Best Cabin Camping near Barnwell, SC

Magnolia Springs State Park is a nice Georgia State Park. Located just north of Millen, GA, the park offers ample camping for both RVs and tents.

Spots are flat and easy to park campers and set up tents with enough room between each for a bit of privacy and a few walk-in tent sites for increased privacy. Cabin rentals are available as well as a group lodge. There is a bath house in the main campground that is well kept complete with flush toilets and showers, as well as a coin laundry machines.

Kayak, canoe, pedal boat and bike rentals are all available from the visitor center to explore the spring fed lake and mostly flat trails in the park.

This is a lovely park to camp and spend time in, but is a 2-3 hour drive to Atlanta or Savannah if you are interested in exploring GA. The town of Millen has fast food options, as well as ample opportunity to pick up essential goods.

We stayed here on a weekend during the summer. I really liked this campground and park. It is the site of a Civil War prison camp and has a museum onsite as well as previous earth works from the site which you can walk to. Our site was nice and large with lots of shade. It was possibly the best pull thru site in my opinion due to its proximity to the playground and bathhouse for my kids. Site 16 would be the best back in site since it is right on the lake. The bathhouse was clean and large. There was a laundry area as well. There is usually a splash pad available during the summer but it was closed when we went due to COVID. There is also obviously a spring there and it was really neat to look at because the water is so clear. There were also alligators and turtles in the pond. The turtles would swam up to the railing wanting someone to drop them some food. There was a little trail through the wooded area beside the springs going back to the campground and we did hike it. There were other trails through the woods by the campground lake which we hiked as well. In addition to campsites they did have cabin rentals as well. You can put in your own boat and fish in the lake if desired or rent a boat. We rented canoes and rowed around the lake. It was very nice. There were lots of alligators in the lake. It was hard to fish from the dock and shore due to the alligators trying to get your bait. We did really enjoy this park and would go back. It is pretty rural as well but there were a few small restaurants and stores within a 10-15 minute drive.

We camped here in a small hybrid with 3 kids ages 8, 6, and 3. In the center or the campground there is a small playground. The kids didn’t end on it too much, but it was a nice addition. There is also some permanent (concrete) cornhole setup, but you’ll need your own bean bags. There is also a covered picnic area beside the bathhouse and playground with 3 picnic tables and it’s own fire pit. It wasn’t used while we were there, but if you were camping with a few other families it would be amazing!

Each site has electric and water, no sewer. I’ll get to which ones look like the best ones below. Some of the sites are awkward curving instead of straight back in, but most are pretty easy to get into. The only down side is that most sites have large concrete picnic tables and the fire ring is very close while also near a corner of the raised gravel parking level. This makes it a bit more challenging to set up chairs around the fire.

There is one bathhouse, which includes men and women’s bathroom and showers, a laundry room with a large sink (there is no sign that says you can’t wash dishes in this sink), and an all gender accessible toilet/shower room. This shower has a waist high spicket as well as a normal height one. The lower one worked really well to shower the 3 year old covered in vomit after my less than stellar decision to swing her in the hammock all nap time. 🤷‍♀️ The bathhouse was clean and the water hot. They had added a place to hang clothes while showering. There is not bench to set things down, and that would be my only suggestion. My husband said the shower in the men’s room was plumbed backwards and hot was cold and cold was hot. No issues in the women’s.

The rangers were fantastic and friendly. We participated in a hike with the park manager where she told us about the animals in the park and even let us feel grey fox and beaver pelts. We saw vultures and an armadillo. That finished with hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows! On Saturday we took the beginner archery lesson with another ranger. She was so patient with our 6 year old who gets frustrated very easily. It was so much fun! It was obvious that this particular ranger was great kids. The archery lesson was fun for the adults too. Later in the afternoon we participated in a scavenger hunt. Also done very well, definitely geared towards kids, (as expected) but it was definitely fun for the whole family. All the activities were well done. You can also rent paddle boats, canoes, kayaks, and bikes. All the trailers are family friendly. I think this park is perfect for families with young kids.

See this pictures for the best campsites. In short, 16 is the best site by far. Only one with a lake view. 12&14 would be my pick for two campers camping together.

Easy stop over for a night or two. Right off of I95. Next to a major road, so there is car/truck noise during the day. None of the sites are private, so I wouldn’t call this a “destination” campground. Great if you want to fish and kayak the Edisto River!

The bathrooms are very clean and air conditioned. Sites are all very clean with power, water, picnic table, and fire ring. There are nicely spaced out trees, so if you have a hammock, bring it. Didn’t have mosquito issues, but beware there are a lot of ants and they bite!!

Best sites are 6, 8, and 9. We camped in site 10.

This one one of the cutest, most well-maintained State Park Campgrounds we’ve been to. The groundskeeper Larry is the nicest man and was so welcoming from booking to departure. You can tell he takes pride in caring for his site. There’s a nice big field for the dogs to play in and we were able to rent kayaks from the outfitter across the creek to explore the Edisto River. There’s a good burger place 3 miles down the road (Lee’s) too. The cell and WiFi worked great for full time remote work and locationally Colleton is about 1 hour between Charleston, Savannah, and Congaree National Park. I think this is also the smallest state park in South Carolina.

Overall good experience with this campground. The ranger was super sweet and helpful. We enjoyed the trails, and they were nice and easy to get through and just long enough to feel like you got a bit of hiking in. They offer rentals for John boats, paddle boats, and kayaks for a very reasonable cost. We rented two paddle boats and had a blast (it was exhausting though). There is wifi at the office and meeting building, which came in handy for communication since cell service was spotty at best.

The sites are kind of on the smaller side and close, so if you are bringing a large camper it might be a challenge. There were lots of campers, so it's definitely doable though. We were in a tent so the pad size was perfect for us. The pad is mostly sand over clay, rather than gravel, which was great with the tent. The sites have power and water. Lots of trees, so it's perfect if you have hammocks. They also sell fire wood on site, if you need it.

My only minor complaints were the bathrooms, office hours, and wasps. The bathrooms are clean and fully functional but oddly proportioned so the showers and stalls are really cramped but the sink area is huge. The office is only open a couple hours a day, which was understandable but inconvenient. There were a lot of wasps around the fishing pier and the boats. Didn't have any problems with them in other areas or at the camp site, so that was good at least.

All in all, the trip was very enjoyable and we look forward to going back to Barnwell as well as making our way through the other state parks.

This state park has a beautiful natural spring that is home to aquatic turtles, fish and aligators. It has history as a prisoner of war camp for the civil war and you can see some of that natural history as you walk it's many trails. The knowledgeable rangers work hand in hand with the local college and it's students in archeology to uncover more and more of it's secrets. Here you can play on athe playground with its water splashpad, go down the slides, and walk around the stream looking for aligators (don't feed the aligators) There is birdwatching, kicking and canoeing or paddleboats if you prefer on the lake. You can primitive camp, use a tent or RV space with water and power or rent a cabin. The friends of the park and the rangers host many various activities to make your stay a memorable one. Enjoy!

We would love to camp here again and have a better experience. It's a nice, small park. The office has games available to borrow, there's a playground, and the river's edge is fun to explore (what little you can access). We loved how convenient the park was to other things in the area we wanted to visit.

I booked our campsite online. Looking at the map, I could see our site was close to "a" road. I didn't realize it was a very busy highway. Why they put all those campsites along a highway is just beyond me. We had 8 in our group, 6 of them being children. None of us slept well being constantly woken up by the sounds of transport trucks driving straight for us. It put a major damper on our trip.