Best Glamping near McClellanville, SC

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.

One of the cleanest campgrounds I’ve been to in South Carolina. And only a short walk from the beach

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.

Huntington Beach State Park South Carolina. Stayed a week. Great campground. Trails, easy access to the most amazing beach. The nicest washroom facilities and laundry. January was a little early for us, temperature wise. We would probably return in Feb or March but maybe it is too busy then?

Don’t confuse this campground with Hunting Island (many people do). Although expensive, the sites here are very generous in size. Sites on the outside of the loop have more privacy (sites 1-33 have trees behind them for even more privacy). 

The restrooms and showers are clean. 

There are multiple access points to a very walkable or runnable beach. No bike rentals on-site but there is a local bike shop that will deliver to your site. Tours of Atalaya available plus other programs (although we didn’t take advantage of these). There is a large store with many souvenirs along with general necessities. If you order three or more bundles of firewood, they will deliver to your site. 

It would have been nice to have a utility sink to wash dishes in as there are in other state parks. Also, like all other South Carolina state parks, alcohol is prohibited.

Although I usually take many photos at our campgrounds, for some reason, I didn't here!

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.

We had a great week at Buck Hall! The campground isn't very large so I definitely recommend making a reservation. During shrimp baiting season (60 days starting the Friday nearest September 15) the campground is completely booked. Plan accordingly! There is really nice boat landing and fishing/crabbing pier in the campground. We had a blast kayaking around and had some awesome dolphin encounters. The historic town of McClellanville is super cute and I definitely recommend a seafood dinner at TW Graham's! Their key lime pie is amazing as well! The nearby Sewee Visitor Center has red wolves and is free to visit. They also have RV parking! We enjoyed this, but if you have kids I think it would be a must do! You can call ahead and find out when they will be feeding the wolves. The crabbing is great at the campground and we had a delicious crab boil as a result! The only reason I am not giving this campground 5 stars is that the bathrooms were pretty gross. They were working on them while we were there so maybe there is a brighter future for these run down bath houses. Our hotspots worked great here too!

I’ve been to Buck Hall several times. Excellent place to trailer your boat, cook over a campfire, and have a shower to wash the salt off at the end of the day. Views of the Intracoastal waterway are nice, watching the variety of boats pass by. The majority of the area is cleared grass, cutting down on bugs. Don’t forget to bring the frisbee! Since this isn’t a state park, they are tolerant to crackin a couple of cold ones. Boat landing is deep enough to drop a large boat into the drink, and cruising up Bulls Bay or heading south towards Dewees. Hiking a section of the Palmetto Trail is a good option for a day out of the sun due to the heavy maritime forest canopy. Best time of the year is Fall, Spring, and Winter. Trailering your boat will force you to pay for an RV site.

Great spot! Saving this to my list for if I ever travel back this way.

Nice open spots right next to a river! Water and Electric Hookups on site and a dump station off site.

Pretty hard getting spots here but we many to get one!

This campground was perfection. There are docks, a boat ramp, fantastic bathroom\shower houses! The intercoastal waterway goes through the center of this campground giving us amazing views of dolphins playing at sun set. This campground is highly recommended and a short drive to the Angel oak tree is a must see while in the area!

We stayed in a 2 bedroom cabin for this trip. It was a great campground. It had a pool, camp activities, hiking/nature trail. It was extremely clean and the staff was friendly. It has a lake for fishing and water activities, a dog park. It is very close to things around Charleston. We will absolutely go back.

This campground is near Charleston,SC and the Beach at Isle of Palms.

Vantastic