Edisto Beach State Park Camping
A review of Edisto Beach State Park camping in Edisto Beach, South Carolina, plus campground amenities and our tips for booking a campsite.
We’ve camped in a lot of campgrounds over the years but Edisto Beach Campground has turned out to be one of our favorites. We found this jewel of a campground in 2019 when we took a big road trip from North Carolina to the Florida Keys.
Edisto Beach State Park was stop #2 of our 2000 mile journey that had us visiting 5 different State and County Park campgrounds.
I just happened to find this campground while searching the internet. Every time I search for a new to us campground I always look for reviews.
I didn’t read one bad review for Edisto Beach so I knew it would be a winner.
This campground actually has 2 locations on Edisto Island, offering 120 campsites. One is on the beach, with 75 campsites, and the other is a few miles up the road in the shaded maritime forest, where they offer cabins as well as campsites.
Pets are welcome as long as you keep them on a leash.
We prefer the Beach Campground. The draw for us when we’re camping is the beach so the closer we are to it, the better.
Speaking of the beach, it’s away from the state park public beach so the only sunbathers are the people from the campground.
Every time we’ve camped there the beach has been almost empty at times.
If you like a beach with lots of people and activity, this isn’t the place for you.
Edisto Beach Campground Location
Edisto Beach is located on the East coast of South Carolina, about 50 miles south of Charleston. There are a lot of rivers and waterways in this part of South Carolina so you have to drive around many of them to make your way to Edisto Island.
It’s not the easiest drive in, on a small 2 lane road, but so worth it once you get there.
Arriving in Edisto Beach is like going back in time. You won’t find malls or big box stores here, but there is a grocery store and several local restaurants.
What else you’ll find?
Beautiful beaches and a slower pace. Perfect when you’re craving a quiet beach vacation.
We usually stay put when we go camping but on one of our trips we took a drive south to Beaufort, SC, a first for us.
It’s a lovely little town right on the water with southern style shops and little cafes.
A short ride out of town brought us by beautiful Southern homes with live oak trees. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday.
Campground Amenities
The star of this camping show is the setting and, of course, the beach. There aren’t any sewer hookups in either campground but there is a dump station, which is a few miles up the road from the beach campground.
The Park Service does advertise WiFi on their website but it’s very spotty, at least in the Beach Campground.
The closer you are to the bathhouses, in the Beach Campground, the better reception you’ll have.
As for the bathhouses, they were basic but clean with cool air conditioning. A huge bonus when it’s hot and sticky out.
The state park public beach is next to the beach side campsites and they have a small store with ice cream, sunscreen and a few snacks.
You can easily walk there from the Beach Campground but will need to drive if you are camping in Live Oak Campground.
If you want to take a break from the beach the park has 4 miles of accessible trails and they also have an Environmental Learning Center with interactive exhibits.
Edisto Beach Campground Reservations and Sites
Booking a site at Edisto Beach takes a bit of patience and some luck because they fill up fast. You really need to book a year out, and sometimes that’s not enough time.
If you can’t find a site for the time you want, keep checking their reservation website, I’ve been lucky enough to find a site for the time we wanted just a week or two out.
Just be patient and check back often. Make sure you take a site if it becomes available because someone else is right behind you ready to snatch it up.
As for our experience, we’ve never had a bad site in the Beach Campground. We’ve stayed on sites 2, 12 and 24 and have found something to love about each one.
Like I said, we’ve never stayed in the Live Oak Campground so I can’t speak of their sites but we have driven through and they all look like nice, roomy sites with beautiful live oaks.
Sites are pretty basic with a fire ring and picnic table. If you’re looking for shade, the beachside campground offers some really nice shade sites but there are also many sites that don’t offer any relief from the brutal sun.
If you’re lucky enough to get a site last minute, you may not get to pick a shade or full sun site so be aware of that.
All the sites in both campgrounds accommodate RVs and tents. Some sites are tight but they also had sites big enough for the bigger rigs.
We’ve already visited Edisto Beach 3 times since we found it, and have a few more reservations this year. We’re looking forward to making more camping memories at this beautiful camping spot.
Have you ever stayed at Edisto Beach State Park?
It’s so soothing to be by the ocean. Looks like a really peaceful area
Can’t beat SC beaches(💖
It’s a beautiful campground to stay at with an amazing, quiet beach.
Yes I have stayed at Edisto Beach Campground and I loved the place. My husband and I stayed there on our way to North Carolina. When we arrived it was late and pouring rain. At the time we were tent camping and Edisto only had the beach sites, which were full until next day, plus a few primitive tent sites. So we stayed in the primitive site. Setting up a tent in the pouring rain in the dark is not fun. They had plenty of sites the next day so we planned on staying a few days before we went on to our destination in North Carolina. However the ranger told us it was suppose to start storming again later in the day so we headed for North Carolina and spent our few days in Pisgah National Forest. We had planned to return to Edisto but never made it. This was in the 1990s when you could stop at any campground without a reservation and get a site. It was about a week before the 4th of July when we were there. Compared to this 4th of July when I was moving and unpacking it was heaven. Thanks for sharing your trip, it brought back some wonderful memories of my life with my husband.
Thanks so much for sharing you memories of the campground. It so nice to hear that you enjoyed your visit, even though it was cut short. Hope that you are doing well. 🙂
We just camped in Live Oak campground in Edisto Beach state park and we loved everything about it!! We were in site 118 and the view of the sunset through the huge live oak and palm fans was stunning! We met beautiful people who were so friendly!! We were lucky to get to watch their Christmas parade and sit on the beach to eat our fried chicken we got at the Bi-lo deli !! It was truly a magical weekend!!
It’s so nice to hear about someone else’s camping experience in Edisto Beach. I’m so glad that you enjoyed your stay and appreciate you sharing your experience with us. 🙂
Camped there 3 times! Love it there..
It’s a great place to camp! 🙂