Opinion on campgrounds

[flbuilder]

Anybody have experience with any of the following places in South Carolina?

Santee State Park
Poinsett State Park
Dreher Island State Rec Area

We like woodsy/lakeside type camping with relatively private sites, but will not be able to travel as far as western SC to visit the mountains.  We will be staying 2 nights, so need stuff to do, i.e. hiking, canoeing, etc.  Any suggestions?

[Tim5055]

OK, here is the review I have on my website for Santee:

This is a beautiful South Carolina park along the banks of Lake Marion.  As it is just 6 miles off of I-95 we thought this would be a nice stop on the way to Disney World. We were right!
 
The park has two camping areas, one directly on the shores of the lake and another a short distance away.  While some sites can be reserved, most can not.  Being late in the season the park rangers assured us there would be no problem in getting a site.  All sites have water and electric with a dump station in each campground.
 
Upon arrival we selected a site at the end of a road which was wooded on two sides affording the most privacy.  I was surprised to find that the site only had 20a electric service.  Checking around the campground I found that some had 20a while others had 30a service.   I was lucky that I had an adaptor and we did not need the A/C.
 
The site boundaries are not well defined and a site can expand or contract as needed.  The roads and parking areas of the sites are gravel.
 
While the focus of the park is fishing, bike and hiking trails are available.  A short drive away is the Santee outlet mall along side I-95.
 
With I-95 crossing Lake Marion  close by, vehicle noise can be heard in the distance at times.  I did notice it but did not feel it was annoying.

Now, you want lake front, but will the ocean do?  Try Hunting Island State Park.  Here is my review of that one

This was one of the nicest parks we have visited this year.  The campground was nearly deserted (except for the sites directly on the ocean).  It is probable that most people were afraid of cold weather, but due to the unseasonably warm weather we enjoyed the park almost by ourselves.
 
The park has over a hundred sites divided up into individual loops with a bathhouse for each.  The bathhouse was clean with plenty of hot water, but I noted that there was no heat or air conditioning, just open screen windows.  In  hot or cold weather some may find them uncomfortable.
 
While it rained every day of our visit, there was sufficient clear time to walk in the woods surrounding the campground and walk on the beach.  I think the wide open beach was one of the most enjoyable aspects of this park.  But walking on the beach reminded of the power of mother nature.  Sticking up from the sand dunes and the beach were ghostly reminders of mans folly in building in coastal areas.  The remnants of a camping loop, long reclaimed by the ocean were readily apparent.  Water pipes, electrical cable and other parts of the loop stick up in areas of the beach.  A road, clearly the access to a camping loop now ends on the sand of the beach.
 
Only one small area of the campground allows reservations, with the rest first come first served.  Most sites are wide with sufficient under-story to shield you from your neighbors.  Care should be taken in that several sites marked as pull through are only suitable for tents and obstructions would not allow a vehicle to pull into the site.  During slow periods the staff closes off unused loops to allow closing of unneeded bath houses.
 
While some have reported problems problems with bugs and heat, we were exposed to neither of these due to the time of year.
 
Patrols by rangers were plentiful.  We saw them driving around almost  the park 24 hours a day.
 
We enjoyed this park and plan to return next year.