Headed to Huntington Beach SP, what do I need to know?

[4fromOH]

Making our first trip to Huntington Beach SP in SC on Monday. Staying 4 nights. I looked at what I could on the SP website, but it doesn't give much info. We've never camped on the beach, so what do I need to know or buy before we go? How far of a walk to the beach? Our site is W/E only, so I know we'll have to conserve space in our grey tank if we don't want to go dump. How do I limit the amount of sand we're bringing into the camper? Is the place easy to find? We're coming from Charlotte. Our kids are 6 and 3, any "must do's" or "must see's"? Do the fire rings have cooking grates? How are the shower houses? Any info/advise you can give is greatly appreciated! We chose this location based on the recommendations of the super helpful campers on here! Thank you all!!!

[magnusfide]

I'm glad you and yours had a great time. What you described is our idea of a perfect getaway.

[4fromOH]

Just a quick update for all who chimed in on this post:

We loved Huntington Beach! We had a great time and will be going back soon! Things we learned: Four nights is NOT enough 🙂 The mosquitos will carry you if you get tired of walking 🙂 It CAN rain even when the sun is shining 🙂 And Comet cleaner keeps ants out of your rig 🙂

Our trip was amazing! We got pictures of the Spoonbill and the Painted Bunting. I got a picture of an alligator who was sunning only a few feet from my feet! We got to watch the inventory of a turtle nest. We got caught on the beach during a downpour and enjoyed the moment! We cooked over the fire. (There are grates on the fire rings 🙂 ) We walked down the causeway, toured Atalaya, and walked the boardwalk out over the marsh. We saw so much wildlife! We sat and enjoyed the peacefulness of the ocean. Most of all, we spent time with our kids, and nothing is better than that!

A few things about the park were a little annoying, but the good very much outweighed the bad. Half of the campground needed to be mowed...Luckily our spot was one of the good ones. Had we been in one of the others, I would've been a little upset. The weeds were knee high on many campsites. The fire rings were completely full of ash, and our site was far from level. However, none of these things were deal breakers. Just mildly annoying. Again, the good far outweighed the bad!

The beach was very clean and unspoiled. The bath houses were clean and in descent shape. The park was very easy to find, easy to get into and out of, and well staffed. The number of things to do and see at the park really made me wish we could stay another week! We were blessed with almost perfect weather as an added bonus! We showed up early (Sunday night but our reservation was for Monday) knowing there were several available sites. We had a little trouble getting in early at first, but the ranger was about 16 and brand new. Luckily, the boss was able to help us out and got us in.

Overall, it was a great trip! We thank all of you so much for helping us prepare for it! We can't wait to go back!!!

[charming]

How timely! Our very first trip in our RV was to Huntington Beach a couple of weeks ago (it is 5 miles from home so we figured it would be extra easy for us newbies.)

The people in the Gift shop are super nice and very helpful. If you have time go across the road to Brookgreen Gardens to learn about the Huntinton's. They used to own all the land from the river to the ocean. Atalaya was build for Anna Huntington as her artists studio. She was a fairly well known sculptress back in the day.

The park has 3 bath houses that are evenly spaced. The northern trail to the beach is a nice nature walk. The park has some of the last of the coastal forest that used to exist from Florida all the way north.

We road our bikes from the park all the way down to Litchfield Beach to the grocery. If you ride a little further - Eggs Up Grill is a good option for breakfast. Near there is Kudzu Bakery - hidden away but really good!

If you want to cook seafood while visiting go up to Murrells Inlet to Murrells Inlet Seafood (it is on Business 17 on the left across from Nance's seafood. Nance's is really good if you want to try true southern style seafood. For casual food Dead Dog Saloon is pretty good and so is Creek Ratz. Creek Ratz has fried pickles. Both are pretty active on the weekend with live music. Skip Drunken Jacks and Captain Daves. Both are way over priced.

If you have time - Conch Café is up in Garden City - one of the few ocean front restaurants in the area. Not great cuisine but good for a burger and a beer on the ocean front deck. Further up in Surfside is River City Cafe - wonderful burgers ocean front next to Surfside Pier.

Have a blast. We had a wonderful time at the park. We have visited many times as day visitors but never camping.

[4fromOH]

wxtoad wrote:
We've stayed at Huntington Beach several times - very nice park. Here are some pictures and comments from our visits.

Have a great time!

Ted H.

Thank you for sharing your pics!!! That's such a great idea! We always keep the park map and mark our favorite spots for future trips, but taking pictures is genius!!! Thanks again!!!

[4fromOH]

Thank you all so much for the very helpful information!!! We are so excited to get on the road!!! It sounds like we might need to plan to stay a little longer next time with all of the great things to do!

We have one of those little gas grills that swings off our bumper, so I do use that occasionally. I just prefer to cook over the fire as often as possible, just for the experience 🙂 So I went ahead and bought one of those cooking grates that we can carry with us for those parks that don't have them already on the fire rings. I plan to cook a couple meals in the crock pot too! It's nice to come back to dinner after a day at the beach 🙂

I love the idea of keeping a bucket of water by the door! That should help immensely! And thank you for the reminder about sand spurs. It's been a long time since I lived in the south, and might not have thought about those pesky little buggers!!!

We have an outdoor shower, too. Planning on using that as much as possible. Do any of you use it for actual showers? I was considering buying one of those pop up privacy tent things to allow us to use our outdoor shower when it's hot outside, but I'm just not sure if it's worth the extra expense and extra storage space. We use our tub/shower for the kids, and we typically just use the shower house if we want a long hot shower 🙂 We don't have our own honey wagon yet, so we try to be careful of the grey tank filling up when we don't have FHU. Just not sure if I should invest in one or not?

Again, thank you all for taking the time to respond with your advise and suggestions! We really appreciate it!

Oh, and I'll work on getting a siggy soon too, so you'll know who we are! My name is Amber, by the way 🙂 We drive an 04 Suburban, pulling a 2013 Crossroads Sunset 26BH. This is our first full summer of camping, with many more in our future! Hoping to be full timers before it's all said and done 🙂

[wxtoad]

We've stayed at Huntington Beach several times - very nice park. Here are some pictures and comments from our visits.

Have a great time!

Ted H.

[kohldad]

You picked the best SC beachfront state park. You will definitely will enjoy the stay.

Two main trails from the campground to the beach. The one at the north end is much longer than the one at the south end. So if between the two, suggest the south end.

Other advice above about the house tour, the nature center, and geocaching is good advice. The trail from the north end of the campground to the nature center is short, so walk over, don't drive.

Recommend a portable gas grill for the camper. The cheap $29 from Walmart or $39 from Lowe's works well and last a long time. You can either just use the 2lb disposable tanks or buy an adapter for the larger tanks. Much nicer than cooking on charcoal, especially with kids. The gas makes it much more convenient to fire it up for lunch since it heats up and ready for cooking in a minute or two.

To help minimize the sand, suggest a bucket of water by the door and towel just inside. Rinse of the feet before going in and dry on towel. Towel can be changed out or shaken off as needed. Also, make sure you either use the shower rinse on the boardwalk or in the bath-house. With our kids, we preferred the bath house to get the heavy sand out of the nooks and crannies.

Don't let the kids run around the campground barefoot. There are a lot of sand spurs which can be painful. Recommend when going to the beach to wear sandals or shoes until reach the sand at the dunes.

Your pass should also be good for Myrtle Beach State Park just up the road. You can verify at the park office. If so, make sure you go up there and take the kids out on the pier. Don't be afraid to talk to the crabbers and fisherman on the pier. They realize they are in a tourist area and usually don't mind talking. If you get real lucky, may have one of the special locals that enjoy kids, that will make it a special treat. Also check about any kids programs. Often they have crabbing activities or nature events on the beach.

Last advice for the adults, if you haven't tried your local Miyabi, there is one just a couple miles up the road. Japenese style cooking of "americanized" steaks, chicken, or shrimp with rice. Food is cooked on the grill in front of you with a little bit showmanship. Go early when they open for quick seating and early bird special. Or, go to Murrels Inlet for tourized local cousine and pay the high prices.

Have fun and enjoy.

[craigt]

We were there in December a couple of years ago and our site was invaded by racoons and ferrel cats. They didn't really hurt anything but were enticed by the smell of the dogs' food. They gave us something to look for while we sat outside!

We did have a good time at the park.

We used the bathhouse while we were there and did not have any negative comments about it; though we were there in the off-season.

Have fun.

[4fromOH]

botts12 wrote:
We have been work camping at Huntington Beach since June. It is a wonderful park. No the fire pits do not have grates. We have not been too bothered by the mosquitoes. The beach is wonderful. The nature center will be a big hit with the children. The tour of Atalya is good and I will be working there this week so stop by and say hello. They have a ghost tour on Friday nights which would be fun for the kids. The walk down the causeway is a must to see gators and lots of birds. You will enjoy it and I do think the weather is supposed to clear starting Sunday.

Thank you so much! We have reservations for Mon-Thurs nights, but we might come down Sunday if we can. We will be doing all of the things you suggested for sure! I wish we could stay for the ghost tour, but we have to be back by Saturday morning 😞 We'll look for you on the Atalya tour! Thanks again for the info!

[botts12]

We have been work camping at Huntington Beach since June. It is a wonderful park. No the fire pits do not have grates. We have not been too bothered by the mosquitoes. The beach is wonderful. The nature center will be a big hit with the children. The tour of Atalya is good and I will be working there this week so stop by and say hello. They have a ghost tour on Friday nights which would be fun for the kids. The walk down the causeway is a must to see gators and lots of birds. You will enjoy it and I do think the weather is supposed to clear starting Sunday.

[magnusfide]

4fromOH wrote:
And I guess I won't plan on cooking on the fire this trip we really need to invest in our own cooking grate, but the good ones are pricy 🙂

We just bought one of these a couple months ago (the basic one) and really enjoy it. It'll cook an entire chicken with just 8-10 charcoal briquettes. Very light-weight, sturdy and the price was light weight too.
Cobb Portable Tabletop Grill

[4fromOH]

Thank you everyone for the replies! I was worried about the Mosquitos this time of year 😞 But I certainly hadn't thought about gators!!!! Thanks for the heads up! And I guess I won't plan on cooking on the fire this trip we really need to invest in our own cooking grate, but the good ones are pricy 🙂 We're excited to get away and get to the beach. The camper has been lonely for almost two months!!! Thanks again!!!

[Krease]

We were just at Huntington last month for the 2nd time. If you are staying in the woods, make sure you have bug spray, because the mosquitoes are around. I don't believe the fire rings have grates to be honest, and we didn't use the bath houses either.

If you take the nature trail keep an eye out for gators. We stumbled upon a 6ft one laying on the side of the trail. I know, beach and gators shouldn't mix. Atalaya is a pretty neat tour. It would be nice to have lived in that house back in the day! The beach is less crowded at the campground access area than the public day access area. You'll see what I mean if you look at a map.

We made sure to wash our feet off at the boardwalk before getting back into the campground. That helped with keeping sand out of our RV, but you'll get some sand no matter what- it just hides everywhere. It's our favorite park in MB because it is pretty quiet and private compared to most other parks. I hope you enjoy your visit!

[magnusfide]

You can do a little geocaching for the 6 year old - the park will clue you in. It's like a treasure hunt and enjoyable. The 3 year old will be happy just to dig in the sand and splash around a bit.

Here's their Things to Do page
http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/huntingtonbeach/huntingtonbeach-things.aspx