Poinsett State Park

Stayed mid-Sep 2021. Chose this park based on proximity to Congaree NP and not wanting a private cg. It is a pretty park but the roads into the park, the campground roads and the facilities really need some attention. They are improving the sites with fresh gravel (we had one of those) but it seems to be lacking in funds and even a camp host to maintain the facilities. Sites are spaced out nicely and are spacious. Our site's 30A connection was sporadic (shorting) to had to use the 20A. Tried to tell a ranger but we never found one. Hope SC Parks directs some funding to this park to do it justice.

I’m new to camping and just set out on an adventure with a truck/camper. Everything here was as expected or better. The sites are clean, spacious and spread out. The hiking trails are well-marked and originate from campsite. The bathrooms are clean and well-maintained (with hot water). There is a large field for my dog to run around and get out some energy. Some reviews mention bugs... they did keep me inside sometimes but it’s nature and I’m new at this so I’ll be getting a bug deterrent / zapper when I get into town.

PS - I used a booster (bc I work from the road with a lot of video calls) and it took both AT&T and T-Mobile up 1 bar.

On first impressions, we want to like this place. The sites are roomy and rustic... shaded and wooded. There are nice trails and overall it’s a pretty park. As others mentioned, the road in is rough. We didn’t think it was too crazy, but we’ve been fulltiming for 2 years and pretty much seen it all. The worst part is right before the campground. Just go slow and you’ll be fine.

That being said, this place is rough for those who need internet to work. 2 bars (boosted) with Verizon. It works, but it’s slow.

The bugs here are the worst we have ever experienced. They seem to be mostly gnats and they aren’t biting much, but you are swarmed every time you step outside. It’s pretty much like those reality tv shows of people in the Alaskan bush who have to wear a mosquito net over their heads. They land all over your face, in your eyes, up your nose.. we’ve swallowed several. I don’t think we’ve ever talked about bugs before in a review but they really are bad to the point that it’s close to unbearable to be outside. Not exaggerating!!! Bug spray helps for about 5 minutes. We are supposed to stay here 9 nights but have been here 3 and we will likely leave early.

Overall, pretty park but really can’t recommend, especially those who need decent internet. Maybe at a different time of the year it would be better.

Oh apparently there is an air to ground bombing center nearby. We haven’t heard anything yet which is why we gave noise 5 stars.

Poinsett SP is a beautiful park with CCC buildings, lake, trails, etc. located in a fairly remote area. The drive to the park from the north leads you past a large fenced area with "Do Not Enter - Air to Ground Bombing Practice" signs. You can hear some of the practice from the park, but it isn't excessively loud. The park has many hiking trails, mtn. biking trails, kayak and canoe rentals, and even a little Jr. Ranger program. It was generally a very quiet peaceful place.

The roads are another matter. The entrance road is in terrible shape and very narrow with trees lining it. And the turn off road to the campground is only wide enough for one vehicle at a time to transit it. It is a fairly long, winding hilly road and nowhere to pull over if one rig is coming down while you are trying to go up. You can not see from one end to the other. Unhook your tow car before going on the road to the campground.

The campground was also a mixed bag. There are a few sites that had been improved and were level gravel pads. The other sites are mud/sand and a big mess. Most of the sites were relatively level, except site 3. Sites have water and 30 amp hookup and there is a dump station.

There is a camp host supposedly. We never saw him in 4 days. No one checked us in and the host does not take the paper occupancy tags off when a camper leaves, so they were falling off and disintegrating into litter.
Not really sure what the hosts role was?

The biggest drawback were the blanket of gnats that covered us the moment we arrived. It was almost like a black cloud surrounding you. Fortunately, there were times that the gnats were not as intense, but it limited our ability to be outside. Another camper said that 2 weeks previously there were no gnats, but bug repellent didn't phase them. Fortunately, they generally didn't sting or bite, but we probably ingested quite a few inadvertently.

The park is about an hour drive to Congaree Visitor Center and an hour to Columbia.

Verizon was 2 bars with a booster and enough bandwidth for email, but not a lot else.

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 impacted our stay.

I write this review with mixed feelings I want to love this campground but, I would not go back to this campground until the roads are fixed. They are all washed out. The road up to the campground is very narrow and uphill. We ended up driving the car, down so I could block traffic for my husband to drive down safely. The road to the campground is paved with lots of cracks and potholes. So is the road into the park. The campground roads are washed out, and very uneven. If you have a big rig, you best be very comfortable with driving on bad roads, low hanging trees and close turns. The park and grounds beyond the roads are very very pretty. My husband said the trail he road was very well marked. The park office, and beach are far away and downhill. We ended up driving down to the area. We did not Kayak. We left a day early because there was bad rain predicted and we didn't want to get stuck. I want to go back to the park and hike the trails and kayak on the lake. Almost nobody was wearing masks. Some people came uncomfortably close and didn't give us time/space to get by.

It’s never a good thing when I’m apologizing and wondering what I’d gotten us into as we drove the narrow, windy road to Poinsett State Park. The road eventually narrowed to one-way (without any traffic control) so do your best to time your trip in/out of the park to avoid vehicles going the opposite direction. The road itself was paved, although in poor repair, until you got close to the campground entrance and then it changed to a rutted dirt road. It could be that the condition was a result of damage from Hurricane Matthew, but some of the interior roads were so rutted we avoided them altogether.

One we made it into our space, we were quite happy. While size varies, overall the sites are very spacious and level with lots of trees and vegetation between some of the sites for privacy. Some sites have water and 30amp electric, others have water only, and some have no hoop-ups. There are showers, bathrooms and a dump station. The campground did not have any staff on-site, but our space was reserved with our name on it. The park office is about a ½ mile from the campground if you need assistance.

We originally chose Poinsett for the mountain bike/hiking trails, unfortunately all the trails were still closed for repair compliments of Hurricane Matthew. Park staff and volunteers were working on getting everything opened back up by 11/5/16. There is a large picnic area and a small fishing lake adjacent to the park office where they rent paddle boats, canoes, and stand-up paddleboards.

The park is driving distance to Congaree National Park (about an hour away) and we visited there one day to hike and another to kayak Cedar Creek.

We had 2 bars of Verizon 4G unboosted and 3-4 bars of 4G with the booster.