Best Glamping near Dorchester, SC

Nice RV Site if you are visiting Charleston, South Carolina. The site is very hot due to no trees. Currently the restrooms and showers are down, so you need to have a self contained unit. However, very quiet. No pull thru sites. Must back in.

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.

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.

When making reservations at James Island County Park we had modest expectations, but we were going to tour Charleston most of the time, so we decided anything close to the city would be good enough. The campground turned out to be very nice. We wished we had stayed there longer to enjoy not only Charleston, but the nature beauty of the park itself. The campground is located in a huge park with lots of amenities. The sites are spacious, covered with trees, full hookups with 50 amp service. There are a lot of shaded picturesque walking and bike trails in the park. The dog park was amazingly big, with a little doggy beach for water lovers. There is a big kids playground with a fun looking spray play fountain. It is located just 15 min drive from the campground to downtown Charleston. It is a great campground to stay when visiting Charleston. We have a video on our YouTube Channel- Summertime RV Rovers- about this park- Great Campgrounds in Coastal South Carolina: Charleston and Hilton Head Island. Please check for yourself. We camped at James Island County Park in a Motorhome.

Perfectly situated near folly beach! Awesome trails. Pet friendly ,great fishing. Clean restrooms.

If we had more time then we would have stayed longer to enjoy the lake and more. We pulled in late in the afternoon and then headed right into the city. There were a few sites remaining when we got there but virtually no one in the back lot tent area. They have a large tent only area and big parking area. They could do something to cater to van campers with their big lot out back. The showers were nice and they had a nice park and splash pad next to the pond. They have a nice game room, some yard games, and other amenities. Hookups at all the sites except for the tent area.

This is one of the best "all around" campgrounds we have visited. Sites are spacious and clean. plenty of sights to see in Charleston. It has a fantastic dog park and several miles of paved walking/biking paths. Great local restaurants, carriage tours, forts, shopping and more! Awesome place to stay!

Easy access to all of the tourist spots and nice that it was gated.

Awesome dog park with separate areas for large and small dogs, a water park, climbing wall, bike/walking path and much more. Close to historic Charleston and Folly Beach. Friendly and helpful staff, nice clean bath houses with laundry and kitchen facilities. Super nice campground!

Went camping there when my son was young lot of room to camp (tent) keep an one ear on creters. Great trials clean bath house good fishing

This is a big county park over 600 acres. We could only get reservations for two nights since there was no availability. However this was my favorite ever park to camp at. The campground is tucked in the back of the park. There’s numerous walking/biking paths and a terrific dog park with lake access. The park is very clean and well-maintained. I wish we had more time to explore this lovely, serene park.

Large multi-purpose park. Camping area is kept well and separated from general park areas. Basic no frill camp sites we like that get the job done. Nice asphalted trails for bikes, wheelchair, walking, water park in the park looks great for use in warmer times. Convenient to historical points in Charleston with grocery and Lowe’s nearby for resupply or items you forgot to bring. We’ve book marked for future stays when in the area.

This was a beyond beautiful park. From walking trails, the pristine bathrooms, and incredible dog park, we couldn’t have had a better stay. We should have stayed longer. We stayed at site 29, a large pull through with full hook ups. It was like having your own private driveway. It was also incredibly close to downtown Charleston and sites. We plan on coming back!

It will be hard to share how much we loved this spot! First off, the location to Charleston, Folly Beach, and Mt. Pleasant doesn’t get much better! We planned on staying just 3 nights but made it 4 once we realized how great of a spot it is. They have bike trails, a dog park, a water park (which is obviously closed in the winter), laundry, a camp store and very clean bathhouse! It’s a bit pricey but for the location and all the amenities it’s worth it!!!!

Also... if you are looking for nearby things to do I highly recommend taking the hour drive south to Botany Bay Plantation to see the driftwood beach!

Lovely campground with forested, private sites. Palm trees and oak trees with Spanish moss. Nice hiking trails. Phenomenal dog park. We stayed here in January 2021 and will come again in February 2021.

Pretty large campground but nicely wooded. Great location for day trips into Charleston. We stayed only one night but will probably come back when the weather is better.

Stayed at the James Island County Park during our honeymoon road trip. The park is located really close to Charleston, which made it ideal for exploring the city. The park the campground is located in is also super nice, it's quite a drive back to the campground. Bathrooms were great and clean, park property was clean. Our site 36 was right on the pond and close to the bathrooms. Sites are close together and there were some huge rigs. Nice campground if you aren't trying to rough it.

Fishing, kid friendly, climbing wall, rope course, water park, 10 minutes to Charleston and 15 minutes to the beach.

This is a well kept, maintained campground. This is also my first time here. The kids loved finding the geocache throughout the park. There have been no ants, food stealing fauna aka squirrels. The mosquitoes haven't been excessive either. My thermocell has been able to keep up!

Charleston County has done a great job with this campground and park. Sites are medium sized for the most part. But do watch out for the double campsites if you are not camping with another party as you will be too close to strangers. Trails are expensive, park is well maintained, has large dog park on pond, bikes can rented and a lot of water recreation activities are available. Laundry and shower facilities in camp!

This 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.

We camped here in mid September during a very hot week.  The staff was courteous, and the sites are mostly private.  The mosquitos were abundant the week we stayed in Site #6.  Restrooms and showers are modern and well maintained.  Lots of washers and dryers available.  The campsite was gravel and sand, with lots of large gravel stones that made it uncomfortable to walk around at times.  The site appeared to not be maintained often (lots of old leaves and weeds), but overall the park was clean.  Our site was close to the road that many county vehicles travelled, so it was not a quiet spot.  The park offers a shuttle to Charleston, a climbing wall, splash pool, many trails.  The dog park is huge with a great place for the dogs to swim.  The park store has most items you'd need while camping, and some souvenirs.  Overall it was a good experience, but I'd suggest a site more off the road if you want a quiet site.

So I stayed during November and December. County and state parks are usually relatively and expensive although this one is more on the higher end. And coupled with the fact that they have a light show through the park. The traffic was incredible at night. I really think they should give a discount during this time of year because of the inconvenience of having to deal with the traffic.

Lovely grounds and shop. Had an ice cream social that you could pay for. Facilities were clean.

We got there before a storm that everyone was worried about. Attendants came around to ensure we were ok. The area was lucky but it did get very flooded. Our spot, 124 was fine but some spots got a lot of water, but didn’t take long for it to subside. Can’t wait to come back.

Full amenities, so price tag goes along. Overall good campgrounds for RV/trailers but overkill for tents.

I was so lucky to get a spot for two nights in this campground. Lovely camp hosts, pristine clean bathrooms, laundry facility. There are paved trails around the campground, dog park and even a fishing pier. The views are stunning every turn you take. It's incredibly close to downtown Charleston and Folly Beach. I'm so glad I stopped here.