A. H. Stephens State Park
9.19.25-0.20.25
It’s a convenient place to stop off I-20, but A. H. Stephens State Park offers so much more.
A. H. Stephens State Park is located in Crawfordville, GA–just three turns off Interstate 20. The park is best known for its history and equestrian facilities. There is an equestrian campground loop with 29 sites and a barn with stalls for horses. We also noticed a place to wash horses near the barn. Throughout the state park there are about 20 miles of horse trails.
The main campground loop has 25 campsites with water, electric, and sewer hook-ups. The sewer connections were added about a year ago when the entire campground was renovated. A. H. Stephens State Park also has four cottages, one group camp, and one pioneer campground. Amenities around the park include multiple playgrounds, a zip line, horseshoe spot, a volleyball court, fishing, and paddle boat rentals.
We chose campsite 8 due to the fact that the site is a large pull-thru. We wanted an easy in and out setup since we were here as a stop-over on the way to Huntington Beach State Park in SC. I also loved the idea of the unique fire tower being in the background of my campsite photos. That being said, the main campground loop wraps around the fire tower. Depending on the angle, all campsites have a view of the fire tower.
Campsite 8 is a huge pull-thru that is open to the road. If we had been staying the entire weekend it wouldn’t have been my first choice as we prefer more privacy. The picnic table and fire pit were right next to the road. It was right across the street from the bathhouse, which was a nice convenience. The camp hosts next to the bathhouse also had firewood and ice for sale behind their site. The fire tower could be unlocked by a camp host for a tour.
A. H. Stephens was the Vice President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the war and during Reconstruction when Georgia was admitted back into the Union, he was elected to the United States Congress and later served as Governor of Georgia. The land that the state park is located on was once the property of A. H. Stephens and part of the park includes his home “Liberty Hall.” The CCC rehabilitated the main house and outhouses in 1933. They also added a Civil War Museum with one of the largest collections of Confederacy artifacts.
We arrived at the park after hours due to truck problems. We were a half-hour in when we had to drive back home to move everything over to our Colorado and restart the trip. Online it says that there is a gate and we were concerned we wouldn’t be able to get in at 11:00 p.m. Here to clarify—there is not a gate. A GPS will direct you through the little downtown (mostly empty buildings) and under a railroad trestle. The height indicated is a little taller than 12 ft. and I wasn’t willing to test our camper height. I routed our trip a different way (follow the state park signs) to avoid this bridge. A park employee said they have seen many campers take off their A/Cs trying to go under the trestle.
Due to our late arrival we did not get to experience every part of A. H. Stephens State Park. Saturday morning we drove over to the visitors center to get our Friends of State Park passport stamp and purchase a sticker. Near the visitors center is a large playground with a zip line. This was one addition we have never played on at a state park before. The kids loved it! The newer playground by the visitors center seemed similar to the one at Red Top Mountain State Park.
Lake Liberty in front of the visitor center seemed like a popular place for fishing. They also had paddle boats for rent on this lake. There are two other lakes on the A. H. Stephens State Park property, Federal Lake over by the cottages and Lake Buncombe.
We arrived at Liberty Hall, the house of A. H. Stephens State Park around 11:00 a.m. There weren’t any signs of tour times or a designated place to start the tour. We walked up with one other family to find the house locked and no one around. The Dad of that family walked around the house to find the state park employee giving a tour in the library of A. H. Stephens. We were able to join the end of the tour to see the kitchen and outhouses, but missed out on Liberty House itself. Needing to get on the road and drive another four hours, we also missed out on the Civil War Museum.
Friends of Georgia State Parks
Many Georgia State Parks require a two-night minimum for the weekends and we had to book both nights even though we weren’t staying the entire weekend. We did stay past checkout time on Saturday, exploring what the park had to offer. One of the perks of the Friends of Georgia State Parks membership that we have the free nights of camping. We made sure to use this pass on this reservation to get the free nights. Not staying through the whole weekend doesn’t hurt so bad when the reservation is free anyways.
Code Imaginecamper will save you 15% on your Friends of Georgia State Parks membership.
