Boating
It’s all about access.
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Boating on Lake Greenwood
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The state parks alongside major bodies of water have boat ramps and other access points for your water recreation.
If you don’t have your own boat, you can rent jonboats, canoes and kayaks at several state parks with small lakes and ponds.
So bring your boat or other watercraft and prepare to have fun on South Carolina's waterways via your state parks!
Marinas
Tired of taking your boat in and out of the water. Calhoun Falls and Dreher Island State Recreation Areas offer marina slip rentals. The slips come conveniently equipped with water, electricity and in-water refueling.
Contact Calhoun Falls at 864-447-8267 or Dreher Island at 803-364-4152 for more information on these rentals.
Attention Boaters
Parts of South Carolina are experiencing a moderate drought. Check water levels at your favorite lake before boating. Look for stumps and exposed vegetation and use extreme caution.
Things to See While Boating on SC Lakes
There is a variety of wildlife and natural features that inhabit the lakes of South
Carolina. Some of them include waterfalls, and many species of birds, including the osprey that nest on Lake Russell.
Boating Safety
Here are some general boating safety tips:
- Have a plan
- Tell someone where you are going and what time you will be returning
- Carry extra clothing, in case of rain or extreme weather
- Make sure your boat is in good operating condition
- Carry a cell phone
- Check fuel and battery status before leaving the shore
For more information on boating safety, make sure to check out the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Boating Safety site.
The parks listed below all offer boating opportunities!
Boat Rentals
Many of our parks offer rentals of kayaks, canoes, and jon boats for your enjoyment! For availability and rental fees, contact one of the parks below that offer these rentals:
- Aiken
- Andrew Jackson
- Barnwell
- Calhoun Falls
- Cheraw
- Chester
- Croft
- Goodale
- Hickory Knob
- Kings Mountain
- Little Pee Dee
- Oconee
- Paris Mountain
- Poinsett
- Santee
- Sesquicentennial
- Table Rock
- Woods Bay
Parks That Offer Boating
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Set against the calm, winding South Edisto River, Aiken State Natural Area is a popular destination for the family or a budding naturalist.
The beautiful park in rural Aiken County offers canoeing in the river, peaceful picnicking, fishing in the river and the park’s spring-fed lakes, campground and trailside camping and hiking trails.
The 1,000-acre site is uniquely diverse, combining a blackwater river and swamp, bottomland forest and dry sandhill pine forest.
Aiken State Natural Area also has its place in history. It was built during the Great Depression by an African American detachment of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Interpretive signage tells their story and their work can still be seen in some of the park’s original structures and features.
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 Windsor |
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Andrew Jackson State Park combines history, art and community activities into a setting that has made it one of the S.C. State Park Service’s most popular attractions.
The only park in the system dedicated to a U.S. president, Andrew Jackson State Park features a museum that details the boyhood of the nation’s seventh president, who grew up here in what then was known as the Waxhaws of the South Carolina backcountry.
A striking highlight of the park grounds is the bold equestrian statue of “Old Hickory” sculpted by Anna Hyatt Huntington of Brookgreen Gardens fame. Living history programs with docents in period garb are included in the park’s programming.
The Lancaster County park also has a replica of a late 18th-century one-room schoolhouse, an amphitheatre that serves as home to a well-attended bluegrass festival each year and other community gatherings, as well as a campground, fishing lake, picnicking facilities and trails.
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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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Calhoun Falls State Recreation Area sits astride several pine-covered points jutting into Lake Russell, one of the least-developed large reservoirs in South Carolina.
Besides providing access to the big Savannah River lake, the park offers camping, picnicking, a tennis court, playground, seasonal swimming area and hiking.
Picturesque views of the lake and surrounding forest are another highlight. Area anglers know well, too, that Lake Russell holds large numbers of bass, bream, catfish and crappie.
And that’s no fish story.
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Natural beauty and great golf come together at Cheraw State Park.
An 18-hole championship course winds its way through the long-leaf pinelands of the traditional state park, a course that’s earned notice from the Aubudon Society for the way it’s managed to preserve and protect the habitat it shares with uncommon critters such as red-cockaded woodpeckers and fox squirrels.
The park in South Carolina’s northeast corner also boasts Lake Juniper, a 300-acre impoundment built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression along with the park’s original cabins and picnic facilities.
A boardwalk along the lake helps visitors enjoy the scenic setting, and kayakers particularly enjoy silently scooting into the cypress wetlands at the lake’s edge.
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Chester State Park has been a haven for hiking, picnicking, boating and fishing for the surrounding communities in the South Carolina Piedmont ever since it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Centrally located between Columbia and Charlotte, the park centers on a 160-acre lake, itself surrounded by a two-mile nature trail through the pine forest.
A community building, camping, archery range and johnboat rentals and an unusually serene, placid setting close to town are among this traditional state park’s attractions.
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 Chester |
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Croft State Natural Area is a big park with lots to do.
A green retreat in the heart of fast-growing Spartanburg County, the park offers more than 12 miles of biking and hiking trails, a playground, picnicking and camping, as well as fishing and boating in two lakes, including 150-acre Lake Craig.
Croft also is known around the region for its equestrian facilities. The park regularly hosts shows in its arena and boasts more than 20 miles of equestrian facilities and 55 stalls.
The diverse park was once an Army training base and covers nearly 12 miles of rolling, wooded terrain that also provides habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna just five miles from bustling downtown Spartanburg.
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Spot a loon or a rambling black bear. Fish for trout in a deep, clear mountain lake. Hike through the glorious spring bloom of rhododendrons.
And do it in South Carolina.
Devils Fork State Park provides the only public access to Lake Jocassee, a largely undeveloped 7,500-acre reservoir tucked deep into the Blue Ridge.
Devils Fork is easily reached from S.C. 11, the Cherokee Foothills National Scenic Highway. The park is popular with families, fishermen, scuba divers and boaters, who enjoy Jocassee’s uncrowded setting and spectacular scenery, such as waterfalls cascading into the lake off steep, wooded slopes.
Full campground amenities and modern villas also are highlights of the park. So are hiking and nature trails that provide the opportunity to appreciate sights ranging from rare Oconee bell spring flowers to the fall color show, while bald eagles and peregrine falcons patrol the mountain skies.
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 Salem |
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Out into the lake but not far from the city, Dreher Island State Recreation Area is a great place to get away from it all.
Only about 30 miles from downtown Columbia on the shores of big Lake Murray – one of the best-known largemouth and striped bass fishing destinations in the South –
the park consists of three islands linked to shore by a causeway and two bridges.
In addition to woodsy hiking trails and lots of places to fish from shore, Dreher Island offers picnicking, camping and lakeside villas.
A tackle shop and boat ramp also is available. The park has long been popular with recreational boaters and fishermen, and has been a launching spot for major national bass tournaments.
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BOAT LANDING CLOSED NOTICE: The park boat landing at Edisto Beach State Park is currently closed for renovations. Contact the park office at (843) 869-2756, for the location of other public landings.
An oceanfront campground on a palmetto-lined beach famed for its shelling is just one highlight of Edisto Beach State Park.
Only an hour from Charleston, the park also offers another campground deep in the maritime forest full of live oaks and some of the state’s tallest palmetto trees, as well as a row of comfortable cabins nestled in the woods but with a front-row view of miles of pristine marshland.
Edisto Beach State Park also offers the state’s longest system of handicapped-friendly hiking and biking trails, including one leading to a mysterious, 4,000-year-old shell midden alongside a secluded bend on a tidal creek.
The park also has an environmental education center, a “green” building full of exhibits that highlight the natural history of Edisto Island and the surrounding ACE Basin, one of the nation’s largest preserved estuaries.
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