Camping in South Carolina: State Parks and Forests

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Camping in South Carolina: state park campsites and cabins are booked through South Carolina State Parks, and national forest camping through the Forest Service. Rules below are copied from those agencies' pages.

SourceAgency pagesstate parks, forest
CheckedOct 262026
Facts15each cited
Parks47state parks

State Park Camping

Reservations can be made up to 13 months in advance, by phone (1-866-345-PARK), online, or by calling the park directly. Camping requests less than one day ahead, and cabin or day-use requests less than three days ahead, must go through the park. source
Campsites require full payment at booking; lodging requires a 50% deposit with the balance due on arrival. source
Cabins and campsites usually have a two-night minimum, which some parks may raise during busy periods. source
Cabins and villas: check-in 4 p.m., check-out 10 a.m. (Hickory Knob differs). Camping: check-in 2 p.m., check-out noon. source
Campsites allow one trailer/RV and one tent, or two tents. Maximum six people per site, with exceptions for single families larger than six. Someone in the party must be at least 18, present at check-in. Subletting or transferring a site is prohibited. source
Campsite cancellation: 60+ days before arrival no charge; 15-59 days $10 administrative fee; 4-14 days first night; 3 days or less no refund. Cabin and lodge-room cancellation: 30+ days $10 fee; 15-29 days first night; 14 days or less no refund. source
Pets are allowed in cabins or lodging only at listed parks: Barnwell Cabin 2; Devils Fork Villas 1-5; Dreher Island Camper Cabins 2-5; Hickory Knob Lodge rooms 307-312; Lake Hartwell Camper Cabins 1, 2, 5; Oconee Cabins 14-20; Santee Cabins 11-20; Table Rock Cabins 4, 9, 10, 11. source
Oconee State Park: 139 standard campsites with water and electric hookups, 15 designated rustic tent sites, 19 historic CCC cabins. Cabin check-in 4 p.m., check-out 10 a.m.; campsite check-in 2 p.m., check-out noon. Call center 866-345-7275. source
Table Rock State Park: 94 standard campsites for tent or RV and 14 renovated cabins, 9 built by the Civilian Conservation Corps; check in at the Visitor Center, 158 E. Ellison Lane, Pickens. source
Devils Fork State Park: 59 standard RV or tent campsites, 25 tent sites, and one boat-in campground. source
Hunting Island State Park: 100 campsites with water and electric hookups (the 'By the Numbers' list says 102 standard, all 50-amp) plus 25 rustic tent sites; camping reservations need a minimum of two nights; one cabin near the lighthouse. source
Jones Gap State Park: camping by permit only; 18 wilderness/backcountry campsites; campers check in at the Ranger Station first. source

National Forest Camping

Dispersed camping is primitive camping outside developed campgrounds; RV and car camping are not allowed as dispersed camping. Camp at least 50 feet from water and trails and about 1/2 mile from any road or parking lot. source
A free dispersed-camping permit is required on the Long Cane, Enoree and Francis Marion ranger districts, submitted at least 5 business days ahead (weekend requests due by noon Monday). The Andrew Pickens District needs no permit for dispersed camping in the mountains. source
Many campgrounds can be reserved through recreation.gov; some sites are first-come, first-served. Campfire permits are not required but check fire conditions with the district office. No cabins are available for rent. Burrell's Ford Campground is open year-round with no charge, a vault toilet and picnic tables. source

What We Could Not Confirm

Not confirmed: we looked for these on official pages and did not find them. Check with the town or operator before you rely on them.

Falls Park on the Reedy (Greenville): hours, fees, parking and dog rules not found on any official page (greenvillesc.gov pages had no usable text; visitgreenvillesc.com listing gave only visitor-center hours). The 7 a.m.-9 p.m. figure and free 2-hour street parking appeared only in unofficial summary of third-party sites and were not used.
Twin Falls (Pickens County / Eastatoe), Falls Creek Falls, Big Bradley Falls, Poinsett Bridge, Long Creek Falls, Wildcat Branch trail beyond Visit Greenville: no read official page; left out.
Waterfall county names were included only where a page states them (Wildcat Wayside, Reedy River Falls, Issaqueena, Chau Ram); the rest are null.
Coordinates: only Whitewater Falls (Forest Service page) prints coordinates; SC State Parks pages give street addresses only.
Jones Gap Trail length not printed on the park page; Jones Gap trails sub-page did not load for us. Caesars Head trails page lists no per-trail lengths. Table Rock page lists trail lengths on /table-rock/trails only.
Lake Keowee and Lake Murray paddling access: DNR Keowee regulations page covers fishing rules only; no official access list read.
Hunting Island lagoon kayaking: page says only that paddling is available and fishing in the lagoon is allowed; no lagoon paddling rules.
Spanish Moss Trail total length and dog rules: not on pages read (Beaufort County news release and spanishmosstrail.com). unofficial summary quoted about 10 built miles / 16 planned, from a county plan not read.
Swamp Rabbit Trail: county page says 32 miles; City of Greenville page returned no length. Other sources quoted 25-28 miles; not used.
Cowpens National Battlefield trails: NPS hiking URL did not load for us; left out.
Free fishing days: no statement found on dnr.sc.gov licensing, general license or purchase pages.
Hunting note: the WMA regulation page does not say whether it applies to hikers on all WMA lands, only to 'all users' during deer season on WMA land; check the specific WMA page.
Sea turtle penalty amounts: the SCDNR page lists none; the May 1-Oct 31 exact dates and $25,000 penalty appeared only in an unofficial summary and were not used.
Fall color: no official page states a peak window for the Upstate specifically; the only timing statements are statewide (mid-October to early November) and 'mountains in mid to late October'.
Conflicts left visible: Edisto trail length (23 / 56 / 62 miles by source and portion), Raven Cliff Falls hike length (2 mi one way / 4 mi / 4.4 mi / 6.6 mi), Rainbow Falls (2.2 vs 2.3 miles one way vs 5 mi round trip), Whitewater Falls parking fee ($3 Forest Service vs $2 Foothills Trail Conference), Devils Fork boat ramps (three vs four).
Palmetto Trail: number of passages not stated; home page says 416 miles completed while the about page gives no completed mileage; palmettotrail.org/trails list did not load.

Sources

Read on October 26, 2026. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? Tell us.

Cite this page: It's South Carolina, “Camping in South Carolina”, itssouthcarolina.com/things-to-do/outdoors-and-hiking/camping-in-south-carolina/ (updated 2026-10-26). By the It's South Carolina editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.