JB Charleston RV Park

This has become one of our favorite campgrounds. Our home base is Myrtle Beach, and we have family that lives in the Charleston area. JB Charleston is the ideal place to stay to see all that Charleston has to offer. All campsites have concrete pads, and offer both back-in and pull-thru site parking. The campground hosts are some of the best we've run across in our military campground travels, and they keep the campground looking great. The base is easy to get to by taking Aviation Blvd off of I-26, and using this back gate makes it easy to get to all points Charleston.

This FamCamp has been on our bucket list for years. There are two sections the old and new. We happen to get into slot #20 in the new section. The site is flat and level. The sewer hookup is the best in a long time, easy and simple. Water pressure is at 60 PSI. There are bike paths to ride and the base has a commissary and BX. The base is beautiful. The camp host was such a nice lady, her name is Betsy and she will help you with anything you need. I think there is only camp host on duty every day and she is worth her weight in gold! The bath house is nice but no AC. Also there are washers and dryers, cost is $1.25 per load and no AC. This is a good stopping point to go down town Charleston and par take in all the good food and the history. Sign up for a walking tour. Good Seafood but, due to being a tourist destination the prices are expensive. Now for the bad. Each morning at 7am there are loud speakers right over the FamCamp “revelry ” and the National Anthem. On our first morning I nearly jumped out of my bed, it was so loud it scared me. Then at 4pm there is the “National Anthem” Then at 10pm Retreat. The FamCamp is right across the street from the airport and its non stop with flights. Also there is a gun range. The noise level here alone is off the richter scale, so if you are sensitive, this is not for you. Additional when you reserve here, they say its only 14 days, but in the old section there are long term folks. One lady had been there 6 months and she was retired. I get so unnerved over the politics and games that the Military parks play and allow certain people to homestead and others not. There are only 37 sites, 7 overflow and 6 tent sites. I heard from one guest he complained to the Base Commander and was asked to leave the next day. Please follow the instruction to get here as it allows for Large RV to get into the base. Also you do not have to go through the X-ray machine. That is only for commercial trucks, 

I retired as a DOD civilian from AMC headquarters at Scott AFB ten (10) years ago. March 29, 2018 I made reservations for seven (7) days in April/May time period at the Charleston FamCamp. Can't make the reservations on line. You have to call and talk to a person to make reservations, which I did. On Sunday April 29th, arriving from out of state, we approached the Charleston AFB gate closest to the FamCamp. I gave the security gate guard my civilian DOD identification card. After a few minutes I was told I could not enter the gate en-route to the FamCamp. The security guards said I would need special approval from the AFB which would open on Monday? So I was not allowed to camp even though reservations are paid for. Needless to say I scrambled to get a reservation at a local KOA campground. We were vacationing and had tour reservations so I had no time to apply for a special pass or whatever they require. Below is copied from the base web site. "The Joint Base Charleston Family Campground (or commonly referred to as FamCamp) is located on the Air Force base is open to retired Military members, 100% disabled veterans, 'DoD ID card holders' and active duty military members not stationed at or working on Joint Base Charleston." So why wasn't I advised upon my call to the campground that I would need a special pass to enter? Fix the problem!

We used the West Hill Blvd gate off of 642. No problem but the camp host said that sometimes RVers are asked to turn around and use the other gate. Good advice. Great campground but my only comment is the noise. Obviously, this is beyond the control of management but just so you'll know. The campground is adjacent to an busy airport so you hear jets coming and going from 6am till 10pm. You will hear reville at 7am and taps at 10pm over the base loudspeakers. During our stay, there was an active pistol range firing at 5am. Not complaining but if you are looking for "peace and quiet" this may not be for you. We'll be back.

OUTSTANDING! The campsites are beautiful and we had plenty of room. The Camp Host was the best we ever encountered. She was helpful and worked with everyone to solve problems and followed through (one of the rigs had a mechanical problem and she worked with them to keep them in place until it could get fixed to be safely moved). We cleans the sites between campers...even wiping down the electrical boxes and checking everything out. The bath houses are spotless. Her husband (who is still active duty, she is the Host) comes home and hand mows to keep things neat. I have seen the two of them out at 10p on the golf cart helping out the campers. Excellent care, beautiful campground, next to the Outdoor Rec/Tickets (which is also outstanding), who could want more? Highly recommend it!

This park was a perfect 3-day stop for us to visit friends and tour Charleston. The camp site host was very accommodating. The site was clean and the hookups worked great. The park is located within in a 15-minute distance from a downtown. The wifi was awesome! Considering the location and the extra peace of being in a gated community (on a military base), this is a good value. We would certainly return to this park.

We are a retired (USAF 30 year) couple who stayed at JB Charleston Air Force FamCamp in long term. The following is a short review of our stay. The camp itself is fine – and many of the long term sites are very good. However, some are way in the back, under heavy tree cover and poor drainage causes them to stay wet after it rains. The location is great in relation to commissary, airport and the Charleston area. We have camped for years in many different places and this director and her office staff are some of the laziest, rudest people I have ever encountered. And, if I read one more comment about the greatness of Connie and Vic, I might puke. Connie is in everybody’s business! If you stay a few days, they are probably great, but long term is very, very different. There are no written guidelines for campers and the director refuses to provide any such guidelines. She makes up the rules as she goes along and is furious if she is questioned about ANYTHING! She lies outright. You can’t depend on the website. If you refer to it, she will tell you it has not been updated. When we left, she openly gloated that she had seven IG complaints on her desk and they meant nothing! If that’s not a lie; then obviously, the IG Office needs to be investigated, too. In the year we were there, there were six different hosts. Everything we read states that active duty members are not supposed to live in the campground. When we left in the late spring, the hosts were a young active duty Coast Guard member and his wife. He claims to be retired Coast Guard. He is not retired. He wears civilian clothing and changes at work. Jmann is right, management and especially hosts Bob and Gwen Diamond who return every fall have their favorites and if you don’t have a $200K-plus motor coach, are not a member of the American Motor Coach Association and/or do not participate in the 4:00 o’clock cocktail hour, you will not be in one of the better spaces. If you go to Bob with a question and he does not like you or the question, he will literally beat his chest with his fist and scream in your face that he is “running the place.” And make no mistake, he is! The Director allows him to do as he pleases. She cannot be bothered with the people who stay there, even though it is why she has a job. If you want to stay in long term, be ready for all to know your business and your comings and goings. It is a gossiper’s delight! Military campgrounds like this were built for the enjoyment of veterans who have served their country and retired! For the commander and his staff at JB Charleston to turn a blind eye to the rude and disrespectful treatment that the FamCamp Director, staff and hosts show to veterans and their families is shameful! 

Fantastic! You could have eaten from the bathroom floors. The site was clean and well maintained, and the grounds were great! I will definitely stay here again! Great location and totally accessible. 

This is my first review, but not the only place I stayed. A lot of the previous reviewers made some good points, and good observations about this Famcamp. I think that a lot of people underestimate the value of long term campers or what some call "homesteaders". I was in the long term area for a year and let me tell you, the sites were the worst, and not worth it. Flooding, snakes, bugs and small spots is what you get. Since they elininated long term spots, ORC has lost a ton of money, and all but a few sites have been empty. The biggest problem that I have seen here is that there is no set rules to follow, the AFI's are not followed, the rules that change almost on the monthly basic do not apply for all. I don't understand why it can be so hard to run a facility to where it is equal for all. We have had some nice productive host here, but then there has been some that think they owned the place. I do have an issue with a host acting as if they are in full control, in reality they are given free sites for cleaning the toilets and cutting grass. They are not an employee of ORC and if they are they better be paying taxes on the value of the sites they are given for free. Overall it's a nice clean secured place. 

We really enjoyed our stay at Charleston AFB RV Park. We arrived on a Sunday and were promptly greeted by the camp hosts, Connie and Victor who saw us approaching and were out of their rv as we pulled up. Connie took me in a golf cart to select a site which was an easy back in with partial shade. While JB Charleston does not accept reservations, Connie assured me that no one is turned away - they have several dry camping sites and will find "somewhere" for you to park. The location, close to the interstates and downtown Charleston is ideal. We hope to use this facility in the future.