The campground here,with over 400 sites,
sits in a wooded area back from the
beach, but near enough to hear the waves
breaking at night and to have only a
short walk to the ocean during the day.
One can just relax at the campsite, sun
or swim at the beach, or take a short
ride to any number of attractions,
shows, restaurants, shops, miniature
golf,
water slides-- just about anythng you
feel like doing.
We go here most often as it's fairly
close to home and it has so much to
offer- especially, the beautiful and
mysterious ocean.
The campsites here are right up near the
beach, which has the most preserved sand
dunes on the Grand Strand. It's a much
less crowded beach than its neighbor to
the north.
Brookgreen Gardens, an outdoor
sculpture museum is across the street
from the entrance to the park and is a
"must see". Plan to spend several hours
there if you even want to begin to see
all the sculpture and the gardens.
Wildlife abounds here too, and deer and
pesky racoons will walk right onto your
campsite. The racoons will eat anything
you leave out,and even try to get into a
campbox for food. There is a long pier
to fish from, and a boardwalk through
the marsh for strolling, birdwatching,
or crabbing. We always go
crabbing-Cyndi loves crab- but we
usually end up buying them from the
market, along with shrimp and fish fresh
off the boats.
Hunting Island has an old lighthouse
which is open to the public to climb.
The beautiful town fo Beaufort is nearby
and the historic city of Savannah is
only
an hour away. Both make interesting
daytrips. All in all- a great place for
R & R.
One last beach that we've stayed at is
Edisto Beach. This is another
smaller campground with 1 1/2 miles of
sandy beach, a live oak forest and the
tallest Palemento tree's in the
state.There is marshland and a variety
of wldlife.
If you want just sand, sun, and surf
this is the place to go. The campsites
are large and well spaced.
Before we go on, here's a little bit of
history. Most all of the early State
Parks in South Carolina were built by
the "Civilian Conservation Corps" (CCC).
A project set up as part of FDR's New
Deal, it put people back to work after
the Great Depression in the 1930's. As
in other places across the country, the
CCC used native materials and local
resources. Many of the structures are
still standing in the
State Parks across South Carolina
-cabins, bath
houses, picnic shelters, etc- were built
by the CCC, along with the dams that
formed the lakes (backwaters) where many
of the parks sit. There is a lot more
information and pictures on all the
State Parks at the official site. Just
link at the end of this page.
And now, on to the mountains!
One can see the Oconee Waterwheel which
was built by the CCC to generate power
in earlier days. Oconee Station, a
former garrison and trading post is
nearby. Whitewater Falls, one of the
highest waterfalls in the eastern US is
just down the road. There is swimming
and fishing,
and whitewater rafting. A
great campsite if you love the
mountains.
Out of the mountains, but still in the
western part of the state, is
Hamilton Branch State Park.This park
is located on a peninsula reaching into
Strom Thurmond Lake, a 70,000 acre
impoundment of the Savannah River, which
separates South Carolina from Georgia.
All the campsites are on the water and
the atmosphere is very rustic... some
sites not near the two central bath
houses have old fashioned outhouses. We
went in the fall when it wasn't crowded,
and it was just so peaceful and quiet,
it's on the top of my list for a
relaxing get-away. There's fishing and
swimming, but we enjoyed just walking
the shoreine and watching the wildlife.
And that's as far as we've gotten in our
quest to visit all our states State
Parks. South Carolina has a great park
system, and there are many more. I'll be
adding to this page as our journey
continues. To learn more about all the
State Parks in South Carolina, click on
this link.
We'll start off at Myrtle
Beach,on the Grand Strand, which of
course speaks for itself; it's one of
the most popular resort areas in the
East. There are miles and miles of sandy
beaches and so much more.
Further down the Grand Strand is another
beautiful campground, Huntington
Beach. It's a smaller, quieter,
park, known as a haven for bird
watchers. It has a salt water and a
fresh water marsh with different species
of wildlife and plants in each. The
bridge leading to the campground
actually divides the marshes. It's
common to see alligators sunning on the
fresh water side.
Duke loves all the beaches where he
can wade in the water and chase his
ball, but he has a little more freedom
here. When he see's us getting the tent
out of the garage, he heads for the car!
Here's a picture of Duke-
he's a regular
ham. I take a stack of books and Cyndi
takes her beach chair and it's just more
R & R.
