Dreher Island State Park Campground

In my never-ending quest to discover the most perfect campground haven, after a rather intense amount of research, I landed on Dreher Island smack dab in the very center of South Carolina, where my daughter and I spent this past Labor Day weekend – our annual daughter & daddy camping trip – along with another very good family friends of ours. And while we’ve camped out in South Carolina before – and have been very pleasantly delighted by what the great Palmetto State has been able to offer us, we were in store for a real treat here at Dreher Island. 

To begin with, Dreher sets amongst a number of islands in the midst of one of South Carolina’s most pristine and largest (50,000 acres) natural waterparks – Lake Murray. If you are looking for a campground destination that has a tremendous amount to offer, than look no further than Dreher Island. First of all, you’re on a proper island, so here’s what that means – nearly every single campsite here has either direct lake access or, at a minimum, a brilliant lakeview. One bit of warning would be that while the view is impeccable, the winds can be strong, and as we found out one hard, rainy and windy night, if you are camping here with a tent, you’ll want to stake your abode down with as many lines as you quite possibly can. Ultimately, we tied our cabin tent down with more than 20 lines around our makeshift abode and we still felt a howling wind each night that had us think at times that we were reshooting the tornado scene in ‘The Wizard of Oz!’ 

As for amenities, there’s a ton: from the marina that this SP manages, where there’s a solid mini-mart (that has you covered on just about every front, from snacks and firewood to boat rentals (book WAY in advance if you want to rent anything!), ice, T-shirts and bait ... but you will want to note that there is NOT much in the way of actual groceries here) to picnic shelters and recreation pavilions, both hiking and biking trails as well as some of the most amazing water to canoe and kayak on as well as an amazing tackle loaner program – that’s right! You don’t even have to bring your own fishing pole and gear– the State of SC has this amazing program where they’ll lend you whatever you need. 

Of course, all of the campsites come equipped with a fire ring and pull-down BBQ grill, nice level back-in paved sites (unfortunately, despite being tent campers, we only had a single slot to choose from, which was an RV site, so we pitched directly on top of the pavement – not ideal, but not the end of the world either). Each campsite has solid space, although there’s not a ton of privacy offered between campsites (really the only downside to our whole experience). The bathroom / shower facilities were just OK, but fairly clean and just a short hike from our campsite. 

The greatest point to highlight about Dreher Island is the impeccable way in which the good rangers here take spartan great care of this magnificent campground jewel. But of course, Murray Lake itself is the real draw and she does not disappoint. My daughter and I, as well as the family who joined us, spent 90% of our time on the lake swimming, paddle-boarding, kayaking and enjoying one of the best lakes we’ve ever experienced. 

Other amenities that you’ll appreciate: tons of shoreline for boat fishing opportunities  and what you will normally catch will include: largemouth and stripers, catfish, bream, crappie and yellow perch.  You should note however that you will need a proper SC state fishing license to catch any fish.  Other plus-ups include: playgrounds for the kids, complimentary WiFi (only near the park store though). 

A couple insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) If you need anything at all, it’s just a 15 minute drive to the nearby quaint town of Chapin, where there’s a Lowes, Publix, Food Lion and Walgreen’s, Dollar General, Ace, etc.;(2) When/ if you get tired of cooking campside, then there’s a few great options (also in Chapin), where we dined at Chophouse, which was supremely awesome (side note: we were incredibly welcomed to this smart, upmarket restaurant despite showing up in our camping gear); (3) Looking for a nice spot for some late night suds? Lazy Creek Taphouse has you covered and has an outstanding outdoor vibe that will be sure to leave you with a memorable ‘Low Country’ backyard memory; and (4) if you are wanting to know the absolute best camping spot while at Dreher Island, while there are only 15 sites for tent campers, I recommend one of two places: the lakefront views of T-4 through T-7, where there’s 4 platforms perfectly set-up for large tents and that have easy access to the restrooms and showers just behind them … and T-11 through T-14, which are nothing except ‘pure tent camping bliss’ with simply fantastic, unobstructed views of Lake Murray. 

Happy Camping!

General: Two loops (Islanders Camp Circle and the Anglers Camp Circle) but only the Islanders loop was open when we were there. The Anglers loop looked to be in rougher shape so perhaps they are going to upgrade it and do some maintenance on it? There is every possible type of accommodation from primitive group sites to tent sites, electric sites, camper cabins, and luxury waterfront villas. Note of caution: in the Islanders loop, there are a few significant road heaves that even driving 5 mph will knock anything remotely loose in your camper off kilter! 

Site Quality: Generous-sized driveways. Most were angled to take the most advantage of lake views. Site 43 had neighbors only on one side (as did several others), making this a desirable site! 

Bathhouse: Clean although it looked like there was some mold (or other black substance) in the shower and along the base of the toilets. The shower was hot and welcomed even if the flow was gentler than I would have liked. 

Activities/Amenities: Fishing, boating. Since it was a weekday in the off-season, there was only an occasional boat motoring by. There are a couple of hiking trails and a short nature trail, both accessible from the Islanders Camp Circle. We took advantage of sparsely traveled roads and mostly flat terrain to get in a half-marathon training run. Although we don’t fish or boat, we do enjoy camping on the water and in the off-season, and this was an exceptionally quiet and peaceful two-day stay.

We have stayed here twice over the past few years. The first time was just as a 2-day stop on the way to our real destination, but we made it a point to come back and that was what we did last week.

We unfortunately got here during a heat wave and it was very, very hot (it was cooler though, than our home in Charleston, SC!). We stayed on site 41 which was right on the lake (see photo from our site, facing the lake). We were able to drag our kayaks from our site to the lake very easily and so we kayaked every night. The site was reasonably level although it was slanting slightly towards the lake.

One note about kayaking - the lake was low and so there was about a 2 foot drop from the land to the water. We simply tied a rope to a tree to help us walk down the steep bank and it became part of the adventure.

They also have a number of well maintained tent sites (shown in the other photo I attached). These are mostly on the lake and have electricity, water, a very flat surface, and easy lake access. 

The rangers were very friendly and made their regular rounds. No noise other than children swimming and playing, which is how it should be! It seems that everyone had a kayak, a raft, a boat, or some kind of flotation device and was on the water. We swam for an hour or two (ok, we just floated on our rafts!) and it was nice knowing that there are no alligators there.

We met many friendly campers there, and one (Bob) was walking by when I was getting down our kayaks and he was kind enough to help. Thanks Bob!

We had no need for the bathhouse so I can't speak to its condition, but they appeared to be in good condition. I do not remember any problems with the dumping station, and was appreciative that they had two parallel stations available so there was no waiting. 

The electricity (30 amp) and water pressure (about 45 psi) were fine.

We lost our RV's AC on the first night (Sunday). I suspect it was due to the intense heat and age of the AC, but fortunately we were just 25 minutes away from an HVAC distributor in Newberry and it cost me just $14 for a new AC capacitor (and about 20 minutes of my time removing it and putting the new one back in).

Note that for some campsites, such as ours, they have initiated a new 7-day minimum stay policy. They did this, I assume, because many campers take the weekend and so for other campers who want to stay for a week, they simply can't do it. Although I understand weekend campers, I also understand that it results in many sites being open Sunday-Friday so I applaud Dreher for setting aside at least some sites for week or more campers.

If you find one of these sites open during the week, like we did, but booked on the weekend (it is a new rule in 2022), you can't book online. However, if you call the park office the ranger will be very happy to book you for the days that the site is open during the week days. That is how we, and both our neighbors there, were able to get Sunday-Thursday bookings (because, of course, Fri-Sat were booked for every week during the summer because it was allowed prior to this new policy).

My husband found Dreher Island on The Dyrt and said this is where he wanted to go for our November vacation. We looked at site photos online and found site 83. The drive in is a great way to see the whole park and campground. There were lots of picnic shelters, restrooms and trails.

Our site was great - we had an awesome view of the lake and our neighbors weren't too close. Our pad was level and we noticed that others were not or very bumpy as tree roots were growing underneath which would have made getting level a little tricky. We were surrounded by trees which brought in a lot of birds and squirrels, even a deer on our first morning. The fire ring is right off the pad, so don't back in to the very end of the pad which was fine because the pad was long for us.

The shower house was just a little walk past a few campsites. There were flush toilets, sinks and two showers. The showers did not have anywhere inside to leave your items, but there was a bench directly outside of your curtain. The camp host kept it nice and clean.

We stayed from Sunday-Saturday - some days we just sat around the fire and others we hiked around the island. There are a couple of designated areas for hiking and doable for any age. Every morning and evening we walked the campground which helped us check out some other sites. I'll acknowledge the good sites in our photos. The tent sites on the outside/shore side had tent pads then there were a few tent sites on the inside, but no tentpads - they all had electric.

We visited the marina store to pick up ice and wood and found that they also had some food items, condiments, fishing items, souvenirs and ice cream. We found that the Dollar General store in Chapin had cheaper wood, ice and anything else you may need...go there first.

We left Veterans weekend and it was just about full on Friday night. This might be our go to vacation spot - we lucked out with weather and one of the nicest stays at a state park.