Baker Creek State Park

Baker Creek State Park, SC on Lake Thurmond
This is a very pretty state park with many campsites on the lake. There’s a covered picnic pavilion, an ofc with gift shop, kayak and canoe rentals as well as firewood for sale.
The restrooms are clean and well maintained. The parking pads for camping could use more gravel - it got muddy when it rained.

It's not the "resort" experience you are looking for, but it is the camping experience you need. The staff is very friendly and the camp host, Richard, is a great help and very outgoing! Depending on your choice of sites you will get great views like we did. The main road is the only paved road if you are sensitive to driving your RV on gravel. If there was only one criticism, it would be for the dump station to be paved and leveled. There is 50 and 30 amp hook up and water. We thoroughly enjoyed the park.

Solo 45 year old female tent camper review:
First Impression: I did not get the warm fuzzies when I first arrived. It was desolate feeling, with the only other campers a group of fishermen. As a solo female, this has not always been a good combination. I was sick though, and needed a place to recuperate so I stayed, and decided I'd just keep to myself, and move closer to the restroom to avoid being seen.

Privacy: There is not a lot of privacy but at least there is a decent amount of space between sites, I chose one at the edge of a loop with a little forest between me and the water. There were many mature trees at my site, though there had been some trees removed in the campground.

Noise: Very peaceful park, the only noise is the occasional boat (in February when I was here there were very few) or a loud truck on the bridge down the lake. Overall, the only sounds were birds, wind through the trees, and waves lapping the shore. I loved it. Not sure it would be the same experience if the boats were in full force or if the campground was full. The highway was far away, so no constant road noise.

Security: I was a little nervous the first night and considered leaving because I've had bad experiences being the only woman in a campground with a bunch of drinking men. And this park is fairly remote. But the next day another solo camper, a family, and the campground host Rusty showed up and so I stayed.

Hiking: I attempted to go on a hike, but the trail was not clearly marked, was choked with vegetation in spots, and there were no places I could find a map. I ended up just walking the road for a bit, but there isn't much of a shoulder either, so it was a short walk. I still don't know if there are decent trails, but I suspect that this park is more about the water.

Bathrooms: If you are finicky you might not like the bathrooms, they are showing their age. The 2 showers and 3 toilets (I think) functioned fine and had hot water, and there was a heater in the bathroom. The soap dispenser didn't work, but I always carry my own so not a big deal. There were two bathhouses, so no sites were all that far from the bathroom. It did have a motion sensor outside the door that was very bright, so if you are tenting, keep that in mind when choosing a site.

Views: Ah, the views! My site was at the end of the loop, at the top of a hill. It provided the most amazing sunrise and sunset views. There were many good sites at the campground with water views, and a few mediocre sites (in my opinion) in the middle.

I appreciated having water and electric and a level pad. At the end of my 3 days, I found myself wishing I could stay longer and enjoy the serenity.

This is a very quiet and relaxing park. We came out here with our 5th wheel and enjoyed the peace and quiet. We stayed at site #97 where we had a great view of the lake, our camper is 40 ft with 4 slides and an awning, we fit just fine in the spot. Here are the key takeaways:

- This is a seasonal park only open during certain time of the year starting in March.
- To reserve you will need to do it online or you can call Hickory Knob State Park.
- Great place for fishing or taking a small boat out. There is a boat ramp at the park itself, a good bit of boats were on the water and stored at camp sites.
- The site comes with a picnic table (new one at that), a grill and a gravel spot to park your camper or set up a tent.
- The park itself doesn't have that much going on with it. There are a few trails that didn't seem to get much use (lots of up and down, not great for young kids).
- They do have a kids play ground, one for older kids and one for younger kids. Be aware the slides are steep so kids will go down them at a fast rate and could come sliding off falling on the ground.
- There is a volleyball net right outside the office.
- The office house are not very long and kind of random. It says from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm so if you catch them you're lucky.
- Their store doesn't have anything but t-shirts.
- The road to the camp sites it wide enough to get through no problem, you don't have to worry about trees too much. It is hilly and some spots have a little erosion causing a dip between the road and campsite.
- Hickory Knob is on the other side of the park, it's a separate State Park. Hickory Knob does have a golf course if you're interested in playing. You can even rent golf clubs if needed.
- There isn't a set beach but you can access the lake to swim at most sites.
- Bathrooms are located at the office and at the park campsite.
- There is a large covered picnic area at the park office where you could fit about 50-75 people. Along with that, they have a huge grill. I'm not sure if or how you go about reserving it, I'm guessing you can do it online.

Overall this was an enjoyable park to stay at with how peaceful it was. I would suggest this park but probably not the best one to bring kids to.

We had a nice spot! #28 Ran out of propane in the middle of the night. Woke up freezing only 27 degrees out. Went to McCormick found a guy with a propane business out his house!!! We love all the parks in the area. We will be back!!

My son and I stopped by Baker Creek State Park on our way to hickory knob State Park. Both are part of the ultimate outsider adventure. We stopped to get a stamp there and wandered around a little bit on our way. It was gorgeous! It would definitely be worth going back and walking some of the trails. It was so beautiful. They had a pavilion that was on the lake.

Great location near the lake it has a pavilion and clean restroom 🚻🚺 great parking lake access ♿ access
Very friendly staff great place for family events or banquet

Such a hidden gem of a state park. Very small overall but a wonderful campground and pavilion for kayaking on the lake. The campground has a long winding road leading to it and over half of the campsites have a direct waterfront view.

Lots of activity going on taking out trees but the campsites have beautiful views. Getting ready to add a playground near the camping area.. Nice Pavillion area and playground in the day use area.

I got married here at the pavilion back in 1993. It's always been a special place. I love Kayaking here now. Lots of people camp here, it's very popular for it's nice camping area.

Great overall camping experience! Nice access to the lake from our campsite and renting the kayaks was a fun adventure. Even with the cooler weather the kids swam in the lake. Fishing was FANTASTIC!! Many varieties of fish, caught and released.

We visited the park over to see the amenities provided as we're new to the area. Chris, the Park Ranger was very friendly and informative. He told us about the amenities at the park, the updates that have already been completed and their wish list of updates still to complete. He spent the time with us and was very courteous. We were very impressed by the Pavilion and the clean bathrooms. Thank you Chris.

Nice quiet park with a good amount of hiking/mountain biking trail. Pretty quiet on a Saturday afternoon when we went.

Wonderful place. It's just beautiful and peaceful. Family gathered from all over the states. First time it ever happen. It's was great. The park was able to accommodate everyone and the employees was so kind. We invited them in as family as well. Next time you are in McCormick SC, go out to visit the park and experience it.

Will definitely be coming back, we passed by and decided to get our stamp and a map of the park but had no time to do anything. It's a beautiful park and you can swim there and rent kayaks. Also, miles of trails.

Awesome. Lots of stuff to do. Beautiful scenery excelent fishing.

It was great and I loved spending time with my New family and friends

Nice Lakeside Park could use better trails

Park was pretty with great kayaking and fishing. The camp host was absolutely amazing, so nice to us and our son. He checked us in right at our site and was always cleaning and stocking the bathrooms. I wish we would have gotten his name.

This was from campsite #10 last year my wife and I stayed 5 days! Started out was going to be 3 days!😎 Absolutely loved it! Going back next week for 7 days! 🔥