Camper submitted image from Lake Hartwell State Park Campground - 1

Camper submitted image from Lake Hartwell State Park Campground - 2

Camper submitted image from Lake Hartwell State Park Campground - 3

Facilities

Camper submitted image from Lake Hartwell State Park Campground - 4

Roads

Camper submitted image from Lake Hartwell State Park Campground - 5

Buildings

Established Camping

Lake Hartwell State Park Campground

18 Reviews

About

State Park

Hartwell Lake

This recreation area is part of Hartwell Lake

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Location

Lake Hartwell State Park Campground is located in South Carolina

Directions

From I-85: Take exit 1 onto Hwy 11 toward Walhalla. Drive ½ mile and look for park sign on the left.

Address

19138-a Hwy 11 S
Fair Play, SC 29643

Coordinates

34.49422587 N
83.03235167 W

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Access

Drive-In
Park next to your site
Walk-In
Park in a lot, walk to your site.
Hike-In
Backcountry sites.
Boat-In
Sites accessible by watercraft.

Stay Connected

WiFi
Available
Verizon
Available
AT&T
Available
T-Mobile
Unknown

Site Types

Tent Sites
RV Sites
Standard (Tent/RV)
Group
Cabins

Features

For Campers

Market
ADA Access
Trash
Picnic Table
Firewood Available
Phone Service
Reservable
WiFi
Showers
Drinking Water
Electric Hookups
Toilets
Pets
Fires

For Vehicles

Sanitary Dump
Water Hookups
Pull-Through Sites
Big Rig Friendly

For information regarding reservations, contact this campground directly.

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Contact

General Info

Reservations

(866) 345-7275

Kenny T.

Traveler

Reviewed Jul. 1, 2023

Cabin stay

The cabins are nice, but small and no plumbing. If you're used to tent camping then the cabins are one step above that. Bonus is the air conditioning. Great view in Cabins 1 and 2. Gentle slope to a nice beach as well for those two cabins.

Tent sites are on the water as well but are right on top of each other. I could almost touch two of the tent pads at the same time.

Sitecabin 1

Month of VisitJuly

Melanie W.

Scout

Reviewed May. 12, 2023

Nice and quiet

Nice shady quiet park great for just relaxing or getting out on the lake. Helpful and friendly staff at the office.

Site16

Month of VisitJune

Dmitri W.

Guide

Reviewed Sep. 17, 2022

Checks all the boxes

After hours check in was very easy. Just paid about $20 for a site with a level pad to park on, water, and 20 amp electricity at the site. Bathrooms are dated but decent. Showers are hot. Access off the freeway is very easy if you’re traveling through this area. Sites are close together but it is heavily wooded to have some privacy, and there was no problem with noise when we were there.

Site80

Month of VisitOctober

Robert W.

Traveler

Reviewed Sep. 18, 2021

Lake Hartwell State Ark

The park has a lot of potential. Road maintenance is not being done. Definitely needs some electrical work. Ours kept throwing breakers whenever someone new hooked up down the circuit. Cleaning is slack, it’s a shame really.

Site11

Month of VisitOctober

robins662

Guide

Reviewed May. 8, 2021

Cool, quiet and peaceful

I really enjoyed our stay. It was peaceful and clean.

Month of VisitApril

Windell S.

Guide

Reviewed Feb. 11, 2021

Nice campground, but somewhat dated.

This campground is located just off of I-85 exit 1 in South Carolina, making it a good place for an overnight stop if traveling. Being an older park, the roads can be quite bumpy and the sites could use some work. One loop is open year round, but the sites aren't what I would call waterfront although you can see the lake. A variety of site sizes are available and most are back in, but a few pull throughs are available. Not a lot of "living" area around the campsites as most of the campground can be rather brushy.

Site73, 104

Month of VisitDecember

Butch D.

Scout

Reviewed Feb. 6, 2021

Lake Hartwell

Wonderful place

Liza B.

Scout

Reviewed Nov. 3, 2020

Great Views

Recently stay at Lake Hartwell State Park and had a great time. Some of the sites are pretty close together, but we stayed at site 54 and our friends were at site 52. Both sites had nice tree cover and great views of the lake with plenty of space, close to the bath house. Lost power to our site during our stay, but the staff was quick to come out and fix the problem. It was very busy while we were there, but didn’t seem overly noisy. Definitely looking forward to going back.

Kim S.

Traveler

Reviewed Oct. 5, 2020

Lovely visit!

We stayed at Lake Hartwell State park in stie 98 which was a lovely lakeside site. The sites on either side (96, 99) all shared a path to a small beach with lake access. Most other sites in the Wiggins Loop did not seem to have lake access- exceptions being tent sites and the cabins. There was some privacy and the sites were decently spread out, but since they were staggered a bit you could definitely see into other sites.

Nice camp store with helpful staff and firewood for sale.

Place was packed over the weekend but cleared out Sunday.

Site98

Month of VisitNovember

Jacilyn B.

Guide

Reviewed Aug. 2, 2020

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS !

We really loved the privacy and the access to the lake from our spot! The only thing would be sewer hook up but the restroom and showers were a short walk from our spot! We rented 62 62 A we will be back! #Loveit We brought our 3 dogs and they enjoyed theirselves as well! This was our first trip since getting our travel trailer! #memories the water pressure was just to our liking!

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Myron C.

Legend

Reviewed Aug. 1, 2020

Great State Park

Lake Hartwell State Park was a welcome relief after staying at an overcrowded RV resort. There was more privacy and definitely more shade. The site we chose was next to the lake, so it was also more peaceful. The back-in site we chose was also paved and had a good picnic table and a fire pit. Because of the shade, the heat didn’t bother us as much as it could have, but we chose not to have a fire(Who needs more heat in 90 degree weather?) The bath house was clean, updated, and had good sized shower stalls. The boat launch area was convenient for launching kayaks as well as boats, and there was a fishing pier. The parking area for the boat launch and fishing pier area was large enough to accommodate quite a few cars, and there was a playground for kids. One of my favorite parts of Lake Hartwell State Park was the nature trail. It was a pleasant, but short, walk and not too difficult. I also enjoyed the benches beside the lake. There are designated tent sites, which you have to hike to, but we were staying in our little teardrop camper. There are also cabins, which have nice views of the lake. Overall, this is a campground that I would like to come back to when I have more time. I wasn’t able to spend as much time as I would like, but it wasn’t because there weren’t things to do.

Month of VisitAugust

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Bill C.

Guide

Reviewed Jun. 22, 2020

Love the campsites by the lake

So we hooked up the camping gear and headed down to camp the weekend. We are big fans of space between neighbors and noticed right away that these sites are rather close to one another. The views helped make the closeness bearable. The bathhouses are clean and well stocked. Staff is friendly and helpful. The walking trails are well laid out and easy to walk on. The on-site store is well stocked with all your camping needs and there is also a nature center with taxidermy wild animals and history related to fishing gear. There is a free library available and laundry facilities at the store. They have check in and self check in available at the store. Lots of brochures from other state parks and things to do nearby.

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Troy D.

Scout

Reviewed May. 3, 2019

Campground

We went with friends 10 years ago when they had a pop up camper. It was a lot of fun. Met lots of people and I got hit in the eye ball with a football because I was having a lot of fun. Had a bbq grill to grill burgers steaks whatever you want to grill. You can fish there too. I love the experience I would go back. It’s far from me now.

Month of VisitOctober

Melissa R.

Guide

Reviewed Apr. 22, 2019

August 2018 - OK park but Fire Ant infestation

It's a really great park. We stayed in the rustic tent site T8, and was quite surprised it had a water spicket (faucet) for easy water access. (Something we may have overlooked as a site feature, as it was our first visit). Our only complaint was the entire campsite was one large fire ant hill! We had to travel to the local dollar general to get ant spray to help with the infestation. We only camp rustic so we're used to bugs but this was insane. Every step we took or every place we sat would soon be swarmed with ants as that's what fire ants do. Once we sprayed the area we were finally able to safely enjoy our campsite. The view was wonderful! Besides the ants it was a fantastic campsite! (BTW I would not recommend hammock camping here as the ants were also on a lot of trees, ropes we had were covered when we took them down) Will provide photos I took off all the rustic sites: T3 - T8

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Robert B.

Traveler

Reviewed Nov. 21, 2018

Scout camp ground

We have camped here once so I have not seen the whole park. Be the group Primitive area is great on the left side of the area. The right side has been over used and the ground has washed and the only place to Pitch a tent is on camping pads that are on the small size for a large groups. But all in all the park is well Kept and Bathhouse well Maintain. The park is Very beautiful. Great for large groups.

Jennifer W.

Traveler

Reviewed Jun. 22, 2018

Large Campground

Thus is a nice but huge campground. Mostly RVs. I camped at one of the walk in tent sites. Not to far from parking area so it was easy to get gear to site. Lake is absolutely beautiful and a blast to swim in. Can be noisy because of boats on lake and so many other campers. Staff is very friendly. Has one of the "free little libraries" so I could grab a new book when I finished mine. Like all campgrounds, gets busy on weekends.

Month of VisitAugust

Brian Y.

Scout

Reviewed Jun. 15, 2018

Years of Memories

I have been going to this campground for years! Love it!

Dave V.

Legend

Reviewed Sep. 28, 2016

Shoulder Season Sweetness!

Camping and hiking in the fall when everyone else is either working or choosing to hunker down inside...is premeire!

Happening upon Lake Hartwell State Park, was a find! We were traveling light, heading to the Hendersonville, NC area for bagging waterfalls and cascades and some ridge hikes. So we opted to rent one of their camper cabins. Spartan to be sure..its dry, solid and has a door. Oh, and it had a window AC unit...but it was plenty cool enough. Nearby were the showers and restroom facilities. For all practical purposes...we had the entire campground to ourselves. The park is clean, well-maintained and well staffed. The rangers were helpful in pointing us in the correct direction for dayhikes and local points of interest.

The Stumphouse Tunnel was of particular interest and made for a great hike centered around pre Civil War era. Station Cove Falls were beautiful and the Oconee Station State Historic Site were delightful and well preserved. A military Outpost and Indian Trading Post from the late 1700's were awesome!

Back to the campground. Our cabin rental was located on a pennisula and because the water levels of Lake Hartwell were down, we had plenty of beach area to comb. Lots of downfall was present for scavenging...so our campfires were splendid. The weather was fairly decent...and we enjoyed unseasonably warm days while we were there.

I'd definitely like to revisit, under the same circumstances...but would bring a tent...and my canoe.

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