Charleston KOA

After losing our reservation due to the 1000 year floods at Oak Plantation, we called this KOA for a spot. There was plenty of room as most campers had headed to higher ground. It seemed odd coming through a trailer park to get here, but the staff was friendly and for the first time ever walked us to our site. It was flooded, but hey… did I mention the 1000 year rain? So, we dropped our trailer and went to sleep. As I write this morning… the standing water is gone, but the blight becomes more obvious. There is a creepy maintenance area surrounded by an ill advised fence, a shipping container for a storage area… which could use some serious paint or better yet, replace with something better on the eyes. I don’t feel any particular danger here like a previous reviewer, but I can hear the highway… not unusual for a campground. It is also a little noisier than I think would be usual, because the grounds crew are cleaning up after what must have been a miserable four days of heavy rain. The camping sites themselves are either class 5 rock or grass. There are lots of full hookup sites and the cable tv and internet work. I see mostly pull through sites and some big rigs in here. Tree branch levels are generally high enough not to interfere with the big rigs, and is super roomy for our little popup. Due to the rains and a need to be with family in the Charleston area, we are sentenced to an entire week here. While thankful for the availability, it is easily not on the top of my list of campgrounds I would like to return to. And the backed up toilet isn’t the reason… that stuff happens.

This place was OK. But barely. It is not in a great location. If you are trying to get in or out in the late afternoon — forget it! Traffic is awful and the drivers are not polite. There is also a tremendous amount of noise from the road. The pool was nice and not usually crowded. We were here in August so the pool was a welcome relief from the humidity. There is a long term section that was pretty dumpy. Some of those people had so much crap outside their RVs. Wifi was also very slow, when it worked.

The people working in the office were very helpful with reservations, however, it felt rather strange to have to have a code to get into the bathrooms. I have camped most of my life, and have never had to have a code to get into any bathroom on a campground before.
The campground itself is accessible only through driving through a trailer park to get to the KOA which is inside of it. This was rather questionable, I did not feel really safe, as it was just my daughter and I camping, and there were people that walked through the campground who were not camping in the KOA campground itself.
We had reservations for two days, but after seeing the property, we quickly changed that to a one night reservation just because we did not feel safe staying there. In the morning when we woke up, the area around our cabin smelled of cat urine, which made me really feel as if I were making the right decision of leaving this KOA campground. I have stayed in many KOA campgrounds before, and none of them were this bad. I feel bad giving a bad review, but we had just come from another KOA the night before, and this one didn’t even compare to that one.

When my wife and I camp 9 times out 10 we choose KOA campgrounds or a state park. We like KOA for several reasons:
1. KOA’s are family run, so when you stay on one, your supporting a locally owned family business. 2. The rates are good, staff is friendly and helpful and the campground, bathrooms and pool area are always clean. 3. This KAO is less expensive, quieter, and less crowded then the one in Mount Pleasant on the other side of Charleston. 4. You can choose how you camp in a KOA– In a tent, log cabin, log cabin with bathroom and kitchen or your travel trailer or motorhome. 5. Most KOA’s are in a wooded location, so you have a shady campsite and a nice areas take a walk and to observe nature.
This is a smaller KOA but still has a pool, playground for the kids, horseshoe pit, basketball court, laundry facilities and a on site store in case you forget something.
Most KOA’s are a little of the beaten path, so you may have a short drive to get your destination, but that saves you money too by not being right in the center of things.
We have stayed at this KOA several times and would do so again.
If you are new to camping or have been doing it for years, you need to give a KOA a try on you next outing.