OAK PLANTATION CAMPGROUND, CHARLESTON, SC

Our Opinion: Recommend.  A very well maintained campground, convenient to Charleston.  This would be our choice when we visit Charleston again.

Date of Stay: March 31 through April 6 (including Easter weekend), 2010

Weather During Stay:  Very pleasant springtime weather, highs in the low 80’s with reasonably low humidity.  Cool nights. Pollen falling thickly.

Site Description:  This level, grassy, pleasantly shaded campground has around 200 sites - some appear to be tent sites, some W/E, and most FHU with either 50 or 30 amps.  Some have concrete slabs, but most are gravel or grass.  Most sites are pull-throughs, some shaded, others in the open.

We specifically asked for an open site for our rooftop TV satellite (no cable TV here).  Our site, 006, was a long, wide, gravel site with a patch of grass between us and our neighbors.  Each site has a sturdy picnic table.  All sites, no matter what the utilities or surface, were roomy and well maintained.  Roads are paved.  Speed is controlled by frequent speed bumps on the long main road of the park – quite annoying and very effective.

This is a very large campground, with lots of grassy recreational space separate from the camping area.  Most sites are well back from busy Hwy 17, while the front of the park is mostly common area: swimming pool, a small fishing lake, a fenced dog run and a playground - along with a large private home and the namesake oak trees.

Rate: With a Good Sam discount and taxes, we paid just over $30/night. 

Phone/radio/TV:  Strong signals for our Verizon phones and aircard.  No obstacles for our satellite TV in our site - but be sure to request an open sky if you need it.  Half a dozen stations on the antenna.  No cable TV.  WiFi available, but we didn’t try it out.  NPR on 89.9.

Elevation/landscape/terrain: This is a flat, grassy, partly forested campground at sea level.  Views are of neighbors and tall trees.

Lighting/noise:  Typical commercial lighting at night - not horribly bright, but not as dark as we like.  The campground is well back from busy Hwy 17, so traffic noise was not noticeable to us. 

Favorite Sites: Not too much difference between the various sites, other than trees and the services at each site.  No particular favorites here.

Hiking/Walking: It is easy to get quite a bit of walking exercise in this very large park.

Comments:  Oak Plantation is a convenient park for seeing the sights of Charleston.  Coming from the west, you arrive at the park just before hitting the worst of Charleston’s dense traffic, but trying to make a left turn into or out of the park is dangerous (or impossible) during the afternoon commute.  A nice, large Publix grocery store is a block away.