The family and I decided to check out Lake Murray State Park today. We have recently heard a lot of good things about the lake and wanted to make sure we liked it before planning our camping trip. The lake was nice and appeared to be great for swimming and boating. The water is clear and there are a number of beach areas that are kid friendly (something we really take into consideration now that we have a three year old.) There are also a lot of areas around the lake to pull over and take a swim or fish, but some of the trails and rocks are too dangerous for younger children.
Before I tell you about how we feel about the camping options, please keep in mind that we are not your normal tent campers. We actually prefer renting a pop-up or travel trailer, but a few times a year we enjoy taking the tent out as long as we have electricity and water. Lake Murray has tons of places to tent camp, but all sites are considered primitive because no electricity or water is offered. These sites are all $12.00 daily per tent. If you don't mind not having electric or water, then I would recommend the sites.
There are three areas of the park (Elephant Rock, Cedar Cove, and Tipp's Point ) that require a $4.00 day use fee, which is not bad considering it is per car and not per person like some other State Parks. You only pay the $4.00 once for all three areas. These are the prime spots for RV and Pop-up camping, however some of the spots are large enough for a tent. These spots run $25 to $28 daily per site and include water, electric, and sewer (in some spots.) There are also several drive-thru camp sites but these are not located directly on the water. Since the park does not allow campers to reserve specific sites it can be a gamble to get a good site on the water.
The Elephant Rock area had a lot of good spots on the water, but only a few had enough room for a tent. Cedar Cove looked to be the best place near the water to pitch a tent and to have electric and water. We were not impressed with Tipp's Point, especially since it was not kid friendly. It would be fine for older kids, but it is not a good place for a three year old. The camping spots are too close to the road and there are large rocks and drop-offs near the water.
The restrooms and showers at the park were not bad. They were kept clean, but I did find it odd that you have to pay to take a shower. I have been to a lot of state parks and this is the first time I have seen pay showers!
The cabins and lodges didn't look that great from the outside. They were probably fifty years old and didn't look as if they had ever been updated. There was one area with cabins near the water, but the entire area was closed off. The only thing I did like about the cabin area was the putt-putt course and nice swimming and play area for kids.
Finally, one of the most important amenities we take into consideration when making a decision about our vacation is the playground options. The park has a lot of different playgrounds, but not all are kid friendly. Some are out dated and appeared to be from the 50s or 60s and some of the newer sets were for older kids. We did manage to find a few sets that Benjamin could use and he had a blast. I also didn't like that there were no seats or trash cans near the playgrounds. Every playground we visited within the park had trash all around it.
Overall we were not impressed with the park and if I were to rate it I would have to give it a 5 on a 10 point scale. I guess we were just a little disappointed because we had heard so many good things about the park, but this is why we adventure out and check out parks for ourselves. This was not the first recommendation that turned out bad for us and it won't be the last. For a split second I thought we might be too picky, but I think we just have high expectations since we visit so many state parks. I wouldn't say Lake Murray is a bad park, but it isn't for us and I don't foresee us retuning anything in the near future.
