We rolled into Santee sans reservation on a Thursday in January, and after an exasperated reaction for the park's office staff, we were able to choose from 4 sites in the Cypress loop to stay until Sunday. There are two campground areas here - Cypress View and Lakeshore. Cypress View is smaller and more expensive. Lakeshore is furt... more

We arrived to a relatively quiet state park. By weekend it filled up quickly. Excellent fishing with a boat ramp. Campground facilities are dated but clean. The camp sites are generous with water and electric, no wifi.

Lake view through the trees. Sites were easy to back into. Level. Sites close together. Central location between Charleston and Columbia. Close to Congaree National Park. Great mountain bike trail our bikes are more street bikes but ride was great. Amazing sunrise and sunsets. Baths need updating. Camp hosts were nice. Cell se... more

Overall, we really liked it here. We stayed at Cypress View campground which was recently redone. Lake View campground is tougher to find and has not been redone. I would choose Cypress View again if we came back. It was super peaceful after the Thanksgiving weekend crowds left and the rangers, camp host, and people in the office were ... more

We came to this park to be in the path of the Eclipse Totality and that was an amazing experience. Because of this unusual event, our stay was likely also not the norm. The campground was full on our arrival the day of the eclipse and the park as a whole was getting full with eclipse viewers. Park staff were directing traffic and th... more

Trying to stay ahead of a tropical storm, we stopped here for a couple nights to ride out some rain storms. It's easily accessible from I-95, but with a lovely nature feel. There are two campgrounds, Cypress View being the easiest to find (the roads aren't well marked, and the Lake View campground takes some local knowledge to find... more