Longleaf Campground
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- Right now
- OpenThe agency lists it open
- A night
- $15From, per site
- Sites
- 1614 of them walk-up
- Season
- Year-roundOpen year-round
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 5 notices
In the agency’s own words
This campground is located just off the park entrance road, approximately ½ mile before the Harry Hampton Visitor Center, in a mixed pine/hardwood upland forest. This campground is located at a higher elevation than the floodplain and is not subject to the flooding events that occur regularly in other parts of the park. Keep reading
Recreation
Campers with reservations at the Longleaf Campground have easy access to the park’s 27 miles of hiking trails. Campers can reach the Harry Hampton Visitor Center by car or by hiking on the Longleaf Trail. At the visitor center you can access the Boardwalk and find information on other trails to plan your trip into the old-growth forest of Congaree National Park. Those who would like to explore and experience Congaree via canoe or kayak can launch from one of the park's two landings, located between 5-10 minutes by car from the campground. Facilities • Camping at this campground is tent only. • Camp sites do not accommodate vehicles. All vehicles must be parked in the designated parking lot, and campers must walk a short distance to reach their reserved site. • This campground does not permit RV/car camping. • All sites have fire rings and picnic tables. • This campground does not provide electric/water/sewer hook-ups. • This campground has two vault toilets located next to the parking area. • Running water is not available at this campground. Potable water is available at filling stations 24/7 at the Harry Hampton Visitor Center. • Receptacles for trash and/or recycling are available near the campground parking lot.
Natural Features
Located in a mixed pine/hardwood upland forest, campsites are surrounded by pines and other trees. Campsites are generally in shade for large parts of the day. An open field in the middle of the campground is available for use by campers throughout the day, and this location offers campers excellent opportunities for observing wildlife such as birds, butterflies, and the occasional southern fox squirrel.
Nearby Attractions
Congaree National Park is located near many attractions including state parks, forests and parks. The city of Columbia is a short drive from the park and offers access to many attractions including museums, city parks and shopping.
What the agency tells you
Reservations • All campsites are available for reservation on a first-come, first-serve basis and must be reserved prior to setting up camp. • Check-in time is 12:00 p.m. on the day of arrival. • Check-out time is 11:00 a.m. on the day of departure. • Site must be occupied by the individual listed on the reservation. • Campers may register for no more than 14 consecutive days, and no more than 28 days within a 6-month period. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Campsite Occupation and Use • Individual sites (e.g., IS01) may have up to 8 campers and can have no more than 3 tents and/or structures (e.g., pop-up canopy or awning) per site. • Group sites (e.g., GS01) must have a minimum of 9 campers to reserve, and may have no more than 24 campers and 12 tents and/or structures per site. • Camping at Congaree National Park is tent only. Campers with reservations must be set up on and physically occupy a designated camp site. • Use of hammocks is permitted and they do not count against a sites tent/structure limit. Hammocks may only be put up using straps and cannot be put up using nails, screws, etc. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Vehicles in Campground • Vehicles may not be driven directly to a camp site and must remain in designated parking lots during your stay. Campsite access to set up camp requires a short walk from the parking lot. • Staying overnight in a vehicle (i.e., car, trailer/RV, camper van, etc.) is not permitted. • Please remember to lock your vehicle and take all valuables with you to your site if possible. If an item must be left in a vehicle, please remember to place it in a location where it is not visible. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Everything else this campground posts · 2
Camp Fires • Fires may only be made within established fire rings and must be fully extinguished (cool to the touch) when leaving your campsite or checking out at the end of your stay. • Campers may only gather and use any dead or downed branches on the ground for building a fire. • The only outside firewood that can be brought into the park is that which has been purchased locally and/or has been certified as being pest free, and must have the receipt/proof of purchase and/or wrapper with pest free certification to present if requested. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Food Storage and Disposing of Trash • Remember to properly store all food within sealed containers to prevent access by wild animals such as racoons. • Please properly dispose of all uneaten food and trash in the proper waste bins located next to the campground parking lot. • Please do not burn trash or uneaten food in fire rings, as this can attract wildlife and leave a mess for other campers.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 16 · 16 walk-in, 4 group
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets - year round
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
Around the campground
- Backpacking
- Birding
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Ranger programs
- Kayaking
- Stargazing
- Visitor center
- Wilderness access
- Wildlife viewing
- Night sky · 35th darkest of 37 in SC
- Bortle 4
Fully booked this Friday and Saturday, all 32 site-nights takenread 15:34 UTC
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
OpenBooked
Every one of the 16 sites on offer is taken this Friday and Saturday. 14 are free on Tue, Oct 20. read 15:34 UTC Why the weekend fills and the week doesn’t
These counts cover the 16 reservable sites only. This campground also has first-come sites, and recreation.gov publishes no availability for a site you can’t reserve.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 13
What you actually pay
Derived by CAMPANAC: the agency’s published rate for this season, $15 a night, plus one $8 recreation.gov reservation fee for the booking. A weekend here means Friday and Saturday night, booked once. Optional charges (an extra vehicle, a second tent, a dump-station fee) are listed separately and aren’t in this total.
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
recreation.gov availability, read 15:34 UTC · rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
16 sites
All 16 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 16 of the 16 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Longleaf | GS01 | group walk to | $25 |
| Longleaf | GS02 | group walk to | $25 |
| Longleaf | GS03 | group walk to | $25 |
| Longleaf | GS04 | group walk to | $25 |
| Longleaf | IS01 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS02 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS03 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS04 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS05 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS06 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS07 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS08 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS09 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS10 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS11 | walk to | $15 |
| Longleaf | IS12 | walk to | $15 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions
Where it is
Bluff Hike In CampingCongaree National Park · 0.8 miBluff CampgroundCongaree National Park · 0.8 mi
Rocky Branch Seasonal Campground (SC)Sumter National Forest · 50 mi
Collins Creek Seasonal Campground (SC)Sumter National Forest · 59 mi
Brick House Campground (SC)Sumter National Forest · 66 mi
Woods Ferry Campground (SC)Sumter National Forest · 70 miThis campground is located just off the park entrance road, approximately ½ mile before the Harry Hampton Visitor Center.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Gadsden, SC
Typical weather
Typical October night 56°F, day 77°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical January night 37°F. Bring the bag rated for it.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Longleaf Campground is in South Carolina’s 6th congressional district. Its representative, James Clyburn (D), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: A+. See every public-lands vote →