Camping in South Carolina

Camping rules worth knowing in South Carolina

Dispersed camping on the national forest is not vehicle camping

The Francis Marion and Sumter define dispersed camping as primitive camping like backpack camping or canoe camping, and state that RV and car camping are not allowed as dispersed camping. A camp must be at least fifty feet from water and trails and half a mile from any road or parking lot. On the Long Cane, Enoree and Francis Marion districts you need a free permit first: an emailed form naming entry and exit points by road number or coordinate, sent at least five business days ahead, with weekend requests in by Monday noon. The permit has to come back signed before you go, and you carry a printed copy. No permit is needed on the Andrew Pickens district. Groups of any size camping outside designated areas need a pass or permit, and groups over 75 need a special use permit anywhere. Firewood for personal use needs a permit from a district office, minimum twenty dollars, and only dead and down wood may be taken. Boating the Chattooga needs a free self-service permit picked up at the river access points. Source 9

Camp only where it is designated, and stay off anything closed

Forest Order 08-12-00-25-05 prohibits camping except at developed campgrounds or other designated camping areas, with one exemption: on the Andrew Pickens district camping may occur in any area at least fifty feet from lakes or streams, at least fifty feet from maintained trails and more than a quarter mile from any roadway. The forest’s camping page states half a mile from any road or parking lot instead; both are published, so take the larger distance. The same order prohibits driving, parking or leaving any vehicle on a road closed by sign, gate or barricade including earthen mounds, doing the same on closed developed trails, entering any road, trail or area posted closed to public access, and possessing or using fireworks of any kind. Source 20

Congaree camping is reserved or permitted, and always on foot

Every frontcountry site at Longleaf and Bluff must be reserved through Recreation.gov before you set up, and the park takes no payment in person. Only tents and hammocks are allowed; there are no RV or trailer sites. Longleaf is ten individual and four group sites, walk-up from a gravel lot with no cars past it; Bluff is six sites a mile up the trail with no vehicle access, no water and no toilets. Backcountry camping is free but needs a permit requested at least 72 hours ahead, with camps 100 feet back from Cedar Creek, Tom’s Creek, Bates Old River and Wise Lake, and no open fires. The stay limit is 14 consecutive days, or 28 days in six months. Firewood may not be brought in without proof of local purchase or USDA pest-free certification. Source 26

Fire is notified to the State Forester, and can be switched off statewide

Section 48-35-10 makes it unlawful to start a fire in woodlands, brushlands, grasslands, ditchbanks or hedgerows, or in debris or leaves next to them, unless proper notification is given to the State Forester or a designated representative, the area is cleared and equipment and people are on hand, and the person starting it supervises until it is under control. Section 48-35-50 lets the State Forester prohibit all open burning at any time in the interest of public safety, expressly including campfires, bonfires and other recreational fires, while leaving fires for human warmth or immediate cooking alone. No burning at all is allowed during a governor-declared forest fire emergency. Section 48-35-55 exempts cooking fires and fires in portable outdoor fireplaces, chimineas and conforming permanent fire pits. Source 55

State park campground rules

The maximum stay on a particular site is fourteen nights. A site takes either one trailer or RV and one tent, or two tents, and no more than six people or one family. Check-in is 2pm and check-out noon. Roadside parking is prohibited and so is parking on an unoccupied site. Every fire has to stay inside the grill or the fire area the park has designated. Dumping refuse or waste, including grey water, anywhere but the receptacles provided is an unlawful act, as is operating a vehicle recklessly, over the posted limit, or in an area not intended for vehicles. Golf carts need a valid permit and a licensed driver. The offences are defined in Title 51, Chapter 3, Section 145. Source 42

Coastal park camping is in designated areas only

Edisto Beach State Park states that camping is only allowed in designated areas, across two campgrounds with water and electric hookups, one ocean-side and one on the salt marsh, totalling 112 standard sites, several of which take rigs up to forty feet. Reservations there have a two-night minimum. The dump station gate runs 6am to 8pm daily. The park also warns that because of where it sits the water has a high salt content, treated by the town and judged safe to drink, which is worth knowing before you fill a tank you will be tasting for a week. Source 45

The full guide to overlanding South Carolina