Santee Coastal Reserve Wildlife Management Area

We free camped here for 5 days - staying over a weekend. It was early November and the weather was cool but still beautiful. The sandy entrance and gorgeous tree line road was stunning to us west coasters. The campsite was well defined and large and spacious. No amenities other than table and open fire pit with grill. We stayed here in a 40ft fifth wheel. Solar opportunities were ok but that mostly due to weather. No service other than my husband being able to pick up a random signal at night through the front window. Only “permit” needed is the one that you fill in at the entry to the campsites. No fee. Highly recommend the walking trails and the boardwalk. They were stunning.

We camped here for 5 days end of March. We are in a 38’ fifth wheel. This can be done but you need to take your time. Very pretty area but not exceptionally level. Mosquitos were definitely out. We enjoyed our stay here. Nice trails for walks. A couple of other campers and tents around but very quiet.

We stayed here for a few days in February. Absolutely loved it and would have stayed longer if we had been allowed to but they do have a limit here. There are great trails for some light hiking, a lake for fishing, picnic tables and fire rings. No water available or restrooms but if you do need water, there is a BP nearby or you can drive into the National Forest (Elmwood Hunt camp) for potable water and lots of firewood on the ground on those forest roads. We will be back!

Beautiful, quiet, peaceful. Good access road, just watch initial turn for ditch. Large sites but low trees. Manager is nearby Max stay is 4 nights.
Downs are no hook ups, no garbage disposal or water available. Skimpy internet (Verizon) many trees block solar and dripped acorns and limbs. Could be large pieces.. We were lucky.
But overall we love it!

This was a great spot. We stopped here for a night on our way to Charleston and am glad we did. It was free and not too far off highway 17. It didn’t add much time to our trip the way most free campsites do. We were surprised to see other people there in December but it was quiet and pretty.

Lovely place to stay. No facilities or hookups. The mosquitos were insane, but with the right amount of deet and a thermocell, all good. We were the only people who stayed. I would come back again, but maybe in the winter next time.

Beautiful area, quiet, huge spaces, level, mix of sun and shade. This are is free on Department of Natural Resources land, there are several trails near by. There are picnic tables and fire rings at each site. Fill out a registration card when you arrive.
Dry camping, no amenities, pack it in and pack it out and take care of this beautiful free space.
***Access via a long maintained dirt road, there are some low hanging trees (but we saw a large class A while we were here so the clearance must have worked for them.)

Very nice quiet campground. Very large sites under large oak trees. Eight sites total a maximum of four night stay, you must fill out a registration card at the kiosk.
Well-maintained hard packed sand road coming in with some low hanging branches.
Great wildlife seen a number of alligators on the orange trail.

Just to start off, we stayed 6 nights, but the rules state 4 nights. We did speak with the forest rangers and they did not ask for a reservation permit, nor did they say anything about is staying longer. They were extremely kind and even came to look at our bus conversion.

This place is awesome! The drive in, closer to the sites, is enchanting! Lined with huge live oaks. If you’re lucky you might catch the Resurrection Ferns after a rainy day. Google it!

The trails are great! We took our two dogs on them and our mountain bikes. They are not legit mountain biking trails in terms of obstacles/technical options, but a nice scenic ride. Lots of wildlife: birds and bird watchers, gators!!!!, wild boar. The gators are out in the sun and hide when it’s not sunny. Some of them are huge and others small. We walked the Marshland Trail 3X and though a bit scary, the gators came nowhere near us. Pretty cool to see. We only saw one small boar and never any after that.

At night it is very dark until the moon rises high in the sky. Bring a light/head lamp. There are cement squares for a fire and some have the fire ring.

AMPLE parking space for any size rig! You could fit two-3 rigs in one spot if you wanted to.

***NO AMENITIES***
***FREE***

We were here February 11, so Mosquitos weren’t bad. Couldn’t ask for a nicer spot with majestic Live Oaks covered with Spanish Moss and a beautiful boardwalk out into the marsh. Fire ring and a picnic table. Good cell service but no pit toilets.