Hamilton Branch State Park Campground

4 families in 4 campers on a first time visit. Great place! If you want to come for solitude then the “sights”provide that for sure. Park staff very helpful and friendly. Definitely a do over. Only downside was we didn’t realize water level was down. Didn’t affect the views but trodding the mud to get to the water made kayaking a little challenging.

The site is right on the lake with a wide trail leading directly to the water. The water was low during our trip so the immediate shoreline was a bit squishy going through the damp clay. I’d recommend water shoes. The shade provided by the trees was a welcome respite from the summer heat. It also provided ample privacy from neighbors on either side. Neighboring sites are spread out nicely. The area across the road from the site is undeveloped and recently cleared for forest maintenance but still looks nice. This campground loop is very quiet.

Had a great time. Beautiful views from campsite, clean bathroom, loved the General store. Will go back

The app is making my life more easy

Every campsite is on the lake!

Fun place to stay

We had a wonderful weekend. There are a ton of campsites at this park however they are spaced very well. Plenty of room between sites. Almost all sites are on the lake. Bathrooms were dated but clean.

We arrived at last light, and I am glad that we had daylight while we backed in. Lovely site, spacious. Sites 98 & 99  T off the connector road. Layout it such that your RV is parallel to the road, overlooking the water which is 80- 100 feet away. Your neighbors are a fair distance away, but your head and tail of the RV points to them- so once inside you're not even aware of them. We are 30 foot fifth wheel with F250, and i imagine the back-in would have been more challenging if 99 was occupied.  Nice family oriented park. Water and electric all good, dump station on way out. 

Did not use facilities, but apparently showers and toilets are a little drive away.

Wood: We drove out of the park, turned left and found an honor-system wood kiosk on parallel road - just over the railroad tracks. $5 for a small bundle, but it was worth it to us.

Leveling was not an issue.

Hosts keep site nice and clean,

Data: Visible worked great (25 mbs up & down, so no need to break out hotspots, Starlink etc

We had a great experience that unfortunately ended a day early due to some heavy rain. We checked in on a Thursday evening from the drive from Florida. Campsite was chosen from a map, which seemed to have an upfront water access. Apron arrival, we found out there was actually another campsite squeezed directly in front of us and a RV showed up to obstruct the breeze and view of the water. We wanted our own water entrance and the view, so we moved to campsite 103. Best decision we made was moving to campsite 103, highly recommend. It’s on its own point, more secluded from the other sites, almost no visibility from your neighbors. The best part was the view, sunsets over the water were beautiful. There is a slightly steep step down to get to a lower ridge that walks into the water, be careful in the rain, but that’s where we scattered our hammocks throughout. Campground wise, we had 2 tents set up, trucks parked about 20’ away and still had room for Cornhole boards, fire pit and tables. The lake access was awesome because we bring inflatable paddle boards and there was a small island about 1/2 mile out that we would paddle around and back

The drive in is easy and paved. I do always hope for that off-road, overland kind of drive in but not here. Campground is huge with multiple sections so pay attention to the signs. Campsite #s where spray painted yellow on the ground if I recall correctly.

Overall, great getaway, the cell service was almost gone, every now and then a bar would pop up so just throw it in airplane mode to truly escape. Make sure you get a site on the water if you are tent camping. It would suck to have your view impeded and not have a back up campsite so choose wisely.

Seclusion might be an issue at some sites but they do have a couple sets of bathrooms around that are well maintained at the campground. Nothing crazy but they are clean.

The SC State Park system is wonderful. The reservation system is very user friendly and staff is always helpful. I’ve enjoyed each experience I have at the parks, but this is my new favorite campground. Sites are HUGE and very private. Just about every site is lakefront. The majority of the campsites are in a T formation, meaning you have to back in twice. Once to back off the road then again into your site. The downside to this design is that sites on the left side of the T shape, back in with the trailers camp side facing the road, not the lake. But once you’re backed in, it’s so peaceful and private! Many people bring golf carts and bikes due to the size of the campground. If you rely on a bathhouse, I’d call to request a spot close to one. I haven’t seen the bath house yet on any of my walks so this site wouldn’t be good for someone who relies on those facilities. I also recommend watching the Clemson Camper’s review of this campground on YouTube. He bikes through the whole park and films each site. It’s very helpful, especially given the T-shaped formation of the campsites.

This is a huge state park.  I don't think we even saw a third of it.  The sites are big and spread out.  We had sites 73-76 on campground F and did not feel like we were on top of anyone.  

We went in late March and the kids splashed in the water a little at our campsites, but it was still a little cold. 

There is plenty of trees for shade, hammocks, drying line, and lights.

There is a short nature hike that was walking distance from our site.  It is not a rigorous hike, but the kids enjoyed it.  

The bathrooms were very clean, but not all sites are close to a bathouse.  We would ride our bikes, but you saw people driving golf carts or cars to the bathhouses.  If you need to be close to a bathhouse, be extra vigilant when choosing your site (maybe even give the rangers a call).

Bro just go I enjoyed it so much it was so peaceful for me I had my own shoreline and all it was heaven to me

The park was very well kept including the campgrounds and the bathroom facilities. We stayed in the 162-165 area and the views were breathtaking. There were a few campers who didn’t follow the quiet hours, but we’d still return 100%.

Fun place to visit. Very clean.

Awesome place to visit. Clean restrooms. Very private layout. Great water access. The staff at the gate are friendly. Cool little store with lots of souvenirs.

Almost every site is Lake Front! It was so peaceful and the bathrooms I swear were cleaned every hour. Nice hiking path loop great for family, playgrounds, and the lake access is awesome! Super friendly hosts, easily my favorite SC State park!

This State Park is large with camping for everyone, RV’s, tent camping. On lake Thurmond between Plum S. C. And Modoc S. C. On hey 28.

We camped at Hamilton Branch for a week, Monday-Sunday. The campground was quiet and lovely during the week, however Friday snd Saturday nights were loud-Several folks partied very late into the night (2:00am) with loud music, loud voices, etc. On the positive side: The lake was great, and we had a nice little beach right at our campsite in a calm cove. We spent the week floating, paddle boarding, and canoeing. Our grandsons spent every day in the water. The campground roads are very narrow in spots, and some campsites are quite sloped, so try to look at pictures before choosing a spot. There were very few bathhouses and we had a fairly long walk to get there. The restrooms were adequate.

Two sites share a common drive and it’s very difficult to get into and out of your site without using the other site’s parking area! At least for a novice to trailer camping. Our site was overrun with sugar ants. They were on and in everything! Pretty lake but I won’t go there again

Stayed at hamilton branch this past weekend. Loved the big sites. Only downside was the site we stayed on was site 42 the water connection is too far away so you must have a very long hose pipe. And poison oak surrounds the entire site. Other than that it was nice and peaceful. Look forward to staying again on a different site of course.

We camped here in early May and loved it! Very private, large campsites. Bike friendly and beautiful lake. Wished we had brought our kayaks, but will be back again soon! Drove into McCormick and had dinner at Michelle’s which we would highly recommend. Their calzones and burgers were delicious!

This place is awesome! We slept in the primative tent section. It was nice and peaceful. Facilities are clean. Great views ❤️

A lot of the sites are on the waters edge and offers beautiful views. The red clay was horrible though, especially with a white dog and after it rained. We had site 145, beautiful views but difficult to maneuver into the site and access the water, but we made it work. We would return though. Site 144 and 143 had gorgeous views of the sunset...I’ve heard 108 and 77 are prime spots. Be aware of booking a site and how you’re awning will face! Bathhouse is about 1/2 mile away, so too far to walk when you have to go. Not many bathhouses either so there was a line for the shower (only 2 shower stalls and 3 toilets for at least 75 campsites with the tent sites included). Only 2 single access dump stations for the entire park, so there was a line of 8-10 campers at both on a Sunday morning!

This is a beautiful place, with great sites, that have a good space between each other, this way you can have some privacy!

Great place for kids and dogs. Most camp spots have a great distance between them for dogs to have space. Also a great place for boaters. We pull out boat right up to the camp spot. We have a truck camper a 3500 ram and our boat trailer on the site with room for two more cars if needed. The bathrooms were nice and clean as well.

We loved the mountain like setting right on the lake. Large camping areas that are spaced apart nicely. Plenty of lake access for kayaking and boat fishing with boat landing. Not aware of a swimming area. We will revisit.

Hamilton Branch is amazing! The sites are all lakefront and generously sized. Plenty of paved roads for biking, and kayaking on the lake was absolute perfection! My only regret is not staying longer. Can’t wait for the next trip!

We were at site 158 and had not only the lakefront view but easy lake access at our site. Bathrooms were kept pretty clean. Some of the sites are a bit of a hike to get to the bathrooms which is why it doesn’t have 5 stars. If I could have done 4 1/2 I would have. Only thing that would make it the perfect site would have been sewer hook ups, but those are rare in the SC State park system. Only one neighbor was close enough to be sort of visible but they were rarely there. It was nice and quiet and dark at the site in the evening, which is exactly how we like it. We went swimming, floating and fishing in the lake and never had to leave the site. Just wish we had booked a longer weekend as I was not ready to leave that view!

We went camping at Hamilton Branch State Park in October 2019 for a week. There are so many wonderful things to say about this campground. 

1. Almost ALL sites are lakefront- There are very few sites that are not right on the water. There are some sites that have a steep drop off to the water(mostly the tent sites around the sites 123-128 range). We found several sites that we thought were the best. Sites 77, 168, 98, 97, 103, 105, and a couple of others I can’t remember. Nice views and access to the water. 

2. Sites are very spaced out- We were there during a quieter time, so we had several sites around us that were empty, but even if they had been full, we thought there was a lot of space between them, and most faced the water, so they all kind of faced away from each other. So, it seems to be very private. 

3. Park is LARGE- This is a huge park, and even though there are 200 sites, those are all distributed over 9 different areas, each area consisting of at least 1 loop each. So, again, very spaced out and private. 

4. Clean Bath Houses- Obviously we stuck to the bath house closest to our site, but it was extremely clean and appointed. Toilets cleaned every morning. Shower clean with good shower curtains! If you have camped before, you have likely encountered shower curtains that were hanging on by their last 2 or 3 loops. We even brought our own, in case that was the case here. Nope, it was very nice to have the bathroom so well taken care of. 

5. Friendly Staff- We had originally booked a specific site, and when we got there, we wanted to change it(due to the steep drop to the water, that would be hard to do every day with kayaks). We looked around the park to see what else would be available and Amanda at the front office was very helpful in checking for availability and helping us change our site. In addition to the very helpful Amanda, we encountered several camp hosts. Since the park is so big, there are multiple camp hosts. Everyone we encountered was friendly, helpful and seemed to enjoy being there. 

6. Beautiful Lake/Nature- Obviously the big attraction here is the lake. Thurmond Lake is ENORMOUS. And the park is on one small part of it. We kayaked a few days and saw a lot of fish, bald eagles, geese, blue herons, white egrets, etc. At our campsite we saw a couple of deer and a few raccoons. For a 6-night stay, we only saw the raccoons one night. We must not have had very good tidbits ad they gave up on us. 

We stated several times that we will be coming back to this campground, and that it might be one of the best we have ever been to. I hope this gave you some info and insight into this park.

Sooooo many beautiful campsites to choose from! Lots of trees and spaced apart. We camp here almost every other weekend during the warm months and once a weekend during the cooler months.