Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Chester, SC

We just finished a two week stay at Iron City Campground in Blacksburg, SC. Great campground. Lisa (the owner) was fantastic and super accommodating. We were in site 45 with full hookups. The pool/picnic area was clean. The sites were clean and arranged well and the entire campground is very well maintained. There is Saturday night karaoke and a fenced dog park with benches and a fire hydrant. Each site has a campfire ring, two person swing, picnic table. Some late night road noise, but nothing concerning. Very convenient to Shelby, Gafney, and Gardner Webb University. Great Campground. We will definitely stay here again when we’re back in the area.

My bf and I rented a camper cabin-electricity, heat, air, bunkbeds + full bed…secluded from the rest of the park, located on its own loop, separate showers(2) + 3 stalls + changing room in the public restrooms…AND IT WAS ALL VERY CLEAN! Very helpful and friendly park rangers available, but not “in your face” 😉 We had a wonderful time! Kayaking, paddle boarding(both mine) and brought our boat to put in at their small, but efficient, Marina! Beautifully well kept grounds…but left to age untrained on ginormously stellar Lake Murray, South Carolina(Mid-state) I would HIGHLY recommend a visit/stay to this family, pet, everyone friendly State Park!!!

Overall, this is a very nice, clean park conveniently located to the interstate I-85) and attractions in the area. It has all the amenities you would expect to find at a KOA such as a swimming pool, playground, dog park, miniature golf, store, clubhouse, and more (including goats). It is by far the nicest private campground in the area that we have stayed at.

This KOA has 127 sites offering varying degrees of services to accommodate RV's, tents, and those wanting to rent cabins. We chose a 50-amp full hook-up back-in site but were upgraded to a pull-thru so we could be in a sunny location to mitigate the chilly air. How nice of them! Our site (#79) was perfectly level as were most others (but not all). Water, electric, and cable hook-ups were well placed at the site and worked fine. We paid $37/night(with the KOA member discount). Nice, large grassy area for dogs to walk and sniff and there is a decent size dog park.  Roads and pads are hard packed gravel with grass in between sites. Some sites are set in a wooded area while some are out in the open with plenty of sun and satellite coverage. The park is big rig friendly and the roads are easily navigable. All sites have a picnic table and some had fire pits but ours did not. Cable is included and offered over 50 channels. Wifi worked well at our site.  The laundry was small with three washers and three dryers but very clean and had a decent book exchange. The bathroom and showers were super clean and looked like they were updated recently. 

The campground is extremely clean and the owners/employees are super friendly. There is a short hiking trail (less than a mile) through the woods and plenty of green space in front of some of the pull-thrus. playground large swimming pool with large deck putt putt with lots of goat humor. 

The only downside would be the closeness of sites but that is pretty much what you expect from private RV parks. Fortunately, we did not have neighbors right next to us which gave us more space. I'm usually not a KOA fan but have to say this one was great for our overnight stay and we would recommend it.

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.

Stayed here for one night through the Passport America discount. Their rate for a regular site is $52 (premium is a bit more), so with the PA discount it was $26, but with taxes and a $3 “processing fee” our rate for the night came to $32. We had a FHU site, pull through, very nice and clean and pleasant. 

The RV park is lovely, wooded and quiet and peaceful, and has a campground feel. There are so many amenities here: 

-large clean new dog park

-pond that looks to be under construction

-nice new clean laundry room (dryers work great),$2.50/wash,$1.50 dry

-nice modern and clean and new showers (though unnecessarily gendered), 3 units in individual rooms

-pool with barbecue grill and picnic benches just outside the gate

-office has games, knick knacks, basic camping supplies, snacks, clothing, and adorable dog treats for sale, as well as a large book exchange shelf

-wifi is only good in the office

-propane for sale at $3.75/gal (in Nov 2023)

-firewood is $7/bundle

-playground 

Staff was very friendly and welcoming. Good cell reception for ATT and Verizon. Trash bins but no recycling. Heads up there’s a hefty fee for early check in. They make this very clear so there are no surprises if you show up early. We had a great stay here.