Hartwell Lake · Georgia
Overview Elrod Ferry Recreation Area is a 39 acre site situated on a gently sloping point that overlooks the lake near Hartwell Dam. The site presently offers day use and boat launching facilities consisting of 1 gatehouse/entrance, 37 picnic sites, 2 standard picnic shelters with water and electric service, 1 boat ramp, 1 courtesy dock, 2 comfort stations, 2 playgrounds, 3 designated swim areas/beaches, 1 volleyball pit, and associated paved roads and parking areas throughout. The area experiences intense public use during the peak recreation season.
Sites at Elrod Ferry are reserved through Recreation.gov. Sites here can be reserved in advance through the official system, and they are claimed fast — cancellations then trickle back all season, unannounced, at any hour of the day or night.
| Total sites | 2 |
|---|---|
| Site types | Group, Shelter |
| Hookups | Electric hookups at some sites |
| Location | Hartwell, GA |
| Book through | Recreation.gov |
| Official listing | Recreation.gov |
Because sites are booked months ahead, a steady share of reservations get cancelled as trips fall through. Each cancellation instantly returns that site and those nights to the official calendar — first-come, first-served, no waitlist, no announcement. Refreshing the booking page yourself, every few minutes for weeks, works in theory. In practice, the people who get these sites are the ones who hear about the opening first.
ItOpened scans the Recreation.gov calendar for Elrod Ferry around the clock. When a site matching your dates and your vehicle opens, you get a text with a direct link to it. You book it yourself, in your own account, at the normal price. We never book, hold, or resell — your fee pays for monitoring, and openings are first-come, so speed is the whole game.
| Coneross Park | Cancellation alerts available |
|---|---|
| Twin Lakes (Sc) | Cancellation alerts available |
| Springfield | Cancellation alerts available |
| Oconee Point | Cancellation alerts available |
| Watsadler | Cancellation alerts available |
| Crescent | Cancellation alerts available |
| Singing Pines | Cancellation alerts available |
| Twin Lakes Day Use Area | Cancellation alerts available |
| Big Oaks | Cancellation alerts available |
| Broyles | Cancellation alerts available |
| Poplar Springs | Cancellation alerts available |
Page data refreshed 2026-10-29. Site facts come from the official directory listing for Elrod Ferry; cancellation statistics come from our own scanning logs.