Best Glamping near J. Strom Thurmond Lake

Winfield Campground is located on the Little River near Mistletoe State Park on J. Strom Thurmond Lake. The 70,000 acre lake and its 1,000+ miles of shoreline provide excellent boating, water skiing, swimming, fishing, hiking and picnicking.

This wooded, waterfront campground contains 80 sites with electrical hookups. Amenities include flush and vault toilets, showers, drinking water, a dump station, playground and boat ramp.

Thurmond Lake provides some of the best fishing, hunting, and water sports in the southeastern US. Anglers fish for largemouth bass, bream, crappie, catfish and striped bass. The large lake offers endless boating, water skiing, jet skiing, canoeing and swimming opportunities.

We stayed on site 73. It had direct access to the water, was right next to the bath house, huge pull through site, gray water drain on the site next to water and electric hook up. Bath house was clean and well kept. Wood needed to be purchased during daytime hours with card payment over the phone. No souvenir magnet because the store was only open Mon-Thurs, unfortunately.

Some of the folks staying on the other loop mentioned issues with ants, but we only had ants in the spot where we spilled some dog food.

Overall we accomplished what we set out, which was a trip to just relax the entire weekend.

This is a review of the four walk-in tent sites at Mistletoe State Park.  I personally stayed in #4 and had a look at the others. 

The best site is definitely #2 -- feet from the water, spacious, suitable for more than one tent or hammock (better for tents as it is mostly open, but there are places for hammocks along the edges). 

Site #4 is probably second best, better for a hammocks probably (which is what I had) as no great level ground. It is not right on the water but has it's own private path to the water(couple hundred feet to the water).

Sites #1 & #3 do not really have access to the water without climbing down something steeply dangerous or through thick trees.  (The water access from the other sites is right in the middle of those other sites so you couldn't really share that unless they are empty or occupied by friends.)  Still #1 is a pretty good site.  #3 is the least interesting and smallest, but still secluded -- I wouldn't call any of these bad.

None of these sites have groomed tent pads -- just gravelly ground.   They do each have a table, fire pit, and lantern pole.  #1 & #2 are best for tents.  There is good separation between all sites.  Sites #2 & #3 are within shouting distance of each other and you'd be able to see tents, etc at one from the other.  There is an outhouse between sites #1 & #2, and another another between sites #3 & #4.  It is a 5 minute (or so) walk to the real bathroom (which also has showers) back in the main campground.

Other than the lake itself at sites #2 & #4, I didn't see any dedicated water source for these sites.  (The lake is silty -- pre-filtering recommended if you are using a filter.)  So you'd have to bring in water or get it from the bathroom area or maybe from an empty RV site which all have spigots.  You'll have to pack out your trash, and there are definitely critters around that will get in your trash so it should be secured somehow.  (Hanging it from the lantern pole isn't good enough -- you'll wake up to find a hole in the bag and it strewn around, ask me how I know.)

Everything in the park was very clean and well-maintained, although when I was here in September (during the week), the whole place was basically deserted anyway.

The water access at sites #2 & #4 is nice but it is not a real beach -- it is all large rocks for the most part and they were very slippery even when dry so be careful.  The water level was also extremely low when I was there so some of those rocks are probably covered by water earlier in the year.

We camped in one of the tent only walk-in sites located on a peninsula jutting into the lake. We had a ton of stuff, not realizing it was an uphill and pretty long trek, but it was totally worth it. We had the whole place to ourselves, no neighbors, in late March. The sun setting over the water was beautiful, it was quiet even as a few motor boats came in for the night. There is a tiny beach on the tip of the peninsula, picnic tables, and an outhouse. It was my favorite spot of everywhere we stayed on an Alabama-Georgia-South Carolina roadtrip including AirBnB and bed and breakfast.

We closed out September with a 5day/4night stay on site #110. I know everyone raves about 92-100 but I truly believe 110&112 were amazing especially if your camping with friends.

We stayed M-F so campground 2 was pretty empty and we were able to let the kids ride their bikes and play ball on the road.

Beach access from #110 is perfect and we basically set up an annex from our main camp in the beach. I definitely recommend bringing your kayak or boat as you could “dock” them in the little cove.

If sunrises are your thing #110 and #112 provide an amazing spot to watch the sun come up over the tree lined lake.

#110 was very level and extremely spacious and provided a very easy walking path to the beach.

Beach access from #110 is perfect and we basically set up an annex from our main camp in the beach. I definitely recommend bringing your kayak or boat as you could “dock” them in the little cove.

Bathhouse by #110 & #112 was in great condition and was the unisex style with one toilet and sink and some had a shower. Facilities were very clean, however I never noticed a camp host cleaning them while we stayed.

Ice and firewood could only be purchased at the visitors center at the front of the park which wasn’t the most convenient to camping in campground 2. Other state parks we’ve been to the camp host has these items inside the campgrounds.

We had exceptional weather for camping on the lake 50/60 lows and upper 80s during the day which made our stay even more perfect.

We stayed in site 28 which was a premium pull through site. My biggest issue with the site was it was set up backwards. You enter on what is supposed to be a one way street and pull straight into the site. The picnic table and cleared spot for the site were on the back side of the camper which was odd. Also we had to pull up pretty far to get our electric cord to reach the electric box which got us off the most level section of the site and the cord laid across the camp site in the way. Other than the crazy set up which most of the pull through sites seemed to have it was a very nice park. Next time I will just reserve a back in site on the water. There are several boat ramps throughout the park which makes it convenient for people wishing to bring their own boat. There was also a designated swimming beach but it was a good way away from the campsites. We didn’t end up swimming because it was unseasonably cold. I did not use the bathhouse, but my children did and they were not happy with the bugs inside. My oldest daughter actually took a camp fogger and fogged the bathhouse before she took a shower. Otherwise the facilities were good. Their was a playground that my younger children enjoyed within a short walk of our site. My youngest son was happy because he just had to walk across the road from our site to be able to fish. There were also kayak rentals available from the office and those were very close to our site as well. Overall we liked the park and plan to return.