Best Glamping near Dorchester, SC

We found this campground well maintained and quiet. The bath house was recently remodeled and now has air conditioning. I found it to be one of the nicest bath facilities we have ever used. The campsites have full RV hook-ups and come with a picnic table and fire ring. The park does allow pets and has a dog park with a beach; it seems like the pups were having a marvelous time playing chase on the beach.This is a County Park with trails for walking or leisure biking. A new water park is under construction and should open this summer. The camp store is well stocked and the staff was very friendly and helpful. One downside was the WIFI (one of the perks at this place) did not work the entire 5 days we were there. I need to work remotely so this was a BIG problem. I had to go to the Starbucks to work...bummer! Positives were the easy drive and parking at nearby Folly Beach during the week, and the close proximity to Historic Charleston.

Reservations 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.

I like the primitive camping area. The bathroom and water source is nearby, as well as a pavilion/shelter. There are three sections, with multiple areas for camping in each one. Each has 2-3 tables and a fire ring. 

I hammock camp, and there are plenty of trees useful for this purpose. This is primitive, so there is no electrical or water spout, although the bathroom has both. There is a 1 1/2 mile walking trail nearby, that runs along the Edisto River.

I haven't actually frequented the other camping areas: RV drive-up and walk-in, so I can't review them.

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.

This park is one of the best that we visited so far. It was pure luck, but our dates were during their Festival of Lights. The entire park was decorated with holiday lighting scenes, all sponsored by various Charleston businesses. The displays were awesome! Even the walking/biking paths were decorated. They must have spent months on this. The campground was clean and the sites were nicely separated by trees and shrubs. Bath houses were immaculate. Apparently some folks come every year around this festival because individual sites were also decorated with lights- even in the trees. We camped at James Island County Park in a Travel Trailer.

Should you be driving an RV, hitched to a 5th Wheeler or hauling a trailer, whatever your mobile camping experience might be, there’s 116 campsite options to choose from here at James Island Co Park, which offers both pull-through & back-in sites (maximum 80 feet), which provide a great launching pad to explore more than 643 acres of pure outdoor bliss offering perhaps one of the most expansive list of amenities and attractions (see more below). Once you arrive here at this RV Campground from James Island Parkway, you’ll pass the Ranger Station and will circumnavigate the circle-like exterior of the park until you arrive to this very CG, turn right and check-in at the main office, which also serves as the CG marketplace.

This RV Campground is basically the expanse of 2 lateral football fields with an east and west side, dissected on the east side by 3 simple short lanes and a restroom / shower / laundry facility located right in the middle. Over on the west side, there’s a single loop that isn’t dissected at all, but has a second, narrower loop on its northern flank, where hereto, a central restroom / shower / laundry facility has been plotted right in the middle of this circuitous loop.

RV Campground Amenities include: FHUs with 20 / 30 / 50 amp electric, water & sewage, 24-hour staffing, activity center, super-clean, new bathhouses and restrooms, designated dump station, complimentary WiFi, campground marketplace, coin-operated laundr-O-mat, stand-up grills / BBQs, fire rings, picnic tables, propane-refueling station, trash / recyclable containers, cottages available to rent as well as ice + firewood for sale.

Situated just north of where your RV is anchored is the Outdoor Zone featuring a 50 foot climbing wall, obstacle challenge course, 1K sq ft bouldering wall and slackline that will have you and your brood enjoying these backwoods in no time. West of this Outdoor Zone is an 18-hole disc golf course and back towards the center of the park is a Splash Zone Waterpark complete with (2) 200 foot waterslides, 500 foot long lazy river, leisure pool & rainforest play structure, kid’s playground as well as a boat house with kayak, pedal boat and canoe rentals along with direct access to a small lake, round-trip shuttle service (to the nearby Convention& Visitor Bureau, Folly Beach Pier of Folly Beach County Park), Spray Play Waterpark, K9 park, crabbing & fishing dock, 16K acres of freshwater lakes, Santee Stage for live music and events, 4 individual group shelters and countless picnic tables in addition to 5+ miles of paved paths offering hiking / biking bliss.

Insider’s Tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you are one of those RV campers that come towing a Jeep behind them or have somehow managed to transport a golf cart with you and find that the slot you’ve been given doesn’t adequately provide enough space for everything including your RV (let alone the additional transport you’ve brought) have no fear, as there’s substantial, additional parking that exists right in front of the Group Camping area, just due north of where you are stationed; (2) I found it hard to believe that with over 100 sites there was only 2 restroom / shower facilities and every time we tried to use the showers, there was a waiting line – so given this, timing is EVERYTHING as normally everyone is heading to get their showers first thing in the morning – so I highly recommend you either get up SUPER early or simply change your shower schedule to mid-afternoon or early evening; (3) In the event that you wanna try something other than what you’ve been whipping up from the confines of your on-board mini-fridge or roto-molded Cordova cooler, then nearby there’s mediocre fast food options like Zaxby’s or Bojangles, but if you’re OK to drive a smidge further, there’s a great joint called Bohemian Bull that’s one part restaurant / one part outdoor tavern of which I highly recommend the fried green tomatoes and bar-b-cuban sandwich; (4) Should you need to stock up on any supplies while here, there is the county park store over in the RV Campground, but for anything more substantial, just about 5 minutes south of this CG you’ll find a Walmart Supercenter; and (5) IMHO the best slots in this RV exclusive campground are those on the perimeter with the best sites being the ones without anything behind them, specifically on the NW periphery with sites #46 - 55; along the westernmost side with sites #20, #21, #23, #24 and #26.

Happy Camping!

There are two sections to Edisto Beach State Park. The Ocean side campground is the best with the ocean breezes, but the marsh side campground is an easy bicycle ride from the beach.

It's South Carolina in the summer, so there are mosquitoes. And the raccoons are pretty fierce so you want to make sure your food is stored securely, so you don't wake up to critters eating your potato chips.

The restrooms and showers are clean.

Edisto Island is one of the least developed islands in South Carolina. There is a Piggly Wiggly grocery store to pick up all the things you may have forgotten. There is an ice cream shop and several restaurants, but it is pretty quiet. My favorite thing about staying at Edisto Beach State Park is bicycling to the beach, bicycling along the paths in the state park that lead to a shell mound, built by Native Americans around 2,000 B.C., and bicycling for beers at one of the little bars overlooking the ocean. Another plus is the park's proximity to Botany Bay.

We went to this campground in the middle of June. Great campground, great site. Some sites are full sun, and as it was around 100 degrees every day, that could be a problem for some. It’s right on the edge of the town so it’s easy to walk or bicycle around. The only complaint I had was there is no dump station on site. I had to load my “blue tank “ into my truck and take it about a mile or so down the road to dump. Our site had water and electric, but was told the water was salty. To be honest, I didn’t drink it but we used it for everything else, and it was fine. Park was clean, staff friendly.