Poinsett State Park — Attraction in Sumter

I am presently the camp host here at Poinsett State Park and I love it here. I camped here in the past in the tent area. I love the woods and the trails. The lake is refreshing during the summer. The Rangers are very friendly and knowledgeable. The odd thing about the park are the office hours; 11-12 and 4-5 during the week, but I understand why. They have many chores and tasks to deal with like clearing the trails, building upkeep, repairing water lines, relocating wildlife, mechanical maintenance, ground maintenance, and caring for the lake and patrolling the grounds. These are just a few.

I call the lake Nature's Soup! Not all people enjoy swimming in lakes, but that's fine. The view is relaxing. There are rental boats, paddle boards, canoes, and paddle boats. Many people come during the day to fish. I'm waiting to catch a bass!

During the fall hunters visit often on the weekends, some stay for weeks. They hunt in nearby Manchester State Park. Many deer come to Poinsett to visit during hunting season.

I haven't seen a turkey yet, but I hear them. I know of 2 white barn owls here. There is a variety of birds and other wildlife.

The closest place to get hot food is a pizza from the Solo gas station about 4 miles away. Next would be Batton's hunting and fishing shop about 10 miles from the park. There is a dinner in back with homestyle food, and daily special.. I enjoy their food. Oh, and the open early, very early.

Be prepared for falling nuts! Black Hickory and Acorns will shoot down from the trees. Many thrown by squirrels.

The roads to the campsites are a bit rugged, red clay and sand. Be prepared for a bumpy ride.

There are 50 individual campsites, 24 RV sites, and 26 tent sites, as well as 5 group sites.

In the RV area there are 2 level sites, 1 pull through site, a handicap site, an activity building, and a bathhouse.

The RV/Camper sites have a fire ring with grill, water and electricity. Some have a separate (and very old) grill. Make sure your vehicle (s) will fit within a chosen site. The height also matters. There are some low hanging branches. There is also a drive through site.

There are 2 bathhouses. One in the RV area and one in the tent area. Each have 2 showers with great water pressure. The men's room has a urinal and two stalls. The women's room has 3 stalls. The RV bathhouses are heated in the winter, but no a/c or fans for the summer. The bathhouses in the tent area have no heat or air.

We do have bugs here. We're in the woods. And there is wildlife.

It is quite and peaceful during the week. And, it can be very busy on the weekends. People come to hike and bike, to hunt and fish, or just chill.

There are large shelter buildings that can be rented for large gatherings.

We have a lookout area with a shelter. The view is amazing. Looks like the foothills of the mountains and much of the vegetation is similar to that of a mountainous region.

There are the remains of an old grist mill, a spillway and other sites. A playground had been added near the office area.

We have 5 cabins available to rent. Number 5 is handicap accessible and is the largest of the cabins. It also has tv. The others do not.

The office and outside of the office, as well as the cabins have WiFi, the campground does not. I take the short ride to the office and sit on the porch to download and do research.

The office is open 9-5 on weekends. They have gifts and firewood and ice cream. Firewood can also be gathered from the woods, deadwood only. And fires must always be attended. Don't go to sleep with a fire burning. Water is at each site.

There is also a Primitive Area. 5 large areas for groups such as boy scouts, reunions, and church gatherings. There is a 2 stall men's and women's bathroom at this location. No electricity or water.

We have a large open field where games can be played. Or bring a lounge chair and watch the stars at night.

There is also an activity building located in the campground with several picnic tables, a large fireplace, and many toys and...

Poinsett State Park is absolutely beautiful and a true hidden gem. We recently visited South Carolina and after spending the weekend visiting nearby Congaree National Park, we opted to stay at Poinsett State Park for 4 nights in our Mercedes Sprinter campervan. As we had read online, the roads into and around the park are truly in desperate need of repair, but once in the campground, the sites are very nice. Site 24 was perfect as it is the last one with hookups and that allows RVs. The hiking is fantastic - I was able to easily hike several miles each day with my dogs and most of the hiking trails are very peaceful and pretty. Even though we were there in early February, we did encounter some gnats/mosquitos and we had to be incredibly vigilant about picking ticks off of our dogs. The only negative is that the park host was incredibly rude to us. We travel with our two well behaved dogs and ALWAYS keep them on a leash. I spent several hours a day hiking with them and walked through the campground with them on several occasions, which I know the host saw since we walked past him multiple times. On the third day of our stay, as I was bringing one of our dogs back and we were switching leashes and harnesses, our other dog jumped out and got away from us for a minute. We immediately ran after her, and after calling her name, she turned around and came back. She was out for less than a minute, and we were actively pursuing her with leash in hand the entire time. My husband was literally running after her without shoes on. The camp host came and yelled at us claiming that our dog "almost attacked his dog." She's a 9 year old Golden Retriever that is literally the most friendly dog on the planet. She was in our view the entire time and never barked or growled, only went up somewhat near them (several feet away) to say hello. It was clearly a mistake that she got out and something we rectified immediately. He kept yelling at us well after she was in our control. While I 100% understand and agree that all dogs should be on leash, it was clearly a mistake and absolutely nothing happened. It made us feel really awkward and uncomfortable. Then, on top of that, the next day, we couldn't even walk our dogs because there were 2 loose dogs running all over the campground with literal bells on - the camp host of course didn't address what was actually a flagrant violation of the rules by a neighboring camper. Other than that, our 4 day stay was perfect, but this really negatively...

Poinsett State Park is a smaller park and definitely one of the older parks in the system. Parks & Rec has been making improvements as the main road into the park is recently paved. The dump station in the campground was new and a new group camping area is under construction.

I give the camping at Poinsett a 2/5. The campground area roads are very tight with some sharp turns that can make navigating with a trailer over 35 foot somewhat difficult. The campground roads are all loose dirt/sand/gravel mix and kick up a lot of dust every time someone drives through. We stayed in sites 2 & 3. Beware if you stay in site 2 it is very difficult to get into with large trees immediately on either side of the entrance, a tree in the middle of the site, and another tree on the opposite side of the road across from the entrance making it very hard to get into. Most of the campsites also had large exposed roots which are a risk of tripping and also making it difficult to get your camper in. When we stay in site 3 someone must have dumped their black tank on the ground as the site was very smelly of sewer gas. Make sure to bring bug spray and insect spray for the ground as there are ants everywhere. Sites were good sized. The bathrooms had no AC and were at least 10-15 degrees warmer than outside. Water pressure in the showers was amazing though!

Outside of camping the rest of the park is a solid 4/5 ranking. There are over 25 miles of trails integrating with the nearby state forest and the Palmetto Trail system. Mountain biking was clearly a big activity. The office/store is medium sized and looks fairly new with nice picnic tables available. It sits near the lake and paddle boat and canoe rentals. There is also a small swimming area. Near by is a small waterfall where the old grist mill sat in the mid-1700s.

There are quite a few shelters for large gatherings...