Summer Vacation to lake Lanier Need a little help.

My family is planning on taking a family vacation to Lake Lanier. I seen a lot of comments on here about the lake so I am hoping some people can help me.
I have family that live close to Cumming GA. We want to go visit them and spend a lot of time on the lake. (Originally I was planning on stay more up towards the north end of the lake like up by Gainesville or somewhere.)
We are checking out Shady Grove Camp Ground. But not for sure what we are going to do.

I would like to pull the boat down there with my bus (camper). But with it being 40’ long it is not convenient to running around in seeing other thing while we are down there. We also are kicking around renting a house on the water and just driving the Tahoe with the boat.

So the questions I have.
1. How is the weather around late April or the beginning of May?
2. How is the water around Cumming and/ or the Shady Gove Camping area for Wakeboarding and surfing? If it is bad is there any other area’s better for wakeboarding on the lake?
3. I am from the St Louis area and I been on the Lake of the Ozarks and there is areas I will not take a 21’ boat any more for safety and so one. With this being a large lake is there areas I should stay away from?
4. Is there a good campground in the area with boat docks close so I can keep my boat on the water?
5. Is there in must see place and or restaurants to eat at on the lake?

Thanks for the help

Jonathan

awesome lake, you should have a blast, its been about 6 yrs for us since we have been there, we enjoyed lunch at a place called Up the Creek, wanna say that it was on the south/east end of the lake, we stayed at Old Federal campground a couple times and another campground at the far south end and enjoyed them both.

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Originally Posted by wolff supra21v

My family is planning on taking a family vacation to Lake Lanier. I seen a lot of comments on here about the lake so I am hoping some people can help me.
I have family that live close to Cumming GA. We want to go visit them and spend a lot of time on the lake. (Originally I was planning on stay more up towards the north end of the lake like up by Gainesville or somewhere.)
We are checking out Shady Grove Camp Ground. But not for sure what we are going to do.

I would like to pull the boat down there with my bus (camper). But with it being 40’ long it is not convenient to running around in seeing other thing while we are down there. We also are kicking around renting a house on the water and just driving the Tahoe with the boat.

So the questions I have.
1. How is the weather around late April or the beginning of May?
2. How is the water around Cumming and/ or the Shady Gove Camping area for Wakeboarding and surfing? If it is bad is there any other area’s better for wakeboarding on the lake?
3. I am from the St Louis area and I been on the Lake of the Ozarks and there is areas I will not take a 21’ boat any more for safety and so one. With this being a large lake is there areas I should stay away from?
4. Is there a good campground in the area with boat docks close so I can keep my boat on the water?
5. Is there in must see place and or restaurants to eat at on the lake?

Thanks for the help

Jonathan

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My sister in law lives in Atlanta and that is there home lake. We went camping with them last summer at Old Federal campground. It's not very far from shady grove. The campground was very nice and we had a lot of fun. I can only tell you about the little bit of the lake I saw. I did see Phil Niekro's (SP) house though.

1. Should be warm. Last spring/summer in this area was really wet. Spring summer before that really dry.
2. Water was pretty good but the weather was kind of bad so it wasn't very crowded. Translation, all the crazies stayed home
3. Can't answer that one
4. Old federal did not have docks but my BIL anchored out and didn't have any problems
5. There are lots of little coves so just explore and see what you can find

Awesome lake but can be scary on weekends. You are pretty early though so no worries. Stay near a ramp near a gas station.

I live in Cumming GA and have my boat at Habersham Marina and usually get out there at least 2 days a week. It is an awesome lake. I will say where you stay greatly depends on your budget. I personally would drive the Tahoe and find a house to rent but I am not much of a camping guy for long periods of time. I got married last year in August and had lots of my family in town renting houses on the lake it was a total blast.


So the questions I have.
1. How is the weather around late April or the beginning of May?

The weather will be in the 70-80 range more than likely maybe a little hotter. It might be a little rainy some days but most of the time it just blows through. Water temp will be in the low 70 range more than likely, again depending on how hot it gets. There have been years where it stayed in the 90's from the beginning of May till October.

2. How is the water around Cumming and/ or the Shady Gove Camping area for Wakeboarding and surfing? If it is bad is there any other area’s better for wakeboarding on the lake?

Ok so Shady Grove is a nice camp ground but it is also on the edge of "big water" so there is no wakeboarding right off the beach by your camp site. You are right around the corner from Young Deer and 6 mile though where you will be able to find all kinds of smooth water as you get back in the coves. There is also a launch ramp close to the camp ground so you should be in good shape there. Also people down here think they live in the north for some reason and are afraid a cool water so that time of year you will more than likely not see a ton of boat traffic, I would say that during the week you may be one of the only boats on the water so disregard my previous comments about big water. Weekends are a different story though.

3. I am from the St Louis area and I been on the Lake of the Ozarks and there is areas I will not take a 21’ boat any more for safety and so one. With this being a large lake is there areas I should stay away from?

Seeing how its early in the season you shouldn't see a lot of other boats on the lake during the week but beware that there are ocean liners on this lake (satellites spinning on top and everything) Keep clear of them as best you can. I nearly swamped my boat more than once because of these guys. They are a total pain in the rear if you ask me but I also love flat water. I have a 21 foot LSV and 99% of the time I feel totally safe out there. You will see the most traffic around Lanier Islands. This is where all the ocean liners hang out. They make the huge journey from bald ridge marina to Lanier Islands where they tie up and chat it up with the other big shots.

Lanier islands is the best spot on the late though. There is a ton of stuff for the family and a ton of food and drink options.

4. Is there a good campground in the area with boat docks close so I can keep my boat on the water?

Not 100% on this one. I dont know what camp grounds offer boat slips. I do think that Lanier Islands has some camping and you may be able to rent a slip for a week. You may also be able to call around to the different marina's and ask. This is a slow time of year so you should be able to convince someone to let you rent a slip for a week

5. Is there in must see place and or restaurants to eat at on the lake?

Lanier Islands has it all from a food and entertainment stand point, you could just go there for the week. The entire lake is fun though too, very scenic and lots of good little places to pull off and hang out. I would also go to Port Royal maria, they have really good food and a fun atmosphere. Right before the bridge.


Ideally the further north you go the less traffic you will see but also the less options for food and drink. We usually stay in the south side in one of the two coves that I mentioned before (6mile or young deer) and then cruise over to lanier islands for lunch and to get out of the sun for a while. Then we usually go back out and skit till sunset.

If you have any questions or need a guide I will be happy to help you out. I will more than likely be out one of the days your around so if you want to ski together let me know. I hope this helped you. This is just my opinion and I'm sure many others will e different. Just look out for the boats with spinning things on the top, they throw about 4 foot wakes.

I would have to agree with chadjitsu1!! This is my home lake as well - You can rent a cabin at Lake Lanier Islands and you can use one of their slips if you stay in the cabin area. Young Deer is by far one of the best places to go and wake board or surf - you are away from all the Titanic type cruise ships with the spinning things on top and YES they do throw 4 ft and higher wakes - My first year I had a Supra Comp and i hit one - I saw the sun then black water - Knocked all the wires out of the dash - $300.00 and 2 weeks later I went back and learned to stay away from their migrating path... I have a LSV as well - I just go early and avoid the freighters.. I will also offer to help if you need any! We are out on the lake 3 to 4 days every week.

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Originally Posted by kriley

My first year I had a Supra Comp and i hit one - I saw the sun then black water - Knocked all the wires out of the dash - $300.00 and 2 weeks later I went back and learned to stay away from their migrating path

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My last experience with these cruisers was a close one. I had 11 adults on the boat, some little and some big. We just went out for a quick lap and I came face to face with a battleship spinning satellite and all. With 3 adults in the bow and everyone else crammed in I figured the best way to cut through the wake was to take it head on. I trimmed it up and gave it a little gas just to get the front up as much as possible. I think we almost went airborne cutting through. It was not a good experience at all. I will Never let that many people in the boat again. Everyone had life jackets but it could have gotten really ugly.

When I was there I had an Outback and Moombadaze had a brand new LSV. I just followed his wake through the big water. A few times I was still scared though. That was the day I determined to get my own LSV.

I lived in IL-IN until 2010 then I moved to Flowery Branch GA [Paradise GA]. I agree with all the posts about Lanier. The south side is the busiest but also offers the most attractions. The lake will be yours on weekdays and from 7am to 10am on weekends. Shoal Creek , Young deer and 6 mile are all great coves to find good water. There are a lot of good restaurants in the area both on and off the water. I have no experience with camp grounds I live across the street from the lake and 1/10 of a mile from the ramp in Burton mill park. Make sure you make contact with the locals here and we can all get together and show you highlights. If you need more info contact me I'm a better talker than a typist. Mike Hunter 678-227-8833

We have talked and we are thinking rent a house down there would be the best.
I am going to try to finalize who all is going with us and find a house the right size, price and go from there.

Thanks for all the information I will keep you guys informed when we get at date set. Maybe some of us can meet up on the water.

thanks

Jonathan

Whenever you go, feel free to hit me up as well! I am about an hour and 15 away but don't mind pulling the boat up there for the weekend!

If you look on the forum under the "find a pull" section you will see Lake Lanier group in there. Hit us up on there, I will definitely meet out too.

Also I know a person that has a house on the lake depending on the amount of people you have going. This place is freaking awesome. It has a swimming pool and game room with pool tables and bar. Also has like 4-5 bedrooms. It is like 6000 sq feet. I think my family paid like 3000 for the week there which isnt all that bad for being right on the water with a dock for a week. I can get you the persons name that rents it, they are super nice and the house is AWESOME.