Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Lancaster, SC

Campground is huge & within walking distance of the raceway. Camping world is across the street if you forgot anything! Win! We parked across from the playground for the kids and it was so nice. They have a sand volleyball court there too. Dog park in the far back corner. Different vibe off of racing season. Very affordable & nice quiet stop! Off season, they turn two sites into one so you get 100' to yourself. All gravel. Grassy areas around for pets. Some sites have a grass backyard area. Fences & picnic tables separate the sites.

We’ve stayed here two months and enjoyed it. They have an open area in a field and then a few sites more spread out with some trees scattered around. We got one of the spread out sites and quite liked our spot. The vibe is residential/family oriented. The park staff are friendly. Hookups are functional. Our spot provided enough area to let our dog have a good amount of space on the lead. Nice fire pit on our site as well. The only bathrooms and the laundry facilities are in the main office which can be a bit of a walk depending on where you are in the park. We have a bike so we enjoyed zipping around on that when we needed to get around the park. There’s a dog park that we used a lot and also there are a bunch of trails behind the campground. I don’t think a lot of people knew the scope of how extensive the trail system was - but it was really pretty back there and we explored and found a lot of beautiful little places back there. Check out the trails for sure. All in all a nice place. Felt safe. Felt reserved.

Pros The pond was beautiful, nice walking trail for beginners, would never consider this a hiking park. Location was close to Colombia and all it offers. Bathhouse was acceptable but nothing to brag about. Toilets were three flushers is you cared about the next guy.

Cons Guessing I may have had the worst site (41) but walking through there were others similar. Site 41 is a pull through lot which declines quickly upon entry and is marred by deep ra9n crevices. You then incline to the area you should probably land as there is an obvious flat spot. Unfortunately in you stop there, your camper door will open on the neighboring fire ring which is the only fire ring on the back side of the neighboring spot in in the fore ground of yours. Asinine. I had to manipulate my camper for an hour to a spot level enough yet not in my neighbor's fire and dealt with a large tree and had to tie back branches to extend my awning. Uggg

Effing covid. The state of South Carolina, the City of Columbia don't have mask mandates. But this state park requires a mask to pee in the urinal. The boss says the county still mandates it.

I gave this campground four stars, but only for RVs and travel trailers. I would not give it four stars for tent campers. Tent campers would have a hard time finding a suitable site that would not be too rocky. When I checked in, the lady was nice enough to find a site with grass behind the gravel so I could set up my tent. She didn’t warn me that it was sloped. With that said, it is a campground in a beautiful setting. The lake and the sitting area beside the lake are both beautiful. There is a paved walkway down to the lake to a sitting area and a dock. The bath house was air conditioned, almost too much. It is a shock to the system moving from the intense South Carolina heat into the bath house. However, it was a nice break from the heat. Be aware that when you take a shower, you may have to wait a few minutes for the hot water to start. When I first turned it on, I wondered if there was any hot water. Eventually it came, and it was HOT, so I had to adjust it quickly. Also, take your own hand soap with you. There are paper towels but no soap. There are several trails, and you can rent boats, peddle boats, canoes, and kayaks. There is also a disc golf course. If I had known beforehand, I would have taken my own discs. That’s my fault for not doing the research. My favorite part of this camping experience was waking up early in the morning and sitting by the lake. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture a photo of the ducks taking off and flying in a perfect v-formation, but it was so peaceful there. Overall, this is a great campground to get away from civilization.

It was difficult for me to find Woods Ferry, but after talking with a park official, I finally got there. It is off the beaten path, so it is quiet. Apparently, there had been a lot of rain recently, and the area showed it. Woods Ferry is a campground mainly for campers who have horses. There are corrals at many of the campsites, so there are also a lot of horseflies. Horseflies and the actual site itself are my two main concerns. Selecting my campsite was my mistake. It was sloped, but there are a few others that were not sloped. There is running water and a pit toilet. Otherwise, you will have to take everything else in that you need. 

Since South Carolina is hot during this time of year, I was a bit uncomfortable, especially since I was on a slope.

There is a separate section for group camping. However, I think it caters to groups of horse campers, as there are corrals at the campsites. 

Overall, it’s not too bad for those who camp in an RV or a travel trailer, but it’s not ideal for tent campers.