Agency-listedGeorgia DNR Wildlife Resources DivisionFree

Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5

Drive-up · public land · GA · 34.37992, -84.15575
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The land manager lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.

Nearest town: not published by GA DNR for this property. Designated primitive campground on a Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division wildlife management area. Camping on a Georgia WMA is legal only in designated campgrounds (rule 391-4-2-.61). A hunting licence, fishing licence or Lands Pass is required to be on the property. GA DNR publishes no camping fee. No potable water is claimed.

USGS topo — contours & terrain
USGS topographic map of Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5
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Weather outlook — at Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 1,191 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5NIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.

Everything you need — measured from Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5 · public land · GA

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 6 miWDump · 12 miDPropane · 53 miPExxon · Fuel · 3 miFExpress Food Mart · Grocery · 4 miGGoodson's Pharmacy · Pharmacy · 3 miRxDawsonville Hardware · Hardware · 4 miHDawson Forest Auto · Mechanic · 5 miMOasis Coin Laundry · Laundry · 7 miLShower · 10 miShAir-up · 6 miADawson County Health Department · Urgent care · 4 mi+Hammond's Fishing Center · Outfitter · 10 miOU.S. Post Office · Mail · 3 mi@Lanier Crossing · EV fast charger · 13 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • FFuel3 mi
  • RxPharmacy3 mi
  • @Mail3 mi
  • GGrocery4 mi
  • HHardware4 mi
  • +Urgent care4 mi
  • MMechanic5 mi
  • AAir-up6 mi
  • WWater6 mi
  • LLaundry7 mi
  • ShShower10 mi
  • OOutfitter10 mi
  • DDump12 mi
  • EVEV fast charger13 mi
  • PPropane53 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 3 mi out.

One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗

The site — Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5

Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
1,191 ft
State
GA
Coordinates
34.37992, -84.15575
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5 · public land · GA (OpenStreetMap)

  • Nearest townDawsonville · ~4.1 mi
  • Drinking waterWater · ~6.3 mi
  • FuelExxon · ~3.4 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • Dump station~12.1 mi
  • GroceriesExpress Food Mart · ~3.5 mi
  • PharmacyGoodson's Pharmacy · ~3.4 mi
  • Hospital / clinicDawson County Health Department · ~3.6 mi
  • HardwareDawsonville Hardware · ~3.5 mi

EV charging — from Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5 · public land · GA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5 · public land · GA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5 elsewhere

Other camps near Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5

Stay limit
14 nights (not to exceed 14 consecutive days)
Permit
The WMA License is no longer available or required. A basic hunting or fishing privilege that allows hunting or fishing on state lands is all that is needed to be present on designated state WMAs, state PFAs, and state shooting ranges.
Area rules
All camps or fires shall be in designated campgrounds unless otherwise posted at the check station, except that camping is allowed anywhere on National Forest lands unless otherwise indicated or signed. It is unlawful for any person to use any musical instruments, radios, televisions, generators or other noise making devices after 10:00 p.m. daily, in such a manner that such devices may be heard by other WMA visitors.
Source
public land records
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
GA DNR layer values for this point, verbatim: Camping='Primitive', Access='Seasonal', Maintained='No', Management='OTH', Comments=None, Name=None. SEASONAL: GA DNR marks this campground Access="Seasonal", meaning it is NOT open year-round. DNR does not publish the open dates in this layer; check the WMA check station or the property page before publishing. GA DNR marks this campground Maintained="No". Coordinate is Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division's own, unrounded, from the agency's public WMA feature service, layer 6 "Campgrounds" (188 points statewide, read 2026-08-16): https://services6.arcgis.com/9QlSLDqa0P1cHLhu/arcgis/rest/services/WRD_WMA_Public/FeatureServer/6 . Not derived, not geocoded, not rounded by us. SECOND SOURCE - the property's own page (https://georgiawildlife.com/dawson-forest-wma, read 2026-08-16) affirms camping: "Camping allowed in designated locations only." / "Campers may only camp in the designated single campsites (marked on the Interactive Map)." / "Permits are required for horse, bicycle and camping use." / "Special rules apply to horse, bicycle, and camping use; rules are posted at trailhead, camping areas and WMA check station." / "Camping on Dawson Forest WMA is only allowed in designated camping areas during the dates below. No other camping is allowed on Dawson Forest WMA." A CAMPING PERMIT IS REQUIRED HERE - GA DNR says so in those words and does not publish the permit terms on the page. GA DNR publishes no street address for this WMA; it is in Dawson County. FEE BASIS: Georgia DNR prints a "Fees & Passes" block on every property page and none of the 135 WMA pages read this fire names a camping fee. State-managed WMAs and PFAs print "Land Access: Hunting License, Fishing License, or Lands Pass" - i.e. a licence or Lands Pass is required to BE on the property at all, camping or not. GA DNR (https://georgiawildlife.com/LicenseChanges, read 2026-08-16): "The WMA License is no longer available or required." / "A basic hunting or fishing privilege that allows hunting or fishing on state lands is all that is needed to be present on designated state WMAs". We found no first-party page printing the Lands Pass price, so no price is claimed here. This is an ABSENCE-OF-CAMPING-FEE finding, not a published "free" statement; fee=0 means "no camping charge", not "free to enter". REVIEWER: decide whether a pass-gated site should be labelled on a free-camping map. STATEWIDE WMA RULE, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 391-4-2-.61 (Camping Regulations on Wildlife Management Areas), verbatim: "All camps or fires shall be in designated campgrounds unless otherwise posted at the check station, except that camping is allowed anywhere on National Forest lands unless otherwise indicated or signed."; camping limited to "a period of time not to exceed 14 consecutive days; after which the campsite shall be vacated and all personally owned property or physical features of the camp removed for a period of not less than 7 days."; "It is unlawful for any person to use any musical instruments, radios, televisions, generators or other noise making devices after 10:00 p.m. daily, in such a manner that such devices may be heard by other WMA visitors." SOURCING CAVEAT: Georgia's official rules host (rules.sos.ga.gov) renders rule text via JavaScript and returned no body text; its API paths returned 403. This rule text was read at https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/georgia/Ga-Comp-R-Regs-R-391-4-2-.61 (Cornell LII), a REPRODUCTION, NOT a .gov source. Clause (1) is corroborated by GA DNR's own per-property pages. | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.

What we don’t know about Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5

A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.

Before you go — Dawson Forest WMA Primitive Campground #5

Been here? Tell us what changed. This page is built from public records, so the fastest way it gets better is somebody who has actually pulled in. Road washed out, site gone, gate locked, or it is exactly as described — all of it useful. Send a report →