Keowee-Toxaway State Park

I stayed here many times as a student at Clemson.  Only a 45 minute drive.  The cabins are amazing.  Very clean as well.

Stayed here for more than a week in early January and enjoyed it.  There's a bunch of nice state parks in upstate SC - this one is about 10 minutes from both Table Rock and Devil's Fork.  Nearest town with major stores is Pickens, SC.  Greenville is about 45 minutes.

*Navigation*
The state park website mentions that rigs over 40ft will have trouble.  I think 40ft is conservative, but 50ft+ could definitely be problematic.  My truck plus trailer is 43ft and it was tight but manageable.  The problem area for larger rigs will likely be the curves before and after the dump station/restrooms (sharp turns plus elevation drop).  It will be difficult to fit in dump station area with a larger rig as well.

*Internet*

Verizon 5G was blazing fast here on my Pepwave - literally over 100mbps download. Starlink was able to connect, but obviously wasn't very useable due to trees.  

*Site*

I stayed in #3 which was definitely one of the better sites there.  Easy back in with very private views looking out towards Lake Keowee & Jocassee.  In summertime you probably won't be able to see much with the foliage.  Used levelling blocks, but it wasn't bad.

*Facilities*
Restrooms were older but clean.  Showers had hot water.  As mentioned, dump station is right in front of bathrooms.  No laundry.

Nice quiet camping plane and simple good amenities. Lots of spiders tho...

There is a wonderful Trail right beside the tent site in the loop and it will take you down to a private Beach area that overlooks the lake and it is especially beautiful at sunset. Very quiet and well kept. Love the atmosphere. The showers were always clean and kept up nicely. Always hot water. The Rangers there couldn't be more helpful. It's definitely a good place to get away from your everyday life but not so far away that you can't have the amenities that make life comfortable. We go back every chance we get!

I had no trouble backing in my site with my 20ft travel trailer. I saw a couple of 5th wheels here. I don’t know if I would try it with class A. I don’t know if there allowed here. The road is gravel and hilly. My pad was pretty close to level a little worn but paved. It had 30 amp power and water no sewer. There is a dump station on site located across from the bathhouse which I did use since the hot water in my trailer wasn’t working. It was very clean and the shower was hot. There are about 5 miles of hiking trail accessible from the campsite. They are well maintained and includes some lovely rock formations waterfalls rhododendrons and wildflowers. Other trails follow along the shore of Lake Keowee. There is very nice stepped put in for kayaking. We brought our two dogs and there were other dogs in the park. There’s no designated dog area so as long you keep them on lead or under control and clean up after them I don’t anyone would have a problem. If you need to go to a town it’s about a 20 mile trip. We took a trip to Easley for lunch at Tropical Burger. They also have a Home Depot, Publics and Dollar General.

Very nice private sites but Narrow twisty roads to get to them. We had to back our trailer back down to avoid taking out the side on a tree.

This is a great place to get away from civilization and relax. The small RV camp-only 10 spots-rings the crown of a small mountain. You can get in but we almost didn’t get our 33ft TT out. There are tight curves with mountain on one side and drop off on the other. I don’t recommend for anything longer! There are no amenities at all: no store, no playground, no nothing-except nature. Of course, there’s a beautiful lake. The grands and we had fun just playing on the little mountain. The sites are all leveled spots, but the edge drops off quickly.

Serene and quiet. Loved this state park camp site. Close to the water and a wonderful visitor venter!

Not much to boast about this campground. Not many trails. Small sites

We absolutely loved our stay at Keowee Toxaway! My only complaint is that we couldn’t stay longer! Our group of 15 stayed in the RV loop, sites 1, 2 and 3. The bathrooms were down the hill a short walk away and were quite clean! We took advantage of the hiking opportunities and enjoyed every second of our ascent to Raven’s Rock! What a beautiful view! While we didn’t have enough time to kayak, the water was inviting. The boat launch area seemed to be an easy access point and also provided some stunning sunset photo ops!!

We had campsites TS1 & TS2 across the water. A few of us kayaked to our site while others hiked 3miles to our site. It was very quiet and we could barely see our neighbors. Our site was surrounded by trees, plenty of options for hammocking/pitching a tent. It does include a fire pit with a grill grate option. This was our 2nd time here and we will def continue camping here.

Keowee Toxaway State Park Campground was not where we were headed - but due to overwhelming volume elsewhere - this is where we ended up!  

This campground fills quickly, but on a Sunday afternoon, was the perfect timing to enjoy the beauty! 

As you pull into the campground, the road splits - you follow the road to the right (one way) and drive through the RV sites.  They are nice - your regular RV sites with hook ups.  As you continue around the loop, you enter a new loop, the tent sites - and this was where we found solitude and nice level sites!  There were many trees which made for good hammock hanging for our daughter and lots of dead kindling to start our fire!  

The bathhouse was nice - and had HOT showers - which is always a plus.  The bathhouse was not directly in our loop, but close enough it wasn't a big deal just to have one bathhouse for the campground.  We also liked that they recycled. (not everyone does!) 

I would not recommend this site on the weekends, due to the close nature of each campsite.  As the pictures show - lots of the uninhabited sites were VERY close together, so if your neighbor was disruptive, you could be disappointed.  Overall, really nice!

My favorite part of staying at this park was not actually camping, although I always love camping. My favorite part was hiking the trails, especially the Natural Bridge/Palmetto Trail. It is a loop trail, but you can opt to get on a longer trail along the loop. The hike seems easy at first, especially going down to the“natural bridge.” However, when you hike down, you have to hike up, and there were sections on the return that were steep. Along the way, not only do you see the natural bridge, but there is a small waterfall as well. As far as camping, there are RV sites and tent sites. I chose tent camping this time, and there was a large gravel pad. The sites seemed a little too close for me, but at least they were not on top of each other. The day that I went, the other tent sites were all reserved as far as I could tell. I found that surprising for a Tuesday night. Unfortunately, with so many people camping that close together, you never really get to sleep early since some people are up late talking. Nevertheless, once the talking died down, I went to sleep listening to the tree frogs. The bath house is a short walk away and is AIR CONDITIONED!!! Since I went in July, this was important. I was hoping to get in some canoeing, but there were strong thunderstorms and rain. As a matter of fact, I waited for a break so I could put up my tent. There is a camp store, and I enjoyed looking at the relief map in the visitor’s center. It also has displays in the visitor’s center with local history. There is also a boat ramp a short drive away from the campground. Even though I didn’t get to take full advantage of it, it is a lot better than many of the boat ramps I have seen. The biggest attraction for this park, other than the hiking trails, is obviously its access to Lake Keowee. Overall, it is a pretty good place to camp. I’m not fond of how close the sites were, but it’s a lot better than many campgrounds I have been to.

This is a decent campground with a small RV loop and a handful of sites with water and electric.....well if the electric actually worked. Twice in one week this campground experienced a complete and total power outage each of which lasted for hours. The facilities were clean and rangers were nice, however the electrical infrastructure needs some work at the very least.

When we got to our site late at night, we discovered there was someone parked in our spot. There is supposed to be one car per spot. The signs designating the spots are off the road and very hard to see. Site 4 was right next to us, and site 3 behind us. We have never seen so many tent campers using generators and projecting movies onto big screens and sheets ever lol. If you arrive after dark, the sites are very hard to find. To not be totally negative, the bathroom was nice, and clean, and a little walk from our site. We love the upstate, so we went to see the nearby twin falls. Well worth the trip, an easy drive and hike in to this spectacular waterfall.

We kayaked in our inflatables a short way across the lake to our primitive camping site which included nearby firewood that we could collect and use in a provided firepit area and used the large tree trunks as seating. The site overlooked the water and had a good amount of privacy/space from the other campers. You could also access these sites by hiking if you chose. We only paid $12 for a one night stay at the campsite.

Our little family of five did a 4-mile hike into a primitive camping spot, across the water from a golf course and spent the weekend! The beautiful area ad beautiful views but the terrain was a little extreme.

Very mature campground (we stayed in the camper area). Lots of shade and campsites are decently spaced apart. The only negative I would say is that in our area there wasn’t a lot of flat roads for our smaller kids to bike, etc. Bathrooms are super nice and clean.

Keowee-Toxaway has a regular RV/tent campground as well as a cabin you can rent and 4 hike-in campsites. We stayed in the hike-in sites. Site #3 is closest to the water. It’s about a 2-mile hike to the campsites, or you can boat in. It’s about a 5 minute paddle from the non-motorized landing. It’s a very pretty area but be careful as there are many boats and jet skis in the area as well. You can also walk a little ways down and there’s a rock that many people jump off of. There are many houses and boats so it can get a little loud but overall it’s a nice area.

The bathrooms and showers in the main campground are clean, and they put in a new dumpster. The park rangers come through the campground to check on things, and they lock the main gates at night (which they give you the code when you check in so you can leave if you want to). Overall it’s a small but clean park, and we love coming here!

This was my first backpacking trip without a guide. The trail was relatively short, but the hills were bigger than expected. However, the payoff at the trailside campground is incredible. The sites are out on a point on Lake Keowee. It doesn't feel truly wild (you can see houses and a golf course across the lake), but the sunsets and sunrises are beautiful. You can hear boats while you are there. We went in the fall, but in the warmer months the swimming opportunities would be great!

There are 3 trailside primitive campsites that are on a peninsula overlooking Lake Keowee. Although only one of them is considered on the shore, they are all within walking distance (down a little hill) from the shore. But make sure to check the water level; I’ve had to help push boats back into the water a few times and there has also been instances when our canoe floated off when the water rose. Parts of the trail feature waterfalls and overlooks onto the lake which is a great photo opportunity. Apart from hiking in, there is a canoe/kayak ramp available about 1/2 mile to the campsites. There is also a rentable cabin, paved primitive/RV campsites, and a bath house available.

There is a short path from the camp sites down to the lake. If you want to go swimming there are only a couple of locations that you can hang out for the day and swim. If you want one of these make sure to get there early. There is not a true boat ramp here either, we saw several people that came with power boats trying to launch and the ramp here is more suitable for kayaks and canoes.

Camped here for 2 nights, 2 girls and 2 dogs. Like most other campgrounds, the tent areas are right next to each other. Luckily though T-3 was set back a little so we had some space, but did have to walk between our two neighbors to get to our car. It was not a big campground which was nice. The bathrooms were pretty good for a park. The 2 trails were basically just one connected to the other but a good distance, especially with how strenuous they were. My only real disappointment was the nonexistent beach area. I had read online that there was a small shoreline access/beach area but the only access was wide cement steps going into the water, right next the launch area. We did however drive down about 2 miles to another area that had some beach (Fall Creek). I felt very safe here and the ranger regularly drove around the sites. Lots of dogs and everyone seemed to be respectful of the rules.

Located in Sunset Sc, near Clemson and Easley, this park is one of our favorites off of the Cherokee foothills scenic Hwy 11.