Escape into nature and disconnect from daily life with glamping near Pineville. Glamping is not only a fun alternative to traditional tent camping, but also allows you to pack more or less gear as you see fit. These scenic and easy to access South Carolina glamping locations are perfect for any adventurer.
Enjoy the natural beauty of James Island County Park, with year-round fun for the entire family. Just a short drive from downtown Charleston, the 643-acre park offers an abundance of exceptional recreation offerings and natural beauty.
With the Campground and Cottages at James Island County Park, it has never been more convenient to explore historic Charleston and the Lowcountry. Come discover our history, charm, fine dining, antiques, plantations, parks, and sandy beaches. Just minutes from all of these attractions is your private retreat within the 643-acre James Island County Park.
$35 - $70 / night
$48 - $55 / night
Buck Hall Recreation Area offers a premier location to enjoy the outdoors. It is situated along the Intracoastal Waterway and provides great access to Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, 65,000 acres of marsh, tidal creeks and beaches; and Bulls Bay, the coast's best shrimp baiting area.
The area is primarily used for shrimp baiting and fishing. Anglers can expect a huge variety of fish, including bass, flounder, sea trout, snapper, mackerel, swordfish, crab, shrimp, clams, oysters and more. The campground provides access to boating and ocean sailing. Fishing boats and often very large pleasure boats can be seen as they travel the popular Intracoastal Waterway. A long portion of the Palmetto Trail, which leads from the marshes of the ocean to the mountains of South Carolina, is accessible from the recreation area. Most of the trail is unpaved and can be used for hiking, biking or horseback riding, although a few sections are restricted to foot traffic only.
The popular campground sits at sea level, alongside the Intracoastal Waterway. It is part of the Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina. The campground itself is grassy and open, with very few trees and limited shade.
Charleston, South Carolina is about 30 miles southwest of the campground.
Reservation Fees In addition to camping fees a non-refundable reservation fee of $8.00 for telephone bookings and $6.00 for website bookings applies. Cancellation Fees Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee in addition to the non-refundable reservation fee. Late Cancellations A cancellation the day before or on the day of arrival incurs a $10.00 cancellation fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation will apply. Non-refundable reservation fees still apply.
$20 - $45 / night
Ranger
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.
Legend
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.
Guide
There are quite a variety of things to do at this state park, and the camp sites are spacious. There is a little store where you can buy any of the little things you may have forgotten. There were not too many people camping during our visit, but it could be that not many people want to stand the South Carolina heat! Either way, it made the visit quiet. There are also plenty of geocaches around, if you're into that. There are 2 places to shower in the campground, so I imagine that once it fills up, you may have to wait to shower. It was pretty clean and the water was clear, so I guess you could just go for a swim! I wish we had brought our tubes and some rope to float out on the water!
Traveler
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.
Legend
We used it as a 3 day stop on our way up to the Northeast. It is a ways from 95 and all but well worth it. peaceful and as stated very big. If you have a boat and or love to fish this is great place. Other then that, not much was happening while we were there. But to be fair it was spring time and this looks like a campground that is rocking in the summertime.
Our ATT hotspot was fine and our phones which are on the T-Mobile
Added a few pics to give you an idea.
LegendThis RV park is massive and has immediate access to water for your boat, kayak or canoe. Shortly after entering, you'll only need to continue due straight until you reach the double boat launch (extra points here for Rock Pond providing their own gas pump - and according to the fisherman I spoke with, they don't gauge you on the price of gasoline, which is nice for a change). Boat launch fee is $5. Nearby there's a tackle store for all your fishing needs - they also have basic toiletries and sundries in case you forgot something behind.
The park itself has plenty of shelters (but on holiday weekends, like when I was there, they book up fast, so if you're interested, call up early!), easy load-in and all of the amenities you would expect, including 30 / 50 amp hook ups, water and electrical lines. Theres tons of ancient Oaks dripping in Spanish moss along with area folklore and local spots that have tons of history. While the campground is open year-round, the store itself is closed between November 1 and March 1.
Let me tell you what I love most about this place. While I was there with a friend of mine and his young family, the place is perfect for kids - there's lots of places to go fishing, whether you are on a boat and want to venture further out, or don't want to leave land and just cast your line from one of the many points they have at this campground - there's a fishing pier, a dedicated fish pond and even a smaller pond that is just for the kiddos. How cool is that? And again, there's the big open Lake Marion itself, which is nothing short of fantastic. Beyond this, there's a small mini-golf course, a couple little playgrounds and recreation halls. The staff was friendly - nothing really short of fantastic and the security was top-notch.
A couple insider tips: 1) if you've got a boat and want to get out on the water, do it early before the long line takes you at least an hour of waiting; 2) bring earplugs - it can get somewhat noisy at night; 3) bring plenty of mosquito repellent (you're next to the water in the south, need I say more?); and 4) hit up JB Fishtales just a short jaunt down the way where they're serving up a whole of mischief, some incredibly awesomely bad karaoke (I just couldn't believe no one liked Ricky Martin out in these parts!) with some great whiskies and bourbons - Bonnie, thanks for not kicking me out on that last night!
Only downsides to this campground is that it is primarily for RV's with seemingly endless barren rows full of slanted parking spots. During the holiday weekend I was there, because there is not a whole lot of cover / shade / trees, noise carries and so it feels a little bit like camping out at Bonnaroo without all the A-list talent playing live. Other than this, you'll find this to be a pretty great place to get out on the water and lie beneath the stars.
Happy Camping!
Guide
Decent KOA. Some road noise.
TravelerWe were impressed from our very first contact. They have a check in station at the gate so you don’t even have to get out of your vehicle. Then they have people on golf carts take you to your site which is great! No need to drive around and find your spot. Not only that but they bring you the best route to park your RV in your site. They deliver firewood and pizza. The pizza was excellent. Customer service is outstanding! My dogs are loving it!
ScoutWe love this campground because of the space. They have two. One is a bit more crowded. There are miles and miles of hiking. Even when the park is full, the trails are pretty empty. So much space! The only downside is not having sewer hookups but the dump station is convenient. Some of the outside loop “rv” spots are not really for rvs. They are very hilly and challenging even for our baby camper. If you have a large rv, you want a drive thru in the middle.
GuideBeautiful views of lake Marion. Nice little beach with cute benches to watch the sunset. Dirt lots so pretty dusty. Older restrooms but clean. Looks like they are remodeling. Not all sites have sewer but a dump station on way out
RangerNice campground on the water. Worth the upgrade to the lake front sites.
RangerWorth the upgrade to lakefront sites.
GuideWe stayed at Santee Lake in a 37' travel trailer. Sites were tight for a rig that big but we made it work. Our site was level, others were definitely not. Nice dock for fishing. Great playground along the shore. If it wasn't near freezing, there was a nice spot for swimming. Ordered pizza and had it delivered to the campsite! Nice touch!
TravelerNice camping site off of I-95. I stayed one night each, going south and on the return trip north. The first site they tried to put me in was a "premium" site overlooking the lake. Beautiful site, but not nearly big enough for my 37' travel trailer. They moved me immediately, and even refunded the difference of cost between the new site and original site.
The camping sites are nice, and some are level. hookups are convenient, and work well. Lake is beautiful, and even had wooden chairs for use.
Store was stocked well, and had a pizzeria inside.
I will use this site going south again.
Recommend.
RangerOnly could stay for one night. But had a beautiful lake front site. Right by the playground. Really nice facilities.
ScoutWe stopped here for a night on our way back to Florida. We were on C5 which was a very large pull through and relatively level. We did not even have to bring out our leveling blocks, the auto leveler was able to handle it well. Power was stable and water pressure was good. Only things we did not like is that every site was just dirt and there was not much shade at our site.
ScoutCampground was clean. Very nice lake and swimming area. Nice pool, pet friendly.
GuideThis is a picturesque campground just across Lake Marion from Santee SC with water views and beautiful sunsets. The staff is friendly, the wifi adequate, and 24 channels of OTH HD TV for those times when the weather does not cooperate. There is a pizza oven on site and you can get it delivered by golf cart to your camp. This KOA not only has a pool, but a lakeside beach as well. This is a nice family destination.
TravelerAAAA++
ScoutLocated easily off I-95 this was a clean, well appointed, very nice campground with good facilities and kind staff. Would definitely stay here again!
ScoutWe stayed here a few weeks ago and were very happy with our stay. The May flies were thick and covered everyone's camper. The staff was very friendly. The only complaint was that the turn we had to make from the main road in to the isle where our campsite was, was almost too tight. Other than, we will for sure visit again!
RangerMy wife and I spent one night here out of necessity but would definitely return to actually visit and relax. It’s right on the Santee lake and even though we didn’t have a lakefront site we could still easily see it from ours. We didn’t get to just walk around and check things out but the staff were very friendly. I did use their restroom and it was clean. We did like how there were many birds active and chirping, there were some squirrels, we love all the critters.
It’s right off I-95, getting to it is simple. It can be a little tight in some spots but anything should be able to get through where your rig will fit. Our site did require a good bit of leveling. Plenty of water pressure, will definitely want a pressure regulator.
They serve Hunt Brothers pizza from the office. You can call and place an order, they’ll charge it to your card on file if you’d like, they’ll even deliver it to your site. And the pizza was phenomenal!!
Overall we were pleased and would be happy to visit again.
ScoutStay was nice. Very crowded and was a one night stop for many many RVs!! Roads are very tight!!! Nice place on the lake but not for an extended secluded stay!
ScoutPeaceful. Even being close to road...awesome until the 2 mexcans started playing their music. They we're close enough to office to be heard...
ScoutGreat staff, beautiful campsites, lots of amenities. Beach access
GuideFor our first time camping in our RV the staff was very friendly and helpful. The crew escorted us to our campsite, made sure we where happy. This was done with anyone who came in to camp.
If you don’t feel like cooking, order their awesome pizza, wings and they will deliver it to you by golf cart.
Our trash was picked up every morning. Campsite, pool and laundry area was kept clean.
We had an awesome view from our campsite of Santee Lake. We definitely will be coming back!
ScoutExcellent staff and facility. Five stars
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is the most popular glamping campsite near Pineville, SC?
According to TheDyrt.com, the most popular glamping campground near Pineville, SC is Cypress View Campground — Santee State Park with a 4.2-star rating from 44 reviews.
What is the best site to find glamping camping near Pineville, SC?
TheDyrt.com has all 11 glamping camping locations near Pineville, SC, with real photos and reviews from campers.
Keep Exploring
