The cost of boat storage at Jackson Lake breaks down to two numbers once you cut through the guesswork: $125 a month for a covered space, $75 a month for uncovered, both at Bear Creek Marina on the lake’s north shore. That is dry storage, boat kept out of the water, any size, short term or long term, with the boat already sitting where you actually use it instead of a fenced lot back in town.
This guide walks through what boat storage runs nationally, what Bear Creek Marina actually charges, how covered stacks up against uncovered, and how storing at the marina compares to a self-storage unit once you count the towing and the time. Every figure below is either Bear Creek Marina’s own published rate or a number pulled from a named source, never a guess.
What Determines the Cost of Boat Storage?
A handful of things shape the cost of boat storage everywhere, not just at Jackson Lake: whether the space is covered or open to the weather, how big the boat is, whether the facility is a dedicated marina or a general self-storage lot renting out its back row, and how close the location is to actual water. A lot in town with no lake access can charge less per square foot, but it also means hitching a trailer and driving to a ramp every single trip. A marina charges a bit more for the convenience of storing the boat next to the water it gets used on.
What Does Boat Storage Typically Cost Nationally?
According to FindBoatStorage’s 2026 Boat & RV Storage Rate Index, the median boat and RV storage rate across the United States runs $55 to $185 a month. Broken out by type, uncovered outdoor storage typically runs $50 to $150 a month, while covered or carport-style storage runs $75 to $250 a month. The same index puts Georgia’s own range at $20 to $960 a month across 116 facilities in 25 cities, which shows just how wide the spread gets between a bare gravel lot and a climate-controlled indoor bay.
Bear Creek Marina’s own rates, $75 uncovered and $125 covered, sit inside the national range and toward the lower end of the covered bracket, while including something most of those national figures do not: a spot on Jackson Lake next to a public boat ramp, not a storage lot somewhere off the water.
Bear Creek Marina’s Published Rates on Jackson Lake
Bear Creek Marina’s dry boat storage is reservation based, with no fixed public office hours, so call (770) 787-9621 to check current openings. The published rates:
- Uncovered dry storage: $75 a month
- Covered dry storage: $125 a month
Both options accept any type of watercraft, including pontoons and jet skis, in any size, on a short-term or long-term basis. The boat stays out of the water the entire time; Bear Creek Marina does not offer in-water docking. For a closer look at what changes between the two options, see the marina’s own covered vs. uncovered boat storage guide.
What About RV, Camper, and Trailer Storage?
Bear Creek Marina also stores RVs, campers, and trailers at the same published rate as boat storage: $75 a month uncovered, $125 a month covered. The full details, space availability, and reservation process are covered in the marina’s RV storage guide.
Covered or Uncovered: Which Should You Pick?
The $50 difference between the two options buys real protection: a covered space keeps sun, rain, and pollen off the boat between trips, which matters most for upholstery, gelcoat, and electronics. Uncovered storage is the cheaper option for a boat that gets used often enough that sun exposure between trips is minimal, or for an owner who already keeps a cover on the boat itself. Either way, the cost of boat storage stays predictable month to month, since Bear Creek Marina’s rates are flat regardless of boat length within the space sizes it stores.
Marina Storage vs. Self-Storage: The Real Math
A self-storage lot in a nearby town might quote a similar sticker price for an outdoor parking space. What that number leaves out is everything that happens before and after: hitching the trailer, driving to a boat ramp, waiting in line at the ramp, and reversing the whole process at the end of the day. Store the boat at Bear Creek Marina instead, and it is already sitting a few hundred feet from the marina’s own public boat launch. A weekend trip that would have taken an hour of prep and driving on each end turns into loading a cooler and backing down the ramp. That convenience is the real difference the sticker price alone does not show.
Picture two Saturday mornings. In the first, the boat sits at a self-storage lot fifteen minutes from the lake: hitch up, drive over, wait for a ramp lane, launch, then reverse the whole routine at sundown before the drive home. In the second, the boat is already parked a short walk from Bear Creek Marina’s own ramp: back it down, tie off, go. Neither version shows up on a rate sheet, but only one of them gets a family on the water before the morning cools off.
How Much Boat Storage Space Do I Need?
Space needs vary with the boat: a single kayak or jet ski takes a fraction of the room a 24-foot pontoon needs, and a covered bay has a fixed footprint per space. Because storage is reservation based rather than sold as a generic “small, medium, large” tier, the most reliable way to lock in the right space is to call ahead with the boat’s actual length and beam and let the marina confirm what covered or uncovered space fits it. That single call also confirms current availability, since covered spaces are the first to fill heading into spring and summer.
What’s Included in the Price?
The monthly rate covers the storage space itself, reservation-based access, and a spot at a marina with its own public boat ramp on site. It does not include the boat ramp’s launch fee, which is separate and applies to everyone using the ramp, storage customers included (see below).
Do Storage Customers Get a Free Boat Launch?
No. Boat and RV storage customers pay the same $7 launch fee as any other visitor launching at Bear Creek Marina’s public ramp, plus $5 per extra vehicle. There is no free-launch benefit bundled into the storage rate. The ramp itself is open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the fee is payable online at www.boatlaunch.bearcreekmarina.com. It is a small line item worth knowing before you budget the full cost of boat storage and lake access together, since a few sites elsewhere imply the two are bundled and they are not.
How to Reserve Your Space at Bear Creek Marina
Storage space at Bear Creek Marina is reservation based and fills up, especially covered spaces heading into spring and summer. To check current availability and lock in a rate, call (770) 787-9621 or email contact@bearcreekmarina.com. Bear Creek Marina is located at 60 Bear Creek Marina Road, Mansfield, GA 30055, on the northern shore of Jackson Lake. For the full picture of what Jackson Lake boat storage looks like beyond just price, including space sizes, terms, and seven tips for choosing the right spot, see the marina’s Jackson Lake boat storage guide.
Boat Storage Cost: Quick Answers
What is the cost of boat storage at Jackson Lake? Bear Creek Marina charges $75 a month for uncovered dry storage and $125 a month for covered dry storage, with the same rates applying to RV, camper, and trailer storage.
Is boat storage at Bear Creek Marina cheaper than a self-storage lot? The sticker price is usually similar to a nearby self-storage lot’s outdoor space. The difference is location: storing at the marina puts the boat next to Jackson Lake and a public boat ramp, cutting out the trailer trip a self-storage lot in town still requires.
Does Bear Creek Marina store pontoons and jet skis? Yes. Storage accepts any type of watercraft, including pontoons and jet skis and PWCs, at the same published rates.
Is the boat ramp free for storage customers? No. Storage customers pay the same $7 launch fee, plus $5 per extra vehicle, as any other visitor using the ramp.
Does RV or camper storage cost the same as boat storage? Yes. Bear Creek Marina prices RV, camper, and trailer storage at the same $75 uncovered and $125 covered rates as boat storage.
Whether it is a covered space to keep the sun off a boat’s gelcoat or a straightforward uncovered spot for a jet ski, Bear Creek Marina keeps the cost of boat storage simple: one flat monthly rate, no hidden towing trip, and a public boat ramp a short walk from the storage yard. Call (770) 787-9621 or email contact@bearcreekmarina.com to check current space availability at 60 Bear Creek Marina Road, Mansfield, GA 30055.
