COE J Strom Thurmond Lake Modoc Campground

Have went to this campground for years and have always loved it. The old hosts are no longer hosting and the new hosts live very little to be desired. Never at the post to check in. If they are you get attitude. Campsites were not cleaned they are just not a great fit. Then there was a group a cross the cove who at all times of the night would start screaming and playing music which never had anything done about. Unless something changes I don't know if me or any of my family will be back.

First visit to a Core of Engineering campground. We visited after our trip to Smoky Mountains from Fl. It was easy to get to, but a lot of state roads. The staff at check in were as nice as I've ever encountered. This campground has a lot of good sites but from what I seen not many are level. We had a pull thru but you could only enter the pull thru, the exit was too sharp a turn. I had to extend my tongue jack just shy of fully extended, and that's sitting on a 8x8 block. It also took 3 in of levelling blocks on driver's side. However, once setup we really enjoyed the site. As far as I could tell all the sites sit on water but not all sites have clear line of site to the water sure to trees. Many sites sit 6+ feet above waterline but I found an access point near our site on common area for my lab Lily to enjoy the water. I saw plenty of sites that where absolutely perfect. Now I will give pros and cons:

Pros: This campground is very peaceful, quiet and woodsy. You can hear the water as it comes ashore on Strom Thurmond lake. We saw deer each day. The sites are spaced so you have privacy. You get water and electric, with a single dump station. The views out on the water are beautiful, and Augusta is within 1/2 hour for shopping (there is a Dollar General right outside the campground).

Cons: Sites are not level so make sure you have levelling blocks and know how to use them. The bathroom showers are desperately in need of renovation, the one I used would back up due to slow drain. There was black stuff on the shower walls and I know the volunteers clean them cause I checked them after 830. It's not their fault, they can only do so much. I fault COE and hope they will update the bathrooms. With only one dump station and with us checking out on Memorial day, we got up early so we wouldn't have you wait in line at the dump station. It is positioned so that traffic will enter from both directions so on busy days that is probably a mess.

Summary: Modoc is a beautiful, quiet and peaceful campground, so nice we extended our stay by one day. It has mostly unlevel sites so you need leveling blocks. The bathrooms are in poor shape, particularly the men's shower on the main road. However all in all this was a pleasant surprise and we will be searching out more COE campgrounds in the future. Note:. I have a lifetime senior national pass that gives you 50 percent off all national, core of Engineering and other federal parks campground, plus you get in free to most federal and national parks. So Modoc cost me less for three nights than one night in the Smoky Mountains!