Park Review- Edisto Beach State Park Live Oak Campground, Edisto Island, SC

Address:  8377 State Cabin Rd., Edisto Island, SC 29438
Phone:   (866) 345-7275
Website:  https://southcarolinaparks.com/edisto-beach/camping
# of sites:  112 sites with water & electric (some with 50 amp), plus tent sites, dump station available
​Full hookup price:  From $43/night (varies with season)
Open:  Year-round
Rating:   4 out of 5 stars
​Warnings:  mosquitoes/no-seeums, no sewer at sites

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Edisto Beach State Park on Edisto Island is one of four South Carolina State Parks on or near the ocean.  It is about an hour from Charleston and West Charleston and the area is rife with historical sites, museums and buildings.  

Pros:
The Live Oak Campground is one of two in the State Park.  It is a bit inland from the Atlantic Ocean while the Beach Campground overlooks the beach and the ocean.  The forest is lush and its green canopy completely encases the roads and trails throughout the park. 

The sites in Live Oak are amazingly large and beautiful.  Most have both 30 and 50 amp power and all have water, as well as an extended picnic area and table.  All sites have privacy via bushes, vines and trees surrounding them on three sides.  There are also large bathroom and shower facilities near the entrance to the campground paths.

Like many of the campgrounds in the Carolinas, a big advantage with this park is its proximity to the ocean and rivers for fishing, boating and other watersports.  Also, surrounding towns have extremely low violent crime rates.​  The trails in the region, including those in the state park, are relatively level and easily accessed, and bird-watchers will find them incredibly rich.

Cons:
These sites are on sandy ground covered in moist pine needles, leaves and moss from the forest canopy.  We wore out a broom trying to keep our floors and mats clean and were often startled at the sound of acorns hitting our roof.  Speaking of forest, there is little view of the sky, meaning not much chance for using a satellite dish.  We were fortunate in our site to have a partial sky view through the trees, but all signals were lost the moment the rain started.

The Live Oak Campground borders a marsh that incubates huge numbers of mosquitoes, biting gnats, chiggers and no-seeums.  Even when covered up, we were bitten several times, bites that severely itched for days.  We probably should have had used more repellent, but this hasn't been necessary for several months before now.

There are no sewer hookups in any of the sites, though there is a dumping station just outside the park.  We only stayed for five days, so this wasn't an issue for us this trip.  The water provided had plenty of pressure but was very salty to the taste, even after going through a filter.  We had to use bottled water for anything consumed.

Though pets are allowed, it is not a dog-friendly park.  There is no dog park and no poop bags are available anywhere.  Though dogs are supposed to be on leashes, we saw several that were not.

​Finally, this is not a luxury RV resort, so it's no surprise that there is no laundry room, activity room or other amenities.  

Edisto Island, SC

Charleston, SC

Charleston, SC

The beauty and privacy of the campsites in the Edisto Beach State Park earned it 4 out of 5 stars,   We would definitely recommend this park to anyone wanting to enjoy the area, though its downsides probably would limit a stay to just a few days.

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