Edisto Beach South Carolina

This year for Thanksgiving, I did something a little crazy. I hooked up my little camper and took off to Edisto Beach in South Carolina. It was my first long-distance solo trip and I was a little nervous. It turned out to be such a wonderful experience.

Edisto Beach is a dog-friendly beach on a quaint little island with several restaurants and bars, an ice cream shop, a grocery store, marinas, golf, and a community area on the marsh that holds music festivals and various events. Unless you want to venture off to Charleston, just over an hour away, there is plenty to do here on the island.

I watched several YouTube videos on the area and campgrounds and thought it would be a beautiful, quiet little town to visit. There are two campgrounds on the island: the Edisto Beach State Park Campground on the ocean and marsh, where I stayed, and the Live Oaks State Park Campground just 2 miles from the beach.

The Live Oaks State Park Campground is nestled in giant oak trees with moss hanging down just as you would picture on a southern plantation. The sites are close together but the trees and foliage offer privacy. Several hiking/biking trails can be accessed from the campground.

The beach campground offers sites on the ocean and the marsh side. The sites in the center are open and don’t offer a lot of privacy, but work well for big rigs. The sites on the marsh and beachside are in the trees and brush, which offers more seclusion. There were sand dunes between my site and the ocean but I could hear the waves sitting at my campsite while being protected from the wind.

Both campgrounds are beautiful. Reservations at either park allows entrance to the Edisto Beach State Park public areas, parking and facilities, and hiking trails at the Live Oak Campground.

The Spanish Mount Trail is a 1.7-mile hiking and biking trail, leading to one of the earliest Native American Shell mound sites in South Carolina. This mound is made of mostly oyster shells and was where the Native Americans deposited their trash and other unwanted items. The mound dates back to 2,000 BC.

The Scott Creek Trail is a 0.7-mile hiking and biking trail, that takes you through the forest with views of the marsh from three boardwalks and connects you to the Spanish Mount Trail. I enjoyed being in solitude with only the birds as company. This was such a beautiful trail.

Several trails were closed due to recent storms. They were, however, making progress in removing the debris.

When I booked this vacation, the only available site was #3. I did hear the warnings on the videos I watched, that the site was very unlevel. They also said it may work for a small RV. Since I am adventurous and adaptive, I thought, how bad can it be? Well, it was pretty bad. I would not book this site again. It is not suitable for any size rig. The picture does not show the incline or the steep drop behind the camper. Beware!

Beach access walkways throughout the campground and a short walk to the water make it easy to enjoy the beach. The shower/bath houses were clean and easily accessible. The staff was helpful and friendly. The gate is locked at 6:00 pm and everyone is given a code. I felt very safe the entire time I was there.

I visited the local museum to learn more about the history of the area and found that Edisto Beach was originally settled by the Edistow Indians. I’m sure why the spelling was changed. The Natchez Kusso were a mixture of tribes who lived on the river for over 400 years.

Since Charleston was fairly close and played a role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, various African ethnic groups were brought here because of their superior skill for growing rice and forced into labor on South Carolina plantations.

The Hutchinson House is the oldest identified house on the island associated with the black community after the Civil War. It was the residence of Henry Hutchinson who according to local tradition, built and operated the first cotton gin owned by a black on the island.

Edisto Beach is a peaceful, beautiful place to vacation. I’m sure it is buzzing with activity during the peak season, but I enjoyed the calmness and serenity of the off-season experience. I highly recommend a visit here!

Happy Camping!