Guys,
wife and I just bought a camper and need to relax a little on the weekends. can you suggest a full service campground within 4-5 hrs drive from Charleston. still working and can only go on weekends at present time. sorry,no picture of wife, (were old and wrinkly)
jeff
Check with KOA , i’m sure they have one close to Charleston !
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S.C. has a vast number of state parks, most with camping areas! Check them out on Google, clean and inexpensive. Billy Drier Island above col. on lake Murray is a good one and not to far, easy driving.
Hunting Island down in Beaufort despite hurricanes is still a nice park.
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There are some campgrounds around Charleston but since you live there I assume you want to get away from home. Huntington Beach, Edisto Island, Hunting Island are some good coastal state parks. There are also some parks around the Santee lakes if you want to do some freshwater fishing. I love the state parks because they are not so crowded / crazy but most do not have sewer hook up but they do have a dump station. No big deal if you are only staying the weekend & use the bath house for showers. If you plan on staying any where without full hook up a while might be best to buy a “honey hauler”.
KOA are nice & have full hook ups but will be a little more crowded since they have a lot of stuff for kids. Not nearly as bad as those big campgrounds at Myrtle Beach though. This is a cool site that has a lot of interesting places, might come across some camping spots on it.
http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/states/south-carolina/
James island campground is one of my favorites. Most of the major lakes in the state have good state parks on them. Lake Murray and lake joccassee are my two favorite. My favorite non-state owned campground is orchard lake in the upper state. Go there when the apple orchards are open and go pick yourself some apples, good time with the family and you can bring your pooch if you have one. The orchard lake campground personnel will make you feel like family and they have a couple private stocked ponds you can fish if you want.
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I second Lake Joccassee and hike the Rainbow Falls trail…there are plenty of others as well. I also liked Oconnee state park because it has a lot less traffic and the walk in campsites are secluded. They have two ponds they stock with trout this time of year as well and plenty of hiking.
Edit: We just got back from staying in Boone, NC and that place is pretty cool as well. Julian Price Lake Park has two trout ponds and the Boone Fork hiking trail is one of the best hikes we have done! If you are bringing your wife take her to Blowing Rock, there were some cool shops and restaurants.
Uwharrie National Forest, Arrowhead campground, bunch of off road trails, a productive lake, hiking trails, showers.
https://www.recreation.gov/camping/arrowhead-campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=73839
Dreher Island on Lake Murky has plenty of spaces, doubt they would be that busy this time of year
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Jeff,
The type and size of your camper is going to made some difference when you’re looking at parks and the individual sites within those parks. Most, if not all, state or Corps of Engineer (CoE) run parks will offer water and electric (30-50 AMP)hookups but not sewer. If you camp long enough you’ll want a decent poop tank.
We have camped Dreher numerous times. Very wooded with shade on every site, but the sites can be narrow and uneven. Some are very close together. It can be a challenge getting backed in to some of them. There are some really nice CoE parks near the dam of Clarks Hill Lake near Modock, SC, just above Augusta. On the water and big sites with good separation.
Only camped at Santee State Park a couple of times. Again, very wooded but maneuvering can be a challenge. We have camped at a couple of private parks in the Santee area that were nice and had full hookup. Palmetto Shores was good. Right next to I-95(noise) and had their own boat ramp and docks. Rocks Pond was another good park. A little south of Santee, has a ramp and docks, and a swimming beach. Look into this one. During the summer they have live music and concerts in a big community building on site.
We have kids so our choices in campgrounds are dictated by how we can keep them occupied.
Haven’t ventured into the mountains yet due to vehicle limitations. Just bought a new F-250 so that will change. TheMechanic has me looking at the Orchard Lake campground now.
We also have a trip planned with a group of 5 campers to go to CreekFire RV resort on the other side of Savanah. Brand new campground that looks pretty good from the website. We’ll see.
The Myrtle Beach super-parks are cheaper than a hotel in the summer. No further comment needed.
I’m not going impose unwanted advice, but if you’re new to camping you might think of buddying up with another experienced camper for a trip or two. We got into it through a friend and went the first couple of times with them after we bought our first camper. You can save a lot
Got a buddy that keeps his motorhome in Frogmore at Tuck of the Woods during shrimp season. Have atayed with him there and it a great campground, very clean and great bathhpouse! Room for the motorhome,3 trucks and boats at his site.
Thanks for all the replies guys.
the camper is a 25 rockwood. The ecoDsl seams to pull it pretty effortlessly.(5200 # dry)
we’re working on an early retirement plan, step 1 was payoff all debt, buy an RV. and get back in debt. step2 is to get out of town as often as possible so right now its 2-3 day weekends while we still work .we would like to do as many state and national parks as we can eventually. I like the idea of a group of campers all going together for a good time.
Looks like the first shakedown trip will be Lake wood in Myrtle beach, we got the last open trailer site Saturday. not what we had hoped for but all of the state parks on the coast are booked up for the Easter weekend.
I’d like to do 2-3close trips before we strike out to parts unknown.
Jeff
Jeff,
You should be able to go anywhere with a 25 footer. Our first camper was a 21’ Rockwood Hybrid. Had a lot of fun learning to camp with it. Moved up to a 29’ Wildwood a couple of years ago for the extra room. Rarely seem to make a trip that we don’t have an extra family member or two coming along.
Myrtle Beach might actually be a good choice for your first trip. We’ve camped at Lakewood and Ocean Lakes in MB. Both are good, family oriented parks. Looks like a parking lot when full. Camping World is right up the street, along with any other type of retail you might need. Seems like every couple of trips something breaks or I left it sitting in the garage. Also, there are plenty of people within 50’ of your site that can answer any questions you’ll have.
Once you’ve settled in, take some time ride to around with a campground map and mark off sites that you might like for future trips or sites to stay away from. Both of those campgrounds have sites that are in the trees with shade, but you don’t see that on the maps. We do this at every campground we visit and make notes for future reference.
You will also find that the more popular parks will start filling up much earlier than you’d expect. There are many parks that take reservations up to a year in advance. We’ve camped at James Island for the Christmas holiday the last three years. If you aren’t on the phone or at the Rangers office when it opens the day after Christmas you won’t get a spot for the following year. Edisto Beach is just as bad.
Forest River Forums is a good site to check out for camping discussions and problem solving. The have brand specific forum pages that are a tremendous resource for information.
Good luck and have fun with it!
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