Are you planning a tent camping trip to Awendaw? We've got you covered. You can find tent campsites by type, including drive-in, walk-in, and even hike-in for a backpacking adventure. From remote to easy-to-reach, these Awendaw campsites are perfect for tent campers.
All sites are open with the exception of the following: Buck Hall Campground - closed while work is still underway on the water system. Reservations have been canceled through Feb. 7 in anticipation to re-open Wambaw Cycle Trail - closed until the trail can be assessed for hazards. Anticipate opening later this week. Boggy Head Rifle Range - closed. The site was used and abused heavily during the shutdown. Users ignored the site inappropriately and left trash. It is closed until the site can be thoroughly cleaned. Note: Please mark your calendar for Sat., Feb. 2 for the annual Francis Marion National Forest annual cleanup. If you would like to volunteer meet at the Huger Recreation Area at 9 a.m.
Tent campites on the Intercoastal Waterway overlooking the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. This is a nature lovers dream. We offer primitive campsites that have access to communal water sources, power, restrooms, and shower facilities. Our campground has a full length basketball court, Pickleball Court, and swings for your enjoyment. You will have access to a floating dock for launch of kayaks into the Intracoastal Waterway. If you do not have your own kayak, we always have them for rent. There is easy access to the iconic Awendaw Passage of the Palmetto Trail, which runs directly through the property and offers hiking and off-road biking opportunities. If you love to set up hammocks, we encourage that on our many majestic Oaks and Palmettos around the property. There are also many offsite activities in the surrounding area that you can enjoy. Please refer to the park map in the photos. The Flushing Toilets, Showers, and Water source is located at the Conference Center area of the property(there are portable toilets at waterfront). You will need to bring something to store your water in. Power access is at the Conference Center and a single access point at the waterfront. You can easily drive between the waterfront camping area and the Conference Center. You can drive directly to the sites and park. We do allow camper vans and small popup tents/campers. We do not have hookups at each site so you will need to plan accordingly. Anything over 20 feet is not allowed. Each site has a fire ring and picnic table. There is a communal area at the end of dock for everyone to enjoy. The swings and basketball/pickleball court is for everyone as well(basketballs, pickleball equipment, soccer balls, footballs, and other recreation equipment are provided).
$38 / night
Guide
Sprawling park and campground right between Charleston and Folly Beach. There is a camp store which is well stocked and stays open till 8pm. The predominance of this campground is RV sites. The sites are well maintained and with enough space between each site.
The tent camping site and group tent sites are hike-in. The hike in is really not that far at all from where you park your cars, so no worries. The individual tent sites sit back in the woods, with a nice tree canopy, which gives it a real "primitive" feel to it. The sites are raised and contain a gravel bed.
There are bathrooms and private showers on site in a few locations. The bathroom and showers for the tent sites lay next to the group site, which is a short walk.
Shopping and stores are on hwy 117, just a few short minutes from the park.
Guide
Very, very overcrowded. The tent sites were unlevel and muddy ( since it rained before we arrived and all the water ran down hill to the tent sites). Pretty decent bathroom but too cramped for me. Won't be back to visit.
Guide
Edisto has a beach camping area and a wooded area. The option for RV or tent camping without all the excessive price.
TravelerClean sites and facilities. Quiet atmosphere. We stayed at the walk in tent sites and they were very nice.
Guide
This RV park was very clean and the base offered a good amount of amenities. There were about 5 tent sites and the rest RV sites. We stayed in site C and it flooded a bit in the rain but the other sites seemed to do fine.
ScoutWe spent one night at a tent site. The amenities (bathrooms and showers) we very clean. Very busy. On Easter weekend, there was only one empty site. Most campers seem to be in RVs.the neighbors were nice and Edisto Beach was very clean and the people were so welcoming and friendly.
Guide
There are only 6 tent sites at this RV friendly park. We stayed in site 4 and had a cut through to the beach. Site 2 also could access the shortcut, but other sites had a slightly farther walk. Going before the bugs come out is a must. Potable water on site and a short walk to bath houses. Beach is absolutely breathtaking and not crowded.
We also went on a night hike to the beach and saw so many stars!
No long hiking trails to speak of, but a few short walks through forest and an interpretive trail are available.
Tent sites are close together. There is little visual or auditory privacy.
Raccoons are abundant and the park has provided lockers for all food. We didn’t have any problems, but neighbors who didn’t store food properly did.
Camp site is situated on a pad that I assume is set up that way for flooding, but it made the campsite feel cramped, even though there were 2-4 feet of cleared space around the raised pad before the tree line.
Traveler
Small campground not far from Charleston and very close to Bee City Zoo. This campground has several shelters one with a fireplace at both ends. The tent camping area is awesome and has a great layout with lockable chuck boxes on each site along with power and water. There are several large fields to let the kids run wild. There are also a few hike in sites in the very back with some bathrooms.
TravelerSantee State Park is a beautiful forested park by the lake. There is a visitor/registration center as well as a store on the lake with many activities: boating, fishing, kayaking, biking, kids playground,walking trails, rental cabins. There is electric and water hookup at the sites and sewer and dumpster on exit. The facilities are centrally located and clean. There are variety of pull in and back in sites, as well as tent camping. Our visit here was peaceful, quiet and enjoyable. Will go back.
ScoutThis county park makes an excellent base camp for visiting the Charleston area. Tent camping is done festival style, with no specific sites. Everyone is in a big open field which is a lot of fun but does not offer much privacy. Staff was very friendly and helpful. There are many activities available at the park, including a dog park and dog beach, a waterpark, and a lake. It is just a short 20 minute drive to get into Charleston or down to Folly Beach. Make reservations. Would definitely stay here again.
Guide
We chose this KOA over the one in Mt. Pleasant as we felt it was closer to what we needed. Tent sites are small and some distance from the restrooms. The restrooms are clean but could use some updating. Lots of traffic noise and planes. The biggest turn off was the seemingly run down trailer court that you first see when turning off the highway.
We probably won't stay here again unless it's just an overnight passing thru.
RangerWe spent a lovely weekend at Givhans State Park. It's definitely a small park, and its big draw is its location on the Edisto River, with lovely river-tubing to boot.
We stayed in the tent sites, which have water and electricity at each site. There is a central parking area, and then you must carry in your stuff to your site. Ours, T-28, was one of the first, and from the closest parking spot, it was 200 steps along flat ground (just to give you an idea).
The tent sites are right behind the only public restroom, which means that the restroom gets filthy after a day of the river-goers going in and out. There is only an outdoor shower. You can walk into the RV loop to get a larger, cleaner, and more private restroom with showers.
The only trash dump we could find (apart from the small cans in the restrooms) is located just off the entrance of the park. The park has a strong WiFi signal at the main house/office, but the rest of the park doesn't get WiFi and barely any cell service. The staff keeps the park clean and it's very pleasant, especially on weekdays! Don't forget the bug spray! And steer clear of the poison ivy, which is everywhere.
GuideBest beach camping I've had! Lots of shade at the walk-in tent sites. The sites are secluded with bear/animal proof food storage at each site. Of course raccoons are about everywhere, but the nature is so friendly at this campground. A little birdy built a nest in our beach towels one night. The park rangers were helpful (for that situation) so that's cool. We camped during a tropical depression with no flooding. 8 straight hours of hard rain. Great great park.
Guide
This campground is located directly adjacent to the Intercoastal Waterway, and there is a boat ramp located nearby but there is no access to go swimming here. There are lots of oyster beds lining the rocks that are serving as a perimeter to the waterway, so scrambling through can be hazardous if you go down there. The tent campsites have a good breeze, but once you get back into the trees the mosquitoes can be very bad.
GuideFantastic Campground located right on the beach in Edisto Island, SC!
First off, I've visited the state park since I was a child, but normally we would go to walk the long beach to the northern inlet area. This was my second time camping here and first time tent camping. It was a pure joy and I'll be back whenever I can.
The only drawback is its popularity. I ended up only being able to spend one night at the beach campground because it is fully booked all the way into October.
There are usually available sites in the Live Oak Campground located on the marsh, but the beach sites go quickly.
TravelerThis is a beautiful campground! I'm traveling with my 5 year old son with just a tent. The tent sites here are very nice. They offer them with or without electric. The cell service is a little spotty but I have Xfinity Mobile and I was never completely without service. They do have good Wi-Fi here but there's not a strong enough signal to connect to it in the tent area. The bathrooms and showers are clean. They have two really nice playgrounds for the kids, a nice little swimming pool and a really great pavilion entertainment area with horseshoe pits and cornhole. Everybody here is very kind and friendly and it's very peaceful and quiet here. I would absolutely stay here again if I was in the area.
ScoutWe stayed in the Live Oak campground portion of the State Park at a walk-in rustic tent site. These sites have the most privacy in the park. There are six walk-in sites all with beautiful views of the salt marsh and pleanty of space (within and between sites). The sites are located on one of the many trails in the state park. All trails are open to pedestrians and cyclists alike, and none of the trails are challenging in length or terrain. Matthew and I were able to bike them all in a morning. We visited in early May and had excellent beach weather without much of a crowd!
TravelerLoved this park! There are several tours that would be gegeat to go but we didn't have enough time to get to them. We stayed in the rustic tent sites which I wouldn't recommend. 1. You have a bit of a hike in. #2 Raccoon bothered us while we were eating and he wasn't a bit timid. 3. Ants got in my car with all the doors shut and windows up and made an ant pile on the racks on top of my car overnight. Way more rustic then what I was hoping for. We were much closer to the beach though than the other sites so could here the ocean from our site.
TravelerGreat place for families. Not very secluded. It is pretty much one big open green space with tent sites circling in a loop around the green space. You cannot park your car right at the site. There is a parking lot so you have to hike in just a little bit. The park there is really nice though and nice trail that takes you to the dock and marsh. There is a shower and they even have laundry facilities. Great play area for kids during the day also with a spray play. Volleyball nets throughout the area and you can rent bikes, kayaks, sup, and pedal boats. Also have a climbing wall. This was a great place to get our feet wet when we first started camping.
LegendI grew up in Myrtle Beach and camped here in the primitive camping on many occasions. I've done this with groups and also alone. It is absolutely spectacular. During the off-season you'll have the place to yourself. During the summer months, it's busy during the day but quiet at night.
Tips- Take a bike and go out riding late at night. The alligators will lay on the road at night and you can ride right by them. Once night falls, take your sleeping mat or cot down to the beach and sleep there. Be sure to visit the castle during the day.
I've also camped out in the normal tent sites with family. Still a pretty awesome spot to stay, but not as secluded as the primitive camping.
ScoutThe campsite itself is pretty wonderful. Many of the sites are right along the waterway. There's plenty of room for kids to play and there's a trail head to the Palmetto Trail.
Our tent site was 3rd to the last, closet to the wood. A decent walk to the bathhouse, but not unreasonable at all, although we did have to cut thru some occupied RV sites.
Unfortunately, a bit further down, a couple of RV sites joined forces and partied, loudly, well into the night. We were far enough away they didn't keep us awake, but you could easily hear them if you did awaken There were multiple sites close to the party that must have been awake all night. I'm not sure if the camp host was ever notified or concerned.
All in all though, its decent place.
Legend
Located only 15 minutes from downtown Charleston and 10 minutes from Shem creek this campground is gorgeous and spacious. They offer kayak and bike rentals. There’s a beautiful lake that allows catch and release fishing. Some tent sites and cabin sites are right along the water and offer nice views. There’s a one mile loop trail through the woods and along the lake. There are waste bags scattered throughout the park and a huge dog park. (But it’s quite far from the campers) There are multiple playgrounds and many kid friendly activities to do including corn horn and other games. The price is more expensive than we’d like to pay, especially for a site with only water and electric. No dump station. The bathrooms are clean and accessible to wheelchair bound guests. The store has everything you may have forgotten! Overall our stay was great!
LegendThis place looked promising at first. I arrived on a Friday night and there were multiple tent sites available. Very pricey, but Charleston accomodations are like that, and the park looked pleasant and well developed. I set up my tent and was happy... at first.
Right after I went to bed, a major thunderstorm rolled in. I'd weathered such storms before, and my tent usually performs well. My campsite had a raised tent platform filled with sand, which I assumed would drain well. It did not. The tent was "floating" for a while. Standing water under the floor. Only a little water leaked in, luckily.
When I got up in the morning, the tent pad had mostly drained, but the rest of my campsite had turned into a swimming pool. I walked around the campground and it looked like my site was the only one that had flooded like this. "No problem," I thought, "I'll just book a second night in one of the other campsites." Nope. They were booked solid. Had to pack up my wet equipment and never really got to enjoy the park.
I imagine this could be a very nice place to camp under better conditions, but I did not have a good time.
Side note, there was a chorus of extremely loud frogs here that kept me awake at night. Cute but annoying.
GuideUpon check-in all seemed to be going well...that is as I ignored driving thru the trailer park at the entrance to get into the campground...until I pulled up to my camp site. It was very narrow with and over grown tree on each side of the entrance to it. Luckily I keep a machete in my truck. I spent 5 minutes trimming the trees just so I could try to squeeze into the site. It was very difficult as others were parked along the narrow single lane road as they couldn't fit their vehicles on their sites with their campers. It took about 10 minutes to maneuver my pop-up camper into the site. Then... I had to squeeze my truck in best I could. I then had to trim yet more trees, otherwise they would've been scraping the roof and my awning all weekend. Then... I discovered those on the tent site next to me weren't happy having 1 picnic table so they took ours as well.
I will NOT be returning or suggesting anyone else to visit this campground!
Legend
Angel’s Campground is adjacent to Lake Moultrie and is a great place to launch a boat for fishing. The Santee Cooper area if famous for record sized catfish and other species. The campground landscaping is well-maintained. It does accept tent campers, but I would feel out of place if I were just tent camping. Most of the campers are large travel trailers and RVs, and most of those from what I can tell are permanent campers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the spaces are too close together with not much privacy for tent campers.
The main activity, of course, is the lake; however, there are other things such as a swimming pool and a basketball court. If I stayed longer than one night, I’m sure I would discover much more. The campground is quiet, and the other campers seemed friendly. I gave it only four stars because the sites are not all that spacious or private, and the bath house really needed updating. I guess most people use the bathrooms in their RVs, but still, I was a little disappointed. I did like the size of the shower stall, however. It was very spacious.
The sites remind me of the gated communities in which the houses are on top of each other and you can stick out your hand and shake the neighbor’s hand through the window. It’s not that bad, but I do prefer a little more privacy. There is a store with all the supplies you need, but it’s on limited hours.
Overall, I would recommend this campground, especially if you want to launch your boat and you are in an RV. However, I would have reservations about staying here in a tent.
LegendReservations during the main season are key if you have any hope of getting a campsite in this awesome Francis Marion National Forest campground which sits just along the gorgeous intercoastal waterway, about 40 minutes northeast of Charleston, SC! We pulled in without reservations and nearly every site was booked out. The campground host was super helpful, though, finding us an empty spot (due to a cancellation) for a couple nights, then moved us to a non-reservable site for the remainder of our time.
The majority of the sites are designed for very large RVs, with a few very nice waterfront sites designated for tents. Each site is spacious, complete with a picnic table, firepit, 2 lantern poles, and electrical hookups, with a dump station at the back of the campground. The bathrooms are equipped with flush toilets, sinks, and a shower and kept relatively clean.
The campground itself is dripping with live oaks and speckled with Palmetto trees, so lots of shade is available, especially in the tent areas. The boat launch is walking distance from the campground and has a nice picnic area adjacent to it. We watched a pods of pelicans and dolphins come through the area, as well as many other sea birds.
We kayaked along the intercoastal waterway and out into marshy sea grass areas and had one of the most amazing wildlife encounters to date (and we’ve been all over the country). We saw a pod of dolphins in the distance, which appeared to be feeding. We stopped about 150 away and just enjoyed watching them dance and dive in the morning light. Then, two of the dolphins peeled away from the pack and headed straight toward us. As they approached our kayaks, the larger one gave an extra tail fin flap and dove under our boats, coming up just a bit on the other side. As naturalists, our hearts were pounding with excitement! We also hiked and mountain-biked along the gorgeous Palmetto Trail (which is a mountains-to-sea trail across South Carolina, and this campground serves as its coastal terminus).
Also, don’t miss the famous Sewee Restaurant for some downeast coastal Carolina fare, as well as the Center for Birds of Prey just across the highway from this restaurant. This wildlife conservation and rehabilitation center is doing some amazing things for birds and in the region and doing a great job of public education. If you head up the coast, be sure to stop in Boats & Hoagies in McClellanville for a bite to eat. Cute place, great food, awesome service!
The $20 per night fee is a great price for the amenities this campground offers, especially with full hook-ups and showers, and a boat launch. Check out our blog on The Dyrt's Online Magazine about our experience on the coast of South Carolina.
ScoutOne of the cleanest campgrounds I’ve been to in South Carolina. And only a short walk from the beach
Tent camping near Awendaw, South Carolina, offers a blend of natural beauty and outdoor adventure, perfect for those looking to escape into the wilderness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular tent campsite near Awendaw, SC?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular tent campground near Awendaw, SC is Francis Marion National Forest with a 3.8-star rating from 6 reviews.
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