Best Equestrian Camping near Aiken, SC

Bussey Point is primarily for equestrians. The campsites have pre-installed horse hitches and plenty of room to move a horse trailer. The sites have a picnic table and a fire pit. The campground has a well for water and an open pit latrine. There's no power which is perfect for camping off grid away from all the trailers.

The campsites are right on the water and the view is beautiful. Over the weekend I was the only one here and the only person I spoke to was the volunteer Camp Ranger from the US Army Corps of Engineers.

There is a 12-mile horse trail that goes out on the peninsula and some pack-in or canoe-in campsites out on the peninsula.

Fee per night is on an honor system at $10. I have no complaints about this campsite only about the other campers that leave their trash behind.

I recommend this campground if you're looking to get away from all the people especially the crowds at the more popular campsites at the state parks, and if you're fine with more primitive camping that doesn't involve daily showers.

Our favorite park is Mistletoe, a GA state owned park. This park is just a few miles away from Mistletoe and we only stayed here because we could not get a site at Mistletoe. In the end, we are glad that we did as this park is about 35% less expensive than Mistletoe and provides the same great lake views (ok, Mistletoe is still our favorite, but for the money this is a no brainer).

We stayed on two sites as nothing was available for our entire duration. So, we started on site 38 and then moved to 58 after a couple of days (we can be quite fast at breaking down/setting up for in-park moves).

Site 38 was interesting because we had about 100 whitetail deer in our back yard every night. The camp host apparently was feeding them, and he set up spot lights so that they could be watched as they ate. The deer had no fear (not sure that is good), but I am sure the appreciated the food. The only bad side to this is that the lights stayed on very late and it was impossible to block the light from our windows. I can overlook this, though.

Site 38 was large enough and had big, flat, surface for the picnic table, fire ring, camper, and truck. Beyond this pad there was not much distance before you got to the next site, which just had a tent camper (who mostly was gone because this time we visited during a VERY cold spell and I don't think the tent camper would have survived the night!).

Site 38 had views of the water, kind of like a finger cover, but it was not very close to the camper. Still nice though as the walk through the woods to the water was easy. 

We moved to site 58 after a couple of days and it was directly on the water. This site was smaller than 38, and was only one of a handful of RV sites that are situated in an yurt camping area (if you have family that does not have an RV, you could stay in your RV and they could stay in the really upscale yurts!). 

The weather, as noted already, was very cold and moving to a true waterfront lot made going outside something only for the brave! It was 40 degrees with 60 mph wind gusts that day...kind of fun!

We walked around to see what the park had on that side, and it included a nice sandy beach, picnic tables under the shade, and a really cool primitive camping area that was out on a peninsula.

As noted at the start, a nice park for the money. The cost was only $25 a night in March 2022 and that is hard to beat. If this were $40 a night I would de-rate it to 4 stars.

All of the photos are from site 38 except the white caps on the lake, which was taken On our walk near 58.

Still being upgraded, so newish pad was still soft but pretty level. Sewer pipes stick out a good 6 or 8 inches. Electric posts are new but have a meter right below plugs, so surge suppressor gets to hang sideways. All nice and new. Will try again in future as it keeps improving

We just overnighted so did not use facilities nor do much in the surrounding areas.

I was right under a WiFi antennae, and managed a 4.5meg download and 4.48 upload. Following are phones ( mostly for hotspot) I have and how they feature Cricket; 7.98dn, 0.84up ATT; 27.69, 0.3 up Visible: 7.2dn, 1.2up Verizon: 44.9dn. 1.88 up T-mobile mifi: no 4g nor 5G service

If I we’re staying in the area for more than a week, I would probably try a nearby COE as they are on the water. This park is near the water and has a restaurant an few hundred yards down the road.

Really pleasant staff. Friendly and were helpful and obliging.

We are Columbia County residents who have been camping for years, but this is the first time at Wildwood, which is a Columbia County Park. We stayed on site 15 across from the boat ramps. Nice swim area, one bath house, good price. Campsites on this loop have dirt road, sites are fairly level. Not quite as big and level as local USACOE campgrounds. Park has great boating access. Quiet cove area. Water, power (50&30 amp). Access road to campsites is about a mile long. Walking to other areas of the campground was a hike of several miles. Free WiFi available. Enjoyed our stay!