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An introduction to the great outdoors
As winter quickly melts into memory, now is the time to spring into action, and South Carolina is an ideal destination for outdoor enthusiasts looking to get a jump on warm-weather adventure.
The adventures in the Palmetto State begin just a scant drive away, beginning with the whitewater trips, trout fishing, hiking and general spring splendor available in the deep woods and clear streams of the Blue Ridge Mountains. While most wait until warmer weather, hardy rafters are already taking on the Chattooga and Chauga rivers that form the border between South Carolina and Georgia in the highlands above the Savannah.
Hiking, biking and more
Hiking the Foothills Trail and checking out wildflowers and waterfalls are also popular spring pastimes in the South Carolina Upstate, as are bikes and hikes along scenic roads such as SC 11 (the Cherokee Foothills National Scenic Highway) and at popular parks such as Paris Mountain State Park just outside Greenville.
Of course, it’s already warmer down below the mountains and the Piedmont, and central South Carolina also offers its share of spring activities that take advantage of the ideal temperatures under clear blue skies. Paddlers, for instance, can enjoy a brisk trip down the Saluda River, where water flowing from beneath the massive Lake Murray Dam is cold enough to support trout year-round in a most unlikely locale — where Spanish moss can be seen hanging from mountain laurel. (And it makes a mighty fine way to cool off in the dog days of summer.) The trip along the lower Saluda features rapids and an easy side trip to Riverbanks Zoo & Garden, one of the nation’s outstanding zoos. In fact, the river flattens out just as it flows between the zoo and the gardens and then meets the Broad River near downtown Columbia to form the Congaree.
Congaree National Park
Downriver from Columbia, straight east from Atlanta on I-20, is South Carolina’s only national park — Congaree National Park — with 25,000 acres of towering bottomland forest, among the last of its kind in the country. Boardwalks and foot trails, along with paddling in Cedar Creek and the river itself, make this park an ideal stop for those who want to see cypress knees, birds of many feathers and iconic, old-growth woods … especially in the spring, when the mosquitoes are scarce.
The blackwater rivers
Speaking of iconic, then there are the blackwater rivers so identified with the Southern experience. The longest undammed stretch of such tannin-stained waterways in North America is the Edisto River, whose two forks stretch from Aiken (not far from Augusta) and historic Orangeburg before they become one and flow through the Lowcountry, gradually becoming brackish as the river broadens and then joins the Atlantic Ocean through the sprawling marshes of the ACE Basin at picturesque, unhurried Edisto Island.
187 miles of coastline
Finally, up and down the coast, from Huntington Beach State Park on the Grand Strand to the isolated Bull Island and Cape Romain National Seashore just above Charleston to Hunting Island State Park and Hilton Head Island near the mouth of the Savannah, South Carolina offers vast stretches of estuarine beauty at nature’s complex intersection of ocean and land, ready to be explored on foot or by boat. (And it’s fairly warm there already!)
Standing by to help make such trips easy and memorable are seasoned outfitters for kayakers and canoeists, tour boat and charter operators, full-service parks and marinas, bustling small towns full of charming shops and memorable eateries and, of course, the people that have made South Carolina’s venerable tourism motto — “Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places” — a recognizable brand.
An ideal place to begin the journey to spring in the outdoors of South Carolina is on the Internet. Consider beginning the search at the websites of the South Carolina Paddlesports Industry Association at www.paddlesouthcarolina.org, the South Carolina Nature-Based Tourism Association at www.scnatureadventures.com, the South Carolina Association of Tourism Regions at www.scatr.com.
For additional information regarding South Carolina's vast array of unique opportunities for enrichment, excitement and escape, as well as a free copy of our special downloadable/printable South Carolina Barbecue Trail Map, featuring more than 200 barbecue restaurants, please visit DiscoverSouthCarolina.com or SouthCarolinaParks.com.
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