The last three times we’ve been traveling back and forth to St. Simons, we stayed at Statesville KOA. I don’t like to review a campground until we have stayed at least a couple of nights, so now I can write about this one.
KOA divides its campgrounds into three kinds: Journey, Holiday, and Resort. Located near highways, the Journey campgrounds offer a convenient overnight place to stay. They offer basic amenities for people passing through. Holiday campgrounds are located near tourist areas. They aren’t a destination in and of themselves but they offer plenty of amenities for relaxing after a day of activity or sightseeing. Resort campgrounds are destinations all to themselves. With beautiful locations, they have stores and restaurants with lots of staff-led activities. Going to a KOA Resort is a vacation in and of itself, usually with a price tag to match. We often stay at KOAs and most of the places we stay have the Journey designation. They are convenient waypoints as we head to our destination.
The Statesville KOA and I-77 Campground is a Journey campground. Located just off I-77 and south of Statesville, it is a convenient place to stop for the night. For us, it is halfway between Delaware, Ohio and St. Simons Island, Georgia. It takes us seven or eight hours to get there from either direction.
When you pull in to the Statesville KOA, you drive past an RV repo place. I don’t know if the same family owns the two businesses, but it seems a little ironic. A reminder to keep up with those RV payments! The office is front and center in the park and has a nice store. Showers, laundry, a playground, and a pool are all located in the front with the office.
In order to get to the guest campsites, you drive past the employees campsites (Rows A and B). Convenient for the employees, but not very scenic. The campsites are a mixed bag. There is an upper level, where the campsites are very level and spacious. Then there is a lower level where the campsites are shorter and space is tighter. Rows D and F are the more desirable sites. The sites in the other rows are less level. All the sites in interior rows are pull-through.
Because it is a Journey campground, people come and go from dawn until dark. Most of the visits are just one night as people pass through. But the campsites are still pricey: $50 for our one night stay with the 10% KOA member discount. We continue to stay at KOAs despite the price because it is easy to reserve a site online.
The Statesville KOA is a good place for us to spend the night as we travel between Georgia and Ohio. Easy in and easy out are worth the price after a long day of traveling.