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Boaters and other outdoors enthusiasts can’t go wrong at Hamilton Branch State Recreation Area.
Occupying a peninsula on 70,000-acre Strom Thurmond Lake in the heart of South Carolina’s western piedmont, the park displays the peaceful beauty of the Savannah River valley.
All but two of the park’s spacious campsites are directly on the lake and Hamilton Branch’s shoreline makes it an ideal fishing spot. Ramps, picnicking and biking and hiking trails also are popular.
The park’s rolling, wooded terrain supports a large variety of wildlife, including fox squirrels and deer. Hamilton Branch is also known for its wide variety of trees, including pines, dogwoods with their white blooms in early spring, oaks, hickory and sweetgum.
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 Plum Branch |
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What would you call a state park that offers 18 holes of lakeside championship golf, tennis, skeet shooting and archery, a swimming pool, full-service restaurant and meeting facilities and more than 70 lodge rooms?
That would be Hickory Knob State Resort Park.
The only full-service resort in the S.C. State Park Service, Hickory Knob rests on rolling, wooded shoreline alongside 70,000-acre Strom Thurmond Reservoir on the Savannah River: South Carolina’s “West Coast.”
The park’s amenities also include a boat ramp, campgrounds and one of the state’s most popular mountain biking trails. Serene and tucked away, location is another plus for this destination, with picturesque, historic small towns such as Abbeville and Greenwood nearby and Augusta and Anderson (and Clemson) just an easy drive away.
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McCormick |
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Hunting Island is South Carolina’s single most popular state park, attracting more than a million human visitors a year.
Also attracted to the semi-tropical barrier island is an array of wildlife, ranging from loggerhead sea turtles to painted buntings, barracudas to sea horses, alligators, pelicans, dolphins and deer, raccoons, Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and even the rare coral snake.
What they all enjoy is five miles of beach, thousands of acres of marsh, tidal creeks and maritime forest, a saltwater lagoon and ocean inlet. Amenities include a fishing pier and some of the state’s most desirable campsites and cabins.
Adding to the natural history of the big park is a piece of man-made history: South Carolina’s only publicly accessible historic lighthouse. Dating from the 1870s, the Hunting Island Lighthouse shoots 170 feet into the air, giving those who scale its heights a breathtaking view of the sweeping Lowcountry marshland and the Atlantic Ocean.
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 Hunting Island |
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Oconee State Park offers the joys of a mountain retreat without the work.
The historic park rests deep in the Blue Ridge foothills, with several picturesque but non-demanding hiking trails and well-kept cabins and campgrounds that have welcomed families for annual trips since the days the park was first built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression.
The park’s fishing lakes offer bass and bream and the woods are full of wildlife, fur and feather alike.
Oconee State Park also serves as the southern trailhead for the Foothills Trail, an 80-mile wilderness hike on the dramatic Blue Ridge Escarpment on up to Table Rock. Adjacent to Sumter National Forest, the park also serves as a jumping off point to the nearby Chattooga and Chauga rivers, hotspots for whitewater rafting and trout fishing.
For those wanting to take it easy, Oconee State Park is an ideal destination. After all, its mailing address is the town of Mountain Rest.
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 Mountain Rest |
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In the late 18th and early 19th century, a small plot of land along South Carolina’s western frontier served as a military compound against attack from the Cherokees and later a trading post.
Today, that plot of land is Oconee Station State Historic Site.
The park just off S.C. 11 (Cherokee Foothills National Scenic Highway) contains two structures: Oconee Station, a stone blockhouse used as an outpost by the U.S. military from about 1792 to 1799, and the William Richards House, named for the Irish immigrant who built it as a trading post in 1805.
Beyond the park’s historic significance, there’s a fishing pond and 1.5-mile nature trail, the latter connecting to a half-mile trail that leads into Sumter National Forest and ends at Station Cove Falls, a 60-foot waterfall that’s considered one of the prettiest in the state.
Walk the trails during the spring wildflower show or as the leaves turn in the fall for a particularly visual treat.
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Walhalla |
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A renovated historic bathhouse serves as the new hub of activities at popular Paris Mountain State Park.
Once a rural retreat, the mountainside park now is a treasured green space in the fast-growing Greenville area. Bicyclists, hikers, picnickers and groups using Camp Buckhorn keep the park busy year-round. Summer is peak time for fishing, and swimming, in the park lakes.
Paris Mountain State Park was originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression in the 1930s. The renovated bathhouse preserves that heritage in stone and timber on the outside and on the inside adds a 3-D map of the park, historical exhibits and a classroom for sessions on the diverse natural offerings of the leafy site.
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 Greenville |
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Outdoor recreation and wildlife observation are popular activities at Sadlers Creek, which sits on a peninsula extending into Lake Hartwell.
The park features a lakeside campground, fishing, picnicking, hiking, meeting facility and boat access to the 56,000 acres of Lake Hartwell, one of the big Savannah River reservoirs.
Its tranquil surroundings and convenient proximity to I-85 make it a great stop for travelers and area residents alike. The park also offers easy access to the Savannah River National Scenic Highway.
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 Anderson |
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Park Video Tour
Current Weather Conditions on Lake Marion at Santee State Park
Santee State Park offers cabins, camping, biking, hiking, boating and fishing in the heart of one of the nation’s best-known outdoors destinations – Santee Cooper Country.
The park sits along Lake Marion, one of the two lakes (the other’s Moultrie) that gave birth to America’s inland striped bass fishery. Together, the lakes cover more than 170,000 acres and now also are known for their abundant populations of huge catfish.
The park’s rondette cabins, including 10 on piers over the lake, have been hosting outdoorsmen and families for generations. A community meeting building, with its large, screened-in grilling facility, also attracts groups.
Out in the lake across from the park is Lake Marion’s flooded cypress forest. Pontoon boat tours into the lake’s swampy headwaters are based out of the park’s marina/park store.
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 Santee |
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Sesquicentennial State Park, situated in the middle of the Sandhills region, features a beautiful 30-acre lake surrounded by trails and picnic areas.
The park’s proximity to downtown Columbia and interstate highways attracts both local residents and travelers.
Sesqui, as it’s affectionately known, is heavily used for family reunions and group campouts. It also features dog park and well-attended interpretive nature programs, as well as a dormitory, meeting facility and ropes course popular for corporate retreats and team-building.
Once a drive out to the country but now a green space in the Columbia suburbs, the park was originally built by the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Evidence of their craftsmanship remains today, including in the distinctive white stone blocks that mark the front gate.
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 Columbia |
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Looking to leave city life behind for a few days. How about a secluded venue to enjoy nature? Baker Creek State Park, located on the shores of Lake Thurmond, is the ideal location for a lengthy camping trip or a relaxing swim.
Along with its campgrounds and lake access, Baker Creek is also known for its 10-mile mountain bike trail, where riders can test their skills as they enjoy the park’s stately pine forest. The park also is a great place to observe wildlife, including waterfowl, wild turkeys, deer and curious squirrels.
Baker Creek also has a large lakefront pavilion ideal for family get-togethers and other gatherings. It’s also just a few minutes from Hickory Knob State Resort Park, with its golf course, restaurant and other full-service resort offerings.
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McCormick |
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