Barnwell State Park — Attraction in South Carolina

This was my first stay at a state park in SC and it was disappointing. So, the camp hosts were friendly and helpful. That's where it ends for me. For starters there was a problem with my reservation. They sent me an email and demanded that I call them. I did, and they just needed to move my site. Why did that require a phone call? They could have just emailed me!!! Annoying. There was no one at the gate, no entrance station. We found the campground and it was self-check-in. Found our window tag on the post at our site. Got backed in no issue, road is wide enough and didn't have trees too near the edge. Did have a tree at the back so could not go too far back. Sites 17-25 are ok. Sites 2-7 are bad, with a big dip at the front of the sites, big trees close to sides, and perpendicular to road. 8-14 are tent sites. Don't take anything larger than a tent trailer or teardrop back there. Bathrooms are OLD and poorly cared for. Rust stains and hard water deposits, obviously not cleaned well. The walls must have a dozen of coats of paint and are just slopped on. Whoever paints here doesn't tape anything off. They just paint over everything, even plumbing fixtures. Oddly the ceilings and trim in the shower stalls are wood. The heater has long since been removed but the bracket is still mounted to the wall. Toilets not bolted down, wobbly, and leaking sewage when flushed. Showers have just a curtain. There is a bench, but it is outside the curtain and shared. I used the showers, but my wife refused and showered onboard. There is a trash can in the bathroom for bath trash but there are NO trash cans or dumpsters in the CG or day use. one dumpster for whole park, is half mile back down the road at the entrance. So, we had a pile of dog poop bags outside that we bagged up and dumped when we left. The host has a recycle bin in their site but that is it. The maintenance here is poor to none. Clearly, they don't used skilled labor or licensed contractors for repairs. Things that break just get a handyman repair at most. There used to be a sign on the wall, but it's got one coat of paint over it, you can still see it because it wasn't painted over properly. About midnight we had several large commercial planes fly low over the CG. There is a regional airport just a few miles south and the CG is in the flight path for one of the runways. There is a lake in the park, but it is 5ft low, nearly gone. We walked around the park; they have nicely appointed cabins. And the community room is beautiful. Found the office, no one there. Only staffed 2 hours a day. Many of the buildings are in need of paint. They also have issues with termites and wood rot with chunks of wood falling off structures. Place is neglected. Not worth more than a night even...

Barnwell SP is one of the smaller state parks in the SCSP system but it has a lot to offer. There are several shelters available to rent as well as a community building. The roads leading to the shelters and community building are new.

The campsite area roads were a bit rough and rocky but nothing treacherous or difficult to navigate. The campground itself only has 25 sites with many being tent sites. They do have 6 or 7 full service sites which are nice and had 50 amp service. All sites were very clean and laid out well. The parking pads were well maintained and marked. Like many of the state parks, some had trees in inconvenient areas right at the entrance to the parking pads. The bathhouse in the camping area doesn't look like much from the outside but on the inside was well maintained and even air conditioned. When we there the men's showers had to hot water unfortunately, but the women's side did. The campsites were decent size and spaced far enough apart that you felt like you had your own space.

There are several trails that are well marked and maintained and present nice views of the lake. The boardwalks had chicken wire on them which is a nice touch as they get very slippery and this helped solve that problem. There are also 7 geocaches onsite which are fun to locate. They do rent canoes and paddle boats for a reasonable price. The park office is only open for two hours per day, 11-12 and 4-5 which makes rentals difficult but the camp host can call someone to accommodate your requests.

There is a nice pier for fishing. There are several games around the park like a volleyball net, hook & ring game, and horse shoes. There is a roped off area in the lake for swimming. There is a natural spring near the lake. Cell service is available in the park in most areas with 2 bars average with Verizon. The park office also has free Wi-Fi available.

One aspect of the park that I didn't like were all of the rules that they have posted EVERYWHERE. There are signs every time you turn around telling you what you can and can't do. $20 service fee if you use the restroom and aren't a campsite renter. $5 dump station fee. Dogs must stay on the left side of the sidewalk (no kidding). It took away from the feeling of escaping the real world and relaxing. It always felt like someone was watching us. One of the park rangers was also very rude. He talked condescendingly to everyone and wasn't friendly at all.

While not the most exciting state park, there are still sufficient activities and things to do to make this a...

This is an unassuming park with no fancy signage, friendly Rangers, beautiful scenery, and excellent cabin accommodations. We arrived on a Thursday afternoon and departed on Saturday. Cabin 1 had everything we needed to feel as if we were home: cable TV, WiFi, fully equipped kitchen (including a Hamilton Beach FlexBrew/traditional coffee maker/ pods with coffee and extras in a straw basket), light blocking shades, locally made quilts on 2 queen size beds with extra pillows, hairdryer/nightlight in the bathroom (safety bars for us old folks), and TWO sleeper sofas (wish we'd invited family). Outside was a picnic table, charcoal grill, and fire pit with chairs. For $6, a Ranger dropped off a cord of wood for us that was plenty for two fires for both of our nights here.

Check in was at 4PM, and hours at the Ranger station were 4-5PM, and 11-12. When we checked out, we left the 2 keys on the kitchen table since check out was 10AM. During the day we walked the two nature trails and walked around the lake near the Ranger station. We also explored Blackville, looking for historical places in The BLACKVILLE HERITAGE TRAIL brochure. We stopped at the Piggly Wiggly for groceries so we could make our own meals at the cabin. At night we enjoyed relaxing around the fire we built in the fire pit. Up above, we saw a lot of stars, but not as many as we'd hoped due to a nearby street light (for safety).

A nice perk at this state park was the welcome gift delivered by Ranger Brandon Friday morning: locally made gifts (honey, soap & lip balm). This was the perfect touch to a...