Agency-listedSCDNRFree
Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite
Dispersed · South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources · SC · 32.85272, -79.70039
Ask an AI about this campsiteOpens Grok already loaded with this site. It reads the same records this page is built from, and links whatever it tells you.
Ask about this camp →South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources lists this site. Someone from the agency inventoried it, so it is a real camp — not a spot we guessed at. What changes is conditions — roads, gates, closures, fire rules. Check those with the unit before you commit to the drive.
You cannot show up and camp: a permit from the SCDNR Charleston office is required, and the island is capped at 40 campers a night. Boat access only. The north end is closed to camping outside October 16 - March 14. No water on the island is claimed by SCDNR.
USGS topo — contours & terrain
Aerial — USGS / NAIP
Weather outlook — at Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite
Loading the latest forecast…
Live NWS area forecast (~2.5 km grid, not elevation-corrected). Camp sits at 2 ft.
Fire & smoke — around Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsiteNIFC · AirNow
Checking active fires & air quality…
Active wildfires from NIFC (within ~50 mi); air quality from AirNow. Always confirm current fire restrictions with the managing office before you go.
Everything you need — measured from Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite · South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources · SC
▲ your camp. Rings are 15, 30 and 60 straight-line miles; bearings are approximate and roads run longer.
Nearest of each
- MMechanic4 mi
- RxPharmacy4 mi
- FFuel4 mi
- HHardware5 mi
- GGrocery5 mi
- @Mail5 mi
- EVEV fast charger5 mi
- +Urgent care6 mi
- ShShower7 mi
- WWater7 mi
- OOutfitter8 mi
- LLaundry10 mi
- DDump19 mi
- AAir-up25 mi
≤30 mi30–4545+water
The read: water's a short hop out, fuel & food sit about 4 mi out.
Not within 60 mi: Propane. Plan those before you head up.
One dot per need — the nearest of each kind, straight-line from camp. Places from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors); the EV fast charger from the US DOE station locator. Open in Google Maps ↗
The site — Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite
Access
Dispersed
Land
South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources
Elevation
2 ft
Ground slope
0.7% · flat
Nearest highway
~8.9 mi · Interstate 526
State
SC
Coordinates
32.85272, -79.70039
Cost
Free
Nearby & resupply — around Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite · South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources · SC (OpenStreetMap)
- Water featureAtlantic Ocean · under 0.1 mi · USGS: ocean, no flow class
- Also mapped (OSM)Horsebend Creek (stream) · mapped within 1.6 mi
- Nearest townWhitehall Terrace · ~3.1 mi
- Nearest rail linenone mapped within 10 mi
- Nearest highway~8.9 mi · Interstate 526
- Drinking waterDrinking water · ~7.2 mi
- FuelExxon · ~4.5 mi
- Propane / LPGRapidXchange Propane · ~11.5 mi
- Dump station~18.7 mi
- GroceriesAldi · ~4.7 mi
- PharmacyCVS Pharmacy · ~8.3 mi
- Hospital / clinicMount Pleasant Hospital · ~4.3 mi
- HardwareLowe's · ~4.6 mi
EV charging — from Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite · South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources · SC — nearest public DC fast & Level 2 (US DOE station data)
- Nearest public DC fast charger5.1 mi straight-line W — Market at Oakland - Tesla Supercharger, Mt. Pleasant, SC (at a shopping center) · Tesla · NACS (Tesla) · 12 fast ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-07-15 · hours: 24 hours daily · directions
- Public DC fast stations within reach16 within 25 mi · 20 within 50 · 70 within 100 · 194 within 150
- Nearest listing CCS6.7 mi — Island Center - Tesla Supercharger (Island Center), Isle of Palms
- Nearest listing CHAdeMO20.3 mi — Target T1829 (N Charleston, SC), North Charleston
- Nearest public Level 2 (J1772)5.1 mi — Market at Oakland - Tesla Destination, Mt. Pleasant, SC (at a shopping center) · Tesla Destination · J1772, NACS (Tesla) · 6 Level 2 ports listed · listed open, last confirmed by AFDC 2026-08-27 · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to all vehicles.
- Also listed, not counted aboveNACS-only Level 2 — Wild Dunes Resort, a Destination Hotel - Tesla Destination, Isle of Palms, 4.1 mi · NACS (Tesla) · hours: 24 hours daily. Open to Teslas only. · AFDC lists it “Free”
- Pricing at the fast charger$0.69 per kWh (as listed by AFDC)
- Power (kW)not listed by AFDC — “DC fast” spans roughly 24 to 350 kW, so ask the network.
- Read this honestlyStraight-line miles, like every distance on this site. Roads run longer than this, and you have to get back. We know where a charger is listed. We don’t know if it works today, how fast it is, or the road miles. Check the network before you commit.
Snapshot 2026-09-16 · AFDC record 463498 · US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center
Nearby restrooms — around Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite · South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources · SC — pit toilets, restrooms & rest areas (government data)
- RestroomFederal restroom · ~6.4 mi NE · FWS
- RestroomFederal restroom · ~6.5 mi N · FWS
- RestroomCHPI Snee Farm Comfort Station · ~7.2 mi W · NPS
- RestroomCHPI Snee Farm House · ~7.2 mi W · NPS
Coming out here — Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite · South Carolina Dept. of Natural Resources · SC
- Surface water mapped nearby: USGS maps Atlantic Ocean as an ocean (no flow class in the record), under 0.1 mi from the pin (National Hydrography Dataset, data refreshed October 2022). The record carries no flow class for it. Nobody has checked it for you. Filter or boil anything you drink.
- Ground slope around the pin: about 0.7% — flat. Measured on USGS's 3DEP elevation model (1 m data here), sampled every 10 metres around the point. That is the hillside, not the ground under your wheels — a graded pullout or a bench a few metres across is too small to show up at that spacing, and nobody has checked this one for you.
- No rail line is mapped within 10 mi of the pin in the FRA/BTS North American Rail Network (data updated Jul 21, 2026) — abandoned, lifted and out-of-service track excluded, so a rail-trail does not count as one.
- Interstate 526 is mapped ~8.9 mi from the pin. Straight-line, from the Census's TIGER/Line primary roads (TIGER/Line 2025, released Oct 2025) — the divided, limited-access highways, which is why a state expressway or a two-lane US route near this camp would not appear here.
- Power: Dave carries his own — batteries or solar. A generator will run your rig and it is also the thing everybody camped near you can hear.
- Getting online: Dave recommends Starlink. He has had it since SpaceX introduced it, used it for four years living on the road, and it delivers as promised — several hundred nights out, and he can count on one hand the places he could not connect. The cable on his unit runs 150 feet, which is usually all it takes to find enough sky. Starlink → Referral link — Starlink pays Dave $100 in cash if you sign up through it, and that money funds this site and the next trip. It costs you nothing and does not change the recommendation.
Open Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite elsewhere
Other camps near Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite
If this one is full, gated or washed out.
- Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite~2.9 mi
- Buckhall Campground~15.0 mi
- Francis Marion National Forest~23.6 mi
How we know this — Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite
Permit
Overnight camping on Capers Island is by permit only. Permit may be obtained from the DNR Charleston office.
Area rules
No more than 40 people will be allowed to camp per night. These 40 people may be divided into no more than 20 different groups.
Source
public land records
Confidence
Likely — The record is good enough to put a pin on, but thin in places. Treat the details as a starting point, not gospel.
How it was placed
Coordinate: SCDNR "SCDNR Public Lands Viewer" ArcGIS feature service, layer 0 "Property Asset Points", AssetType=CampPrim, AssetID=POI02638, PropertyID=515, queried 2026-08-15 -- https://services.arcgis.com/acgZYxoN5Oj8pDLa/arcgis/rest/services/DEV_-_SCDNR_Public_Lands_Viewer/FeatureServer/0 (this is the agency layer behind https://public-lands-scdnr.hub.arcgis.com/). It is SCDNR's own mapped campsite record, NOT a field visit. Land owner of record in that layer: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. County: Charleston. || SCDNR Public Lands Regulations 123-204 (https://www.dnr.sc.gov/mlands/specregs.html, read 2026-08-15): "Overnight camping on Capers Island is by permit only. Permit may be obtained from the DNR Charleston office. No more than 40 people will be allowed to camp per night. These 40 people may be divided into no more than 20 different groups. Permits will be issued on a first come first served basis. Campsites will be occupied on a first come first served basis. Camping on the north end of Capers Island is permitted only from October 16 to March 14. Permits are not required for day use. Persons without permits must be off the island by one hour after sunset. No trash is to be placed in any fire or buried." SCDNR states no camping fee. || Nearest incorporated place/CDP: Isle of Palms, 4.6 mi (US Census Bureau TIGERweb Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD, state FIPS 45, queried 2026-08-15; straight-line distance to the place centroid, not road miles). | auto:agency-trust 2026-08-18: state agency GIS record with a source URL and coordinates, confidence not low. Fee value is the agency's own, not field-checked. Not field-verified -- confirm access, road conditions and fire rules before you go.
EV chargers
US DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center station locator, snapshot 2026-09-16. Straight-line miles to the nearest public, open, unrestricted station; restricted and planned units are shown but never counted.
Field check
On the agency's books. The land manager inventoried this site, so its existence is not in question — current conditions are. Nobody from here has camped it recently.
What we don’t know about Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite
A land record can put you within a few meters of a spot. It cannot tell you any of this — so check it yourself, and treat anything below as the open question it is.
- Road surface & last-mile access
- How many rigs actually fit
- Cell coverage by carrier
- Seasonal & winter access
- Current fire restrictions
- Whether any water here is drinkable
- Shade & wind exposure
- Noise and who else shows up
- Whether a listed EV charger works today, or the road miles to it
Before you go — Capers Island Heritage Preserve primitive campsite
Finding water out here →Fire rules & restrictions →Picking a spot →Leave no trace →All field notes →