stopping point/overnight camp between Ohio & Fort Wilderness

If you can make it to Valdosta, River Park is a nice campground, right off the exit. Clean, and nice. Perfect for an overnight, and the have some big pull throughs.
My daughter in in college at Valdosta State, and we stay there when visiting.

If it were me, I would prefer to get south of Atlanta the first night. Otherwise, you will either have to plan to get through Atlanta before 7 AM, or either be in the rush hour or be late enough to miss the rush (and then get to Disney way after dark). South of Atlanta, there are two state parks not far off the I-75, High Falls in Jackson and and Indian Springs in Flovilla. Also in Jackson is Forest Glen Estates RV Park. As already mentioned, there is a KOA in Forsyth. In Macon, is Lake Tobesofkee Park. Further south is Insterstate RV Park in Byron. Going further south there are many, many campgrounds.

thanks for all the advice on stops along 75! anyone know are these a must to get advance reservations for? or could i just wing it for being just one night?

jabres wrote:
I appreciate it! Also, welcome any recommendations on Fort Wilderness at Disney. Our first time there....

If you arrive early(before check-in time) just ask if spots are available, may get in early or even get an upgrade. There is an overflow area if they are not ready for you and you can park it then go on into the parks and come back later to go to site and setup. Transportation is available by bus both inside the fort area and out to all the parks. A boat is available to take you to the Magic Kingdom. If you want to drive to the parks; parking is free since you are staying on property.
Check out the fortfiends.net(it is spelled correctly)website lots of good info. There is also an app that gives pictures of all the sites and a commentary about it. if you want or need a golf cart reserve now there may not be any when you arrive. If you want to reserve one from the outside services you have to arrange to pick it up off property.

I have overnighted at I-75 RV Park in Tifton, GA. It's a tiny campground that is literally next to the exit ramp of the highway. Cheap, pretty level, and we didn't have to unhitch.

We've also overnighted at Lake Park Campground in Valdosta. Again, close to the highway (but not nearly as close as I-75) and nice pull-thru spots. Attendant was nice and did not give us any **** for pulling in at around midnight.

I make the same trip after visiting grandchildren in Cincinnati but I overnite in both Ooltewah TN and Valdosta GA. I can leave early from Ooltewah to get thru Atlanta at the best time. 5 maybe 6 hours a day and I'm done.
Harrison bay state park is where we stay just north of Ooltewah.

In my opinion, Cincinnati to Valdosta in late December is a bit aggressive, considering how early it gets dark, the holiday week traffic, and having kids along. I've certainly pushed that many miles in a day, and it's possible, but you end up being exhausted. However, Atlanta South certainly seems doable. I've stayed there before, and it was fine for an overnight...plenty of pull through sites and easy on/off the interstate. The only thing I recall was the bath houses not being great, but that was probably 8 years ago so it's quite possible they've been upgraded since then.

A friend of mine stops regularly at the Forsyth KOA on their way to the Fort, and they always have good things to say about it.

If you do decide to push through to the Valdosta area, I really like Eagles Roost in Lake Park GA for an overnight.

I make that trip every august just from the other direction. There are two state parks just off I75 red top mountain north of Atlanta and high falls south of Atlanta. However if I'm only looking for a few hours and the temps aren't to bad I'll use a flying J.

I used the KOA in Cartersville the last time I made that trip. Easy access to I75.

We've stayed at that same KOA a few times in transit from Indiana to Florida. It was a good stopping point for us. We'd go there again, no problems.

For an overnight, it worked great for us. I recommend. Some folks just don't like KOA's, we've never had issues with them, especially since we use them mostly for over night stops and on the road again next morning. Very seldom do we even unhitch unless the campsite pad is unlevel, which are very rare.