Best Glamping near Pawleys Island, SC

Beautiful state park with access to Atalaya castle and Brookegreen gardens, all in walking distance. Art festivals are held here too! Bike trails give you access to Pawleys Island, Litchfield, and the shops along the way. The brackish water bridge uses a natural gate to change with tides and will typically be packed with alligators. Take the 1/2 mile walk to the jetty and do some fishing. The further you get from the parking area the better the shark teeth and fishing get. The camp store has some minimal items but make sure to bring meat tenderizer for the occasional jelly fish sting. The trails to the beach from the last 2 hike in tent sights are great, if you go on a full moon you may find some turtles- NO Flashlights! Been here numerous times and it is always less crowded than Myrtle Beach State park. Make sure to check out the aquatic nature center too!

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

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?

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.

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!

I grew up in Myrtle Beach and camped here in the primitive camping on many occasions. I've done this with groups and also alone. It is absolutely spectacular. During the off-season you'll have the place to yourself. During the summer months, it's busy during the day but quiet at night.

Tips- Take a bike and go out riding late at night. The alligators will lay on the road at night and you can ride right by them. Once night falls, take your sleeping mat or cot down to the beach and sleep there. Be sure to visit the castle during the day.

I've also camped out in the normal tent sites with family. Still a pretty awesome spot to stay, but not as secluded as the primitive camping.

Talk about a popular campground! cWe arrived late in the day hoping to camp, but the campground was full, which is understandable since it was the busy season. The sites looked spacious. We did spend some time at the beach which was not very busy in comparison to how busy the campground was.

site: large. lots of bugs. some shaded sites. space between. amenities: clean. busy. attractions: beach. wildlife. hiking. I would visit here again.

We went to Waccamaw NWR for birding and it was nice to camp along the ocean. There’s a castle on site too. The site is all very open though there are some shady places. Lots of stuff to do on site, this was one of the best campgrounds I’ve seen. Really great SC experience.

Went during off season and it was great! Loved being so close to the beach and to the hustle and bustle of the town! My dog was also welcomed with open arms which I really appreciated! We got to see the turtles meander to the sea in the morning, the sites were pretty spacious and like I said- we had the place to ourselves!

Huntington Beach SP is a wonderful campground in Murrells Inlet, SC. The nature center at this park recently was struck by lightning and all was lost. They are in the process of recovering from that but I would highly recommend doing what you can to visit this SP. Very nice campsites, conveniently located minutes from the ocean! Lots of birds and other wildlife all around too. Clean, friendly and welcoming. Great hiking as well!

Best beach camping I've had! Lots of shade at the walk-in tent sites. The sites are secluded with bear/animal proof food storage at each site. Of course raccoons are about everywhere, but the nature is so friendly at this campground. A little birdy built a nest in our beach towels one night. The park rangers were helpful (for that situation) so that's cool. We camped during a tropical depression with no flooding. 8 straight hours of hard rain. Great great park.

Very spacious, lots of trees, and close to the beach.

Great beach. Castle to explore on site. Beautiful scenery. Great bike trails.

I grew up near here, and Huntington Beach was our go to spot for primitive camping and a place to escape the tourists.

You can do full hook up or primitive camping here. I've done both with church groups, the family, and solo.

This is a pretty awesome place with no shortage of things to do...

• a castle to explore
• the beach
• a walk to the fishing jettys
• go flounder gigging
• fishing
• crabbing
• alligator watching
• biking
• and more

And, I saved the best for last...if you go out walking late at night, you can catch the big gators warming themselves on the road by moonlight. Just don't get too close. They're pretty fast.

We loved this camp site. Alligators and all!

Be advised that the park just added a new section called North Beach. Sadly, somebody got greedy as the sights look like a parking lot and the electric boxes are large and right in the middle of the site. They are all full- service sites at $60 per night. So sad when they had the opportunity to do something great!

Stayed in the primitive tent area. Be sure to bring your bug spray in the summer. Nice facilities,ample privacy, very nice staff and park store. The castle ghost tour is a lot of fun. Excellent beach that was not very crowded. We had a close encounter with an alligator ,that was very neat. Plenty to do inside the park so no need to leave and fight the terrible traffic just outside that area. Would definitely stay here again.

This is a great state park with an absolutely beautiful beach. Dogs are allowed year round. However we stayed in the new south campground and did not love it. Sites are very close together and about 5 of them have an ugly electric grid right on your site. Check with park to make sure you are not booking one. Also the full hook up is outrageously expensive. The beach access is going to be great once they get it open from the new campground. Bathhouse is really nice. If you stay in this campground the sites on the beach side are much nicer. The sites across the road are angled for constant sunlight even with canopy. Not good in the summer. I will go again but I will be in the older campground!

By far, Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC is one of thee best beach campgrounds the east coast has to offer. Be sure to reserve a site on the South end, it just opened in April 2018. Concrete pads, FHU, WiFi and the beach is just steps away from your door. The older section is still of high quality outdoorsy things to do. Do not miss this gem!

Very sizable campground with great beach access, trails and marsh area. Bring your bikes to truly enjoy the environment.

Really nice campground with easy access to the Atalaya Castle (great photo ops here.) There is a nice nature center, walking trails with views of the wetlands/marshes so lots of opportunities to see wildlife. Just across the street from brookgreem gardens too, which you need to check out for a beautiful outing!

LOVE this campground/beach. Only downfall was the bugs. Read a longer review with photos on the link. https://imaginecamper.com/2018/02/22/huntington-beach-state-park/

Away from a lot of the hustle of the Myrtle Beach area surrounded by marsh/inlet on one side and beach on other. Good bit of sites but spaced enough to not feel too crowded. Lots of fun exploring the ruins or nature or just catching some waves.

We had a great time. The site has a lot of raccoons that obviously have been fed too often so keep everything stored away pretty good.

kayak swim and relax. Big sites far enough from myrtle to not be crowded