Agency-listedGeorgia DNR Wildlife Resources DivisionFree

Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp

Drive-up · public land · GA · 31.58663, -81.68007
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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 Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Aerial image of Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp
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Weather outlook — at Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 25 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive CampNIFC · 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 Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp · public land · GA

15 MI30 MI60 MIYOUR CAMPN ↑Water · 41 miWDump · 45 miDCitgo · Fuel · 10 miFFlash Foods #25 · Grocery · 10 miGLudowici Drugs · Pharmacy · 10 miRxHarris Ace Hardware · Hardware · 12 miHRoad Dawg Garage · Mechanic · 10 miMLaundry · 17 miLShower · 25 miShAir-up · 42 miAHinesville VA Outpatient Clinic · Urgent care · 19 mi+Outfitter · 11 miOLudowici Post Office · Mail · 9 mi@NeSmith Chevrolet Buick GMC · EV fast charger · 11 miEV
Straight-line miles · bearings approx · roads run longer
Nearest of each
  • @Mail9 mi
  • FFuel10 mi
  • GGrocery10 mi
  • RxPharmacy10 mi
  • MMechanic10 mi
  • EVEV fast charger11 mi
  • OOutfitter11 mi
  • HHardware12 mi
  • LLaundry17 mi
  • +Urgent care19 mi
  • ShShower25 mi
  • WWater41 mi
  • AAir-up42 mi
  • DDump45 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water

The read: water is a real 41-mi drive, fuel & food sit about 10 mi out.

Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.

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 — Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp

Access
Drive-up
Land
public land
Elevation
25 ft
State
GA
Coordinates
31.58663, -81.68007
Cost
Free

Nearby & resupply — around Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp · public land · GA (OpenStreetMap)

  • Drinking waternone within 10 mi
  • FuelCitgo · ~9.5 mi
  • Propane / LPGnone within 31 mi
  • GroceriesFlash Foods #25 · ~9.5 mi
  • PharmacyLudowici Drugs · ~9.5 mi
  • Hospital / clinicHinesville VA Outpatient Clinic · ~18.9 mi
  • HardwareHarris Ace Hardware · ~12.2 mi

EV charging — from Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp · public land · GA — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)

Nearby restrooms — around Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp · public land · GA — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)

Open Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp elsewhere

Other camps near Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp

If this one is full, gated or washed out.

How we know this — Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp

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='Year Round', Maintained='Yes', Management='GM', Comments=None, Name='Middleton Lake Primitive Camp'. 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/townsend-wma, read 2026-08-16) affirms camping: Accommodations & Facilities list "Primitive campsites". GA DNR publishes no street address; the WMA spans Long and McIntosh counties. 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 Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp

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 — Townsend WMA - Middleton Lake Primitive Camp

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 →