Dreher Island State Park Campground
Reviewed Jun. 20, 2022

Beautiful Campground

We have stayed here twice over the past few years. The first time was just as a 2-day stop on the way to our real destination, but we made it a point to come back and that was what we did last week.

We unfortunately got here during a heat wave and it was very, very hot (it was cooler though, than our home in Charleston, SC!). We stayed on site 41 which was right on the lake (see photo from our site, facing the lake). We were able to drag our kayaks from our site to the lake very easily and so we kayaked every night. The site was reasonably level although it was slanting slightly towards the lake.

One note about kayaking - the lake was low and so there was about a 2 foot drop from the land to the water. We simply tied a rope to a tree to help us walk down the steep bank and it became part of the adventure.

They also have a number of well maintained tent sites (shown in the other photo I attached). These are mostly on the lake and have electricity, water, a very flat surface, and easy lake access. 

The rangers were very friendly and made their regular rounds. No noise other than children swimming and playing, which is how it should be! It seems that everyone had a kayak, a raft, a boat, or some kind of flotation device and was on the water. We swam for an hour or two (ok, we just floated on our rafts!) and it was nice knowing that there are no alligators there.

We met many friendly campers there, and one (Bob) was walking by when I was getting down our kayaks and he was kind enough to help. Thanks Bob!

We had no need for the bathhouse so I can't speak to its condition, but they appeared to be in good condition. I do not remember any problems with the dumping station, and was appreciative that they had two parallel stations available so there was no waiting. 

The electricity (30 amp) and water pressure (about 45 psi) were fine.

We lost our RV's AC on the first night (Sunday). I suspect it was due to the intense heat and age of the AC, but fortunately we were just 25 minutes away from an HVAC distributor in Newberry and it cost me just $14 for a new AC capacitor (and about 20 minutes of my time removing it and putting the new one back in).

Note that for some campsites, such as ours, they have initiated a new 7-day minimum stay policy. They did this, I assume, because many campers take the weekend and so for other campers who want to stay for a week, they simply can't do it. Although I understand weekend campers, I also understand that it results in many sites being open Sunday-Friday so I applaud Dreher for setting aside at least some sites for week or more campers.

If you find one of these sites open during the week, like we did, but booked on the weekend (it is a new rule in 2022), you can't book online. However, if you call the park office the ranger will be very happy to book you for the days that the site is open during the week days. That is how we, and both our neighbors there, were able to get Sunday-Thursday bookings (because, of course, Fri-Sat were booked for every week during the summer because it was allowed prior to this new policy).

Site41
Month of VisitJune
  • Review photo of Dreher Island State Park Campground by Dan F., June 20, 2022
  • Review photo of Dreher Island State Park Campground by Dan F., June 20, 2022