Best Cabin Camping near Calhoun Falls, SC

Camping and hiking in the fall when everyone else is either working or choosing to hunker down inside...is premeire!

Happening upon Lake Hartwell State Park, was a find! We were traveling light, heading to the Hendersonville, NC area for bagging waterfalls and cascades and some ridge hikes. So we opted to rent one of their camper cabins. Spartan to be sure..its dry, solid and has a door. Oh, and it had a window AC unit...but it was plenty cool enough. Nearby were the showers and restroom facilities. For all practical purposes...we had the entire campground to ourselves. The park is clean, well-maintained and well staffed. The rangers were helpful in pointing us in the correct direction for dayhikes and local points of interest.

The Stumphouse Tunnel was of particular interest and made for a great hike centered around pre Civil War era. Station Cove Falls were beautiful and the Oconee Station State Historic Site were delightful and well preserved. A military Outpost and Indian Trading Post from the late 1700's were awesome!

Back to the campground. Our cabin rental was located on a pennisula and because the water levels of Lake Hartwell were down, we had plenty of beach area to comb. Lots of downfall was present for scavenging...so our campfires were splendid. The weather was fairly decent...and we enjoyed unseasonably warm days while we were there.

I'd definitely like to revisit, under the same circumstances...but would bring a tent...and my canoe.

The main feature is the lake. Fishing, boating, kayaking, swimming. Stayed at site #12. Waterfront excellent view of lake but sunny site. Sites had water, electric, concrete table, fire ring, and lantern hook. Not much barrier between sites but sites were good size just open. Everyone was very friendly. During week it was relatively empty but on Friday the campground started to fill up. Sites in the 60-90 loop looked the best with water views and shade and most were pull through. The bathrooms were ok and there is a laundry room. The bathrooms were quite far from some sites requiring a long walk or drive. Park had a great store selling souvenirs, ice, firewood, worms for fishing. Campground staff and host were very friendly. Not much around outside park. There was a dollar general about 12 miles away for supplies. You could pull your boat up to your waterfront campsite. They also have kayak rentals.

Tugaloo state Park: This Georgia State Park offers a multitude of activities from hiking, paddling, boating, fishing, swimming, putt putt, tennis/pickleball court and biking the park roads to name a few things. This park appears to be a local favorite and weekends were more active than weekdays during our 10 night stay at the camp ground. We really felt at home here due to the friendliness of the park staff and camphost volunteers. We loved the gravel sites, good Verizon cell reception 📶 and best of all the ease of access to our kayaks🛶. (Do check with the park office because some things like putt putt may be seasonal) 🔔 Another thing- should you want to rent a patio boat ⛴ - the park office has some numbers for you.

We stayed here in late October for 10 days and didn’t want to leave. The campground is laid out well with gravel sites, concrete picnic tables, fire pit, water, 30 amp and grey water drains throughout the campsite areas. 🚍Larger rigs—> Bring a dogleg/bone for double 30 amp.👍. Also- be aware some of the pull thru sites are almost buddy sites - your truck hauling your trailer will fit but your trailer won’t because another camper is sharing the pull thru lane with you. Rv’s with Tows won’t have this same issue. 🏡Cabins- I shared on the video that cabins 1-10 have less stairs if that is important to you. Yurts- some of these are on a hill- this means a walk up to restrooms ...but don’t worry, there is a nicely paved sidewalk. 🏕 no electricity at the walk in sites- you do have water, fire pit and picnic table. There is a group campground too.

We did 2 videos of this park- so there is lots of info about all the amenities at this park. ***This is a park we have put on our favorite list to camp host here in the future.

The campground itself is gorgeous, heavily wooded and lots of hills. It has great access to Lake Hartwell, and lots of sites. The sites are very close together throughout most of the park. The park also has lots of hills which can be a challenge for some RVs. There are also some very tight turns on these hills. Some campsites are level, some are very unlevel, there are lots of seasonal sites with built in porches making it very tight to get into the travelers spots that are mixed throughout the park.

When you enter the park make sure you stay to the left of the sign. We made the mistake of going straight our first time at this park and almost lost our 5th wheel at the turn around by the lake. If you miss the turn you are safer backing up to the entrance.

Cell Service: AT&T was minimal, T-Mobile was minimal.

Not all sites have sewer and there is a pump out service for a fee. They do have a dump station but it is not easy or ideal to move throughout the park once parked.

Each site had a picnic table, some had a fire ring. Some sites are full hook up, many do not have sewer at the site.

As of 2019 this park needed a lot of upgrades to the majority of the sites, such as fire rings, new picnic tables. The sides of the road were washing out from water run off. These were things also needed in 2018.

Amenities: Laundry Swimming Pool Dump Station Club House Pool Tables Lake Access (Lake Hartwell) Basketball Court Volleyball Playground Storage Lot Beach area Fishing

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.

If you are looking for a near perfect lakeside camping experience in the 'Low Country' here in South Carolina, than you may have just found the perfect getaway! Tucked away from main roads and a solid 20 minute drive from the nearest traces of civilization (the itty bitty town of McCormick), Hickory Knob State Park, which sits right on the Savannah River / Lake Thurmond and provides the setting for truly one of the most perfect camping escapes I have ever encountered. 

There's about 60-70 individual campsites here, but you would be hard pressed to count them all on account that there is so much foliage that separates each individual campsite that despite the # of sites, you are left with a very intimate and secluded feeling. While some of these well-secluded spots can get you just about as close to the lakeshore as possible (without infringing upon the land boundaries itself), most set a decent 10- 15 feet above shoreline and offer a private and simple-to-navigate pathway to the refreshing lollops of the lake's gentle rippling waves. 

Each site is apportioned with the basics - long drive-way with corresponding flat base platform (either perfect for RV or very amenable to the largest of tents), fire ring, water spigot and picnic table. While there's a handful of campsites that appear to be close cousins to the one next to it, most sites feel independent from one another and offer up enough space to forget your next-door neighbors. Further, I counted 3 separate loops (or communities, if you will), each with their own facilities. 

Apart from the greatest amenity being the lake itself, the park also offers a simple, yet splendid boat jetty with an easy-to-navigate round-about. Unlike many other state parks I have visited in the country, this one offers boaters many easy places to stow away their boats, when not in use on the lake. Further afield, there are plenty of trails to explore the deeper, less frequented side of this overgrown lakeside forested haven. 

If there were any drawbacks at all, it would simply be the less than mediocre bathrooms and showers that the state of South Caroline seems intent on not fixing (think back 50 to 60 years ago to what bathrooms might have looked like back then and then come present day to find exactly the same thing, without any repairs (and perhaps any sanitation) being made whatsoever). With all of the tax dollars that the state collects, on top of the fees paid for camping in these amazing state parks, you think the state would be able to afford building and maintaining better and more modern facilities for its overnight guests (what is it that they say about hospitality in the South?!). 

In sum, if you are looking for some really good seclusion, right on the lake, don't mind the overgrown nature of this campsite, have a boat, and perhaps older children that don't need playgrounds (and other man-made distractions) and can do without direct access to civilization, then this may very well be a perfect spot for you. 

Insider tips? Here's a few: (1) Because the nearest town of McCormick is a bit of a hike to get to (think at least a 20 minute drive on slow moving, winding country roads), be sure to bring everything you need with you, but if you do need any groceries, there's a Food Lion that has just about everything you might need; (2) When you grow tired of trying to conjure up that next meal from the depths of your Cordova cooler, then check out Michelle's, which is one half family restaurant - where I never believe any waitress who answers the question 'What is the best thing on the menu' with the response 'EVERYTHING!', but I will admit, she was absolutely right - we tried the pizza, wings, salad bar and hamburger one night - all were equally amazing - and one half happy hour / karaoke bar that apparently the entirety of McCormick shows up at after 8pm every night, which was pretty cool to experience; (3) When / if you head into the town of McCormick, take note of the Ice ATM machine there - it's fantastic and super cheap, so be sure to stock up on your ice there; and (4) If you are wanting to 'whet your whistle' after a good hard day of kayaking, then head on over to nearby Back Paddle Brewing for some really nice local craft beers.

Happy Camping!