Established Camping
Buck Hall Recreation Area
About
National Forest
Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests
Overview
Buck Hall Recreation Area offers a premier location to enjoy the outdoors. It is situated along the Intracoastal Waterway and provides great access to Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, 65,000 acres of marsh, tidal creeks and beaches; and Bulls Bay, the coast's best shrimp baiting area.
Recreation
The area is primarily used for shrimp baiting and fishing. Anglers can expect a huge variety of fish, including bass, flounder, sea trout, snapper, mackerel, swordfish, crab, shrimp, clams, oysters and more. The campground provides access to boating and ocean sailing. Fishing boats and often very large pleasure boats can be seen as they travel the popular Intracoastal Waterway. A long portion of the Palmetto Trail, which leads from the marshes of the ocean to the mountains of South Carolina, is accessible from the recreation area. Most of the trail is unpaved and can be used for hiking, biking or horseback riding, although a few sections are restricted to foot traffic only.
Facilities
The recreation area boasts a large picnic area and multiple campsites for tent and RV camping. Full hookups are available. Each site is equipped with a table, lantern post and campfire ring with grill. Accessible flush toilets, showers and drinking water are provided. The picnic area is equipped with tables, grills, an accessible walkway and fish cleaning stations. A lighted parking area and boat ramp are on-site.
Natural Features
The popular campground sits at sea level, alongside the Intracoastal Waterway. It is part of the Francis Marion National Forest in South Carolina. The campground itself is grassy and open, with very few trees and limited shade.
Nearby Attractions
Charleston, South Carolina is about 30 miles southwest of the campground.
Charges & Cancellations
Reservation Fees__ In addition to camping fees a non-refundable reservation fee of $8.00 for telephone bookings and $6.00 for website bookings applies.____ Cancellation Fees__ Cancellations up to 2 days before a reservation start date incur a $10.00 cancellation fee in addition to the non-refundable reservation fee. __ Late Cancellations A cancellation the day before or on the day of arrival incurs a $10.00 cancellation fee and will also forfeit the first night's use fee (not to exceed the total paid for the original reservation). Cancellations for single night's reservation will forfeit the entire use fee but no cancellation will apply. Non-refundable reservation fees still apply.
Location
Buck Hall Recreation Area is located in South Carolina
Directions
From Charleston, South Carolina, take U.S. Highway 17 north ( 32.0 mi.) to Buck Hall Landing Road (Forest Road 242 /1099). Turn right into the recreation area. From Georgetown, South Carolina, take U.S. Highway 17 South/South Fraser Street (29.0 mi.) to Buck Hall Landing Road (Forest Road 242 /1099). Turn left into the recreation area.
Address
Francis Marion National Forest<br>2967 Steed Creek Road
Huger, SC 29450
Coordinates
33.0375 N
79.5627778 W
Access
- Drive-InPark next to your site
- Walk-InPark in a lot, walk to your site.
- Boat-InSites accessible by watercraft.
Stay Connected
- WiFiGood
- VerizonGood
- AT&TGood
- T-MobileGood
Site Types
- Tent Sites
- RV Sites
- Standard (Tent/RV)
- Group
- Tent Cabin
Features
For Campers
- Trash
- Picnic Table
- Phone Service
- Drinking Water
- Electric Hookups
- Toilets
- Alcohol
- Fires
For Vehicles
- Sanitary Dump
- 30 Amp Hookups
- Big Rig Friendly
Fine campground
This place is fine, really just a circle of sites with hookups in an open field. Pretty trees and sunsets!
Great site on Intracoastal
Met with host Don (there till end of Feb.) Very personable. Answered all my questions. Well kept quiet campsites right on the Intracoastal. Can just see the Atlantic in the distance. Clean.
Okay camping experience
Stayed for three nights before heading to OBX. A very limited camping area. Good if your only interest is camping, fishing and hiking. Nothing else to do. Little disappointed with level of maintenance especially with bathhouse. Never saw a ranger or camp host. Don't expect to stay again.
Great spot in the National Forrest
Great spot! Saving this to my list for if I ever travel back this way.
Nice open spots right next to a river! Water and Electric Hookups on site and a dump station off site.
Pretty hard getting spots here but we many to get one!
Great site!
We spent April 17-19 here. Beautiful spot on the intercostal waterway. Well maintained and lots of room between campsites. They have a couple of nature walks. Close to Charleston, SC.
A boat dock means boaters.
The campsite itself is pretty wonderful. Many of the sites are right along the waterway. There's plenty of room for kids to play and there's a trail head to the Palmetto Trail.
Our tent site was 3rd to the last, closet to the wood. A decent walk to the bathhouse, but not unreasonable at all, although we did have to cut thru some occupied RV sites.
Unfortunately, a bit further down, a couple of RV sites joined forces and partied, loudly, well into the night. We were far enough away they didn't keep us awake, but you could easily hear them if you did awaken There were multiple sites close to the party that must have been awake all night. I'm not sure if the camp host was ever notified or concerned.
All in all though, its decent place.
Peaceful setting, great location
I’ve been to Buck Hall several times. Excellent place to trailer your boat, cook over a campfire, and have a shower to wash the salt off at the end of the day. Views of the Intracoastal waterway are nice, watching the variety of boats pass by. The majority of the area is cleared grass, cutting down on bugs. Don’t forget to bring the frisbee! Since this isn’t a state park, they are tolerant to crackin a couple of cold ones. Boat landing is deep enough to drop a large boat into the drink, and cruising up Bulls Bay or heading south towards Dewees. Hiking a section of the Palmetto Trail is a good option for a day out of the sun due to the heavy maritime forest canopy. Best time of the year is Fall, Spring, and Winter. Trailering your boat will force you to pay for an RV site.
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Beautiful views and ambiance.
Best views for a cheap campground. Campsite hots we had were knowledgable and helpful. Not far from downtown Charleston.
No Swimming!
This campground is located directly adjacent to the Intercoastal Waterway, and there is a boat ramp located nearby but there is no access to go swimming here. There are lots of oyster beds lining the rocks that are serving as a perimeter to the waterway, so scrambling through can be hazardous if you go down there. The tent campsites have a good breeze, but once you get back into the trees the mosquitoes can be very bad.
Awesome spot right on the Intercoastal Waterway!
We had a great week at Buck Hall! The campground isn't very large so I definitely recommend making a reservation. During shrimp baiting season (60 days starting the Friday nearest September 15) the campground is completely booked. Plan accordingly! There is really nice boat landing and fishing/crabbing pier in the campground. We had a blast kayaking around and had some awesome dolphin encounters. The historic town of McClellanville is super cute and I definitely recommend a seafood dinner at TW Graham's! Their key lime pie is amazing as well! The nearby Sewee Visitor Center has red wolves and is free to visit. They also have RV parking! We enjoyed this, but if you have kids I think it would be a must do! You can call ahead and find out when they will be feeding the wolves. The crabbing is great at the campground and we had a delicious crab boil as a result! The only reason I am not giving this campground 5 stars is that the bathrooms were pretty gross. They were working on them while we were there so maybe there is a brighter future for these run down bath houses. Our hotspots worked great here too!
- (5) View All
Right on the intercoastal water, Great for sunsets and fishing
This campground was perfection. There are docks, a boat ramp, fantastic bathroom\shower houses! The intercoastal waterway goes through the center of this campground giving us amazing views of dolphins playing at sun set. This campground is highly recommended and a short drive to the Angel oak tree is a must see while in the area!
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Intercoastal Camping: Watch Wildlife from the Campground
Reservations during the main season are key if you have any hope of getting a campsite in this awesome Francis Marion National Forest campground which sits just along the gorgeous intercoastal waterway, about 40 minutes northeast of Charleston, SC! We pulled in without reservations and nearly every site was booked out. The campground host was super helpful, though, finding us an empty spot (due to a cancellation) for a couple nights, then moved us to a non-reservable site for the remainder of our time.
The majority of the sites are designed for very large RVs, with a few very nice waterfront sites designated for tents. Each site is spacious, complete with a picnic table, firepit, 2 lantern poles, and electrical hookups, with a dump station at the back of the campground. The bathrooms are equipped with flush toilets, sinks, and a shower and kept relatively clean.
The campground itself is dripping with live oaks and speckled with Palmetto trees, so lots of shade is available, especially in the tent areas. The boat launch is walking distance from the campground and has a nice picnic area adjacent to it. We watched a pods of pelicans and dolphins come through the area, as well as many other sea birds.
We kayaked along the intercoastal waterway and out into marshy sea grass areas and had one of the most amazing wildlife encounters to date (and we’ve been all over the country). We saw a pod of dolphins in the distance, which appeared to be feeding. We stopped about 150 away and just enjoyed watching them dance and dive in the morning light. Then, two of the dolphins peeled away from the pack and headed straight toward us. As they approached our kayaks, the larger one gave an extra tail fin flap and dove under our boats, coming up just a bit on the other side. As naturalists, our hearts were pounding with excitement! We also hiked and mountain-biked along the gorgeous Palmetto Trail (which is a mountains-to-sea trail across South Carolina, and this campground serves as its coastal terminus).
Also, don’t miss the famous Sewee Restaurant for some downeast coastal Carolina fare, as well as the Center for Birds of Prey just across the highway from this restaurant. This wildlife conservation and rehabilitation center is doing some amazing things for birds and in the region and doing a great job of public education. If you head up the coast, be sure to stop in Boats & Hoagies in McClellanville for a bite to eat. Cute place, great food, awesome service!
The $20 per night fee is a great price for the amenities this campground offers, especially with full hook-ups and showers, and a boat launch. Check out our blog on The Dyrt's Online Magazine about our experience on the coast of South Carolina.
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Rv city
This is a gorgeous spot on the water but can get buggy. Mostly RV spots with less than 10 tent spots. Shower and bathroom/water available.
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