perched upon the highest point in the campground. Another great site, though different from the first. Lily enjoyed watching all the happenings below when we had the patio out.

The sites are all spacious and have nice shade from the trees. They have picnic tables and firepits. We especially enjoyed our firepit, which was behind our rig, giving us lots of space to set up our chairs on top of the hill.

Tornado day aside, the weather was gorgeous; exactly what we needed after the hot hot heat down in FL. We were itching to get some hikes in, as our last real hike was way back in Maryland, and our last mountain hike was the end of summer last year! Hiawassee is no stranger to great hiking trails. Nestled in the Chattahoochee National Forest and just a stone's throw from the Appalachian Trail, you can certainly get your gain on with some strenuous hikes. Clearly we were not in the shape to do that, but we did trek to some beautiful water features and overlooks during our week in the area.

Brasstown Bald, Georgia's highest peak:

High Shoals Falls:

Lake Chatuge:

Bell Knob Overlook:

Hemlock Falls:

Downtown Hiawassee is adorable, with lots of shops and restaurants. The weekend after we arrived, the botanical garden at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds was having their annual Rhododendron Festival. We didn't realize that the entire botanical garden is actually a rhododendron garden, so while we expected to see a handful of bushes, we instead were surrounded by the gorgeous blooms throughout our entire walk around the garden. Finally, we had found spring! The garden is situated on a hillside that leads to the lake, and there are trails alongside the lake as well.

The Rhododendron Festival gave off wonderful Georgia vibes, with rustic outdoor seating, a food truck, and live music. As we gazed down upon the rest of the fairgrounds, we talked about how fun it would be to go to the fair one day. Growing up in a fair town myself, I have lots of fond memories of the agricultural exhibits, games, rides, and events. If I think Massachusetts does fairs well, I can only imagine what Georgia brings to the table!

Also not too far from Mountain View Campground is the town of Helen, known for its Bavarian-inspired architecture and pastimes. We took an afternoon trip to check it out, where we walked Main Street and stopped at a German bakery for some pastries and pretzels.

Helen is definitely a destination on its own, a little taste of Europe where you'd least expect it. Now, as someone who has traveled to various parts of Germany in the past, I was curious as to where the German inspiration came from and looked up the history of the town. While not settled by Germans, the town was actually refurbished with Bavarian architecture in 1969 as an attempt to revitalize the area and make it appealing to tourists. Could that be why I rated it "20% German" in my initial impression? Perhaps. Nevertheless, there are bits of authenticity in the town, plus a whole lot of shops, restaurants, activities, and nature hikes. Safe to say the appeal to tourists was successful, and this is certainly a town you could spend a lot of time exploring.

As you can see, Mountain View Campground is a great jumping-off point for a whole bunch of attractions, but if you want to stay at the campground, there's tons to do there too! In addition to weekly karaoke, Louie and PJ host weekly community campfires and other special events, such as live music concerts in their music barn. There are ample places to hang out, whether it's playing ping pong in the barn, sipping a cocktail on the porch, or trying your hand at cornhole or horseshoes outside. For those more practical days, there is a laundry room and by far the best, fastest WiFi we've experienced in our RV. Since we spent the majority of our week hunkered down doing work, the WiFi was much appreciated. We didn't have cell service at the campground, which made good WiFi all the more important. We understand the desire to slow down and experience the camping life when you're on vacation, but this isn't vacation to us, so the fact that PJ and Louie accommodate all kinds of travelers is a huge plus.

We ended our stay in musical fashion. On our final night at Mountain View, I was invited to play a little concert on my harp for the community. We gathered on the porch for some music, before all ushering into the barn for karaoke. Oh, how a week can change so much! We went from strangers, exhaustedly singing karaoke in front of people we just met, to campground family, letting our inner rock stars shine while surrounded by our new friends.

A big thanks to PJ, Louie, and their dog Peanut for bringing these introverted nomads out of their shell and showing what true southern hospitality looks like!

Campground:

Mountain View Campground, Hiawassee, GA

Sites 31 and 15, back-in, FHU with picnic table and firepit