Santee State Park Campground

Park is VERY easy off and on I-95 if you are driving through and need a quiet place to rest from the highway! There were plenty of spaces available in the off-season, even on a weekend. Camp Host was very friendly and helpful to us new RV campers! Park personnel were easy to reach regarding reservations. While weekends usually require a 2-night minimum stay, in off-season they may be able to accommodate 1-night only. Sites were reasonably spaced under the pines but there is no privacy between sites. Most sites appeared fairly level. We did not check out the showers/bathrooms. Neither campground maps or park maps were available on their website to download. We were there on February 8 and again on February 24, in 20' Mode LT.

The Lakeshore side of the campground looks abandoned and the road to get there is full of potholes. The Lakeshore camp host residence made us question whether or not we should stay the night. We live on the road and have been all over the US - fair to say that this campground needs a major overhaul of maintenance. Stayed one night on the other side at Cypress/marina side. Cell reception was not strong and facilities outdated. Definitely not a park we would revisit.

We stayed here for 3 nights mid-September, 2023 - site 153 in the lakeside cg. We wanted to be within day trip range to Charleston as we had our cousin visiting from CA. My brother & his wife stayed two sites over - in 149. In looking at the map on their reservation site, we assumed these two sites would be next to each other. There is a camphost in between these two sites, which was unexpected. He also has a lot of "stuff"...
We checked in, but apparently could have just gone to our site. The roads through the campground are hard to see - hard to know where they are and if they are campsites or roads. Lots of erosion in the roads, which makes for a bumpy ride in. Also you have to backtrack back through the campground to get to the dump station. Bathhouse was fine - did enjoy showering there. We did the sinkhole trail and got attacked by a million mosquitos - so bad, we turned around at one point.
Pros - in range for day trips to Charleston & Congaree.
Cons - just a bit tired, needs roads to be graded / graveled / marked.

We stayed here because it was about a one hour drive to Congaree National Park. We were going to be late (after 5pm), so I called the ranger and they were nice and helpful and told me just to go to my site and there was no security. We stayed at the Cypress campground. As we turn in, the first campsite we see has 3 cars (only 2 per site and one was under a carport!!), an old pontoon boat on a trailer, another trailer with junk on it, blue tarps hanging from all over, just a complete mess. We learned this is the campground host. I don't understand why there is a big sign about campground rules when the host doesn't follow any of them and it makes the whole place look terrible. We wanted to leave, but it was a long day and we decided to stay. Our site was fine, but grass was high, gravel needed to be added, it just looked old. The bathhouse had A/C (that was the only positive of the bathhouse), it was very dirty!! There is no laundry anywhere in the state park, that was a disappointment. The campground has no security and we did see very strange cars driving around and staring at us and our site. I didn't let my kids go anywhere without us (and they are teens). Good thing we have a dog and protection. On the positive side, the bike trail was fun, the sink hole was cool to see, and the docks were well maintained (unlike anything else in the park). Sadly, we will not be back.

When we arrived after driving 6 hours we were not too happy with first impressions. No check in or maps given out, so we went right to our site. It was marked on the post with a tag for the car. We had a problem when connecting with our surge protector with an error code. It was very hot and buggy with no seeums and I thought we’d be without AC. Got ahold of park ranger and he checked the electric at the outlet as being active. Our protector was reading “ no ground”. We connected without the surge protector and was ok. Cancelled our last night and the ranger was very nice reimbursing it on the spot. All in all, site 43 on the water is a great site, shaded and level with sunset view through the trees. A plus that the bathroom/ shower is air conditioned but very old and shower not draining properly.

The campsites are very nice! The bathrooms were very clean. That’s ONLY because of the camp hosts!!
What are the park managers doing??!!
The roads are horrific!!! We’ve been here 3 times and the roads are atrocious!! What is the State or manager over the park doing with the money for the park?
The pot holes are wide and deep! We’ve had 2 tires blown out because of the road conditions. You cannot safely drive past another vehicle, especially someone pulling a camper because the roads are so destroyed. One person HAS to pull into the grass or they’ll be an accident!
This is the worst State park roads I’ve ever seen!!

I stayed in Cypress View campground and it’s smaller and quieter than the Lakeshore campground. Only negative were some noisy folks after quiet time one night. Sometimes that’s just the way it is on weekends. Easy check-in. My site felt private and had a view of the river and morning sunrise. Bathhouse conveniently located and always clean. I would definitely stay here again in any one of the outer loop sites. If you stay here, put Congaree National Park on your list of things to do. Less than an hour away and magical.

If you plan to use the shower in your camper, remember your portable drain tank due to not having sewer hookups on site ( my one major fault for the trip...) but the camp host was nice enough to go check around with ppl they knew to see if I could borrow one, to no avail there was not one so still ended up having to brake down to hit the dump but over all the service and hospitality along with the great view of wildlife and lake was awsome my family and myself will definitely go back if we can catch a spot open on the lake shore side.