Dreher Island State Park

2019 Hiking Week 30

 Can you believe that in the 14 years that I've lived in Columbia since college, I haven't been out to Dreher Island State Park?

One of the villas on the lake.
We recently made the trip to Dreher Island with a couple of kayaks on our car that we borrowed from some friends. After a couple of wrong turns and driving into Newberry County, we made it to the park. The park is a series of islands on the lake that are connected. There’s a large marina and boat ramp that seems to be the most popular attraction. There are also campgrounds, cabins, villas, and picnic shelters for people to reserve. They have quite a few options for cabin-like rentals in the park. There are villas, which are like larger lake houses, there are cabins, which are simple but sleep ?? People, and there are these huts that look like one room cabins with simple accommodations. 

In my opinion, some of the best looking sites were the camper and tent sites at the end of the islands. They had a nice view of the lake. Unfortunately most of them were pretty crowded and on top of one another. I like a more secluded camping experience. 

We were able to find a grassy area where we could put in our kayaks and paddle a little ways across to a small island in the lake. It was fun but a little nerve wracking since boats were also using the area. It looked like others visit the island for fishing and hanging out. We saw one family that tied up their boat on the island to hang out there.

Lake Murray is a large, man made lake outside of Columbia, South Carolina. The dam was built in the 1920's along the Saluda River. There were 9 towns that were flooded when the lake filled in. I’ve heard that some of the remnants of these towns can still be seen by divers, like buildings and cemeteries. Click here for more info on Lake Murray history. Lake Murray is popular with people in the area and has hosted some bass fishing tournaments as well. One drawback of the lake is that there aren’t a lot of places to go swimming on the lake. There are boat ramps and docks for those with boats but if you just want to cool off and swim, there’s one public beach area in Lexington. Dreher Island is a good alternative to the beach. It’s further away from Columbia but there are some areas in the park that are easy to wade into the lake and swim. 

If you’re in Columbia, make the trip to Dreher Island, either for the day or longer. It’s a nice retreat from the city any time of year. 
Location: Dreher Island State Park, 3677 State Park Rd, Prosperity, SC 29127, USA

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