Cheraw State Park

2019 Hiking Week 40
Cheraw State Park
We're getting close to the end! Just four state parks left on our list! We recently checked off three parks in the northeast region of South Carolina. We explored the area and had fun visiting some new places. The three parks we visited were Little Pee Dee State Park, Cheraw State Park, and the H. Cooper Black Jr. Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area.  Little Pee Dee State Park has a lake but the level has been lowered to make repairs on their dam. The H. Cooper Black Park is mostly for people with horses or hunting dogs. We spent the most time at Cheraw State Park.

Cheraw State Park reminded us of Hickory Knob State Park. There is a golf course, a lake, lodging, and trails. When we arrived, it was cloudy, cool, and overcast, but as we walked around, the sun came out and it was really pretty. The park ranger was nice and helpful. We decided to walk the boardwalk around part of the lake to the spillway. We didn't realize that the boardwalk went out into the lake. It was really pretty and a nice walk.

Spillway
When visiting the state parks, we have seen many spillways for many different lakes. They are a common feature, especially in parks that were created by the CCC. But this lake and spillway were especially impressive. Probably because we had just had a lot of rain the day before. There was a lot of water falling and the bridge was a nice arch. We took a lot of pictures there as the sun came out and it shone on the rushing water.

Cheraw State Park is a park I would like to return to in the future. There were some other trails to explore and the area was nice. While in this area of the state, we had fun visiting some places we hadn't been to before. One was visiting South of the Border. I've driven by it many times but never stopped. It was fun and tacky and bigger than I expected.

Nearby we visited Blenheim to see the town where Blenheim Ginger Ale was created. Years ago it was bought by the man who started South of the Border and they make it now there. There was a spring there but it was a pretty small town.
Blenheim spring & history
We also went through Bennettsville, which had a large courthouse in the center of town and some neat murals about their history. Then we visited the town of Cheraw, which had lots of large old homes and some nice wide green streets. We also were surprised at how cute the town of Marion was when we drove through there. Lots of restored historic homes. I'm interested to learn more about these towns and their history.
H. Cooper Black Recreation Area

Location: Cheraw State Park, 100 State Park Rd, Cheraw, SC 29520, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Battle of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site

Image
2020 Hiking Post 4 You might remember how last May, we visited the  Battle of Rivers Bridge State Historic Site . Recently, we returned there so we could explore the park more. This site is the only SC State Park where Confederate soldiers fought Sherman's troops as he made his way from Savannah to Columbia. There is a short trail (less than a mile) that takes you around the battleground and shows you the battle and what conditions were like at the time. There are still earthen rifle pits and other embankments that the soldiers built. Lots of informational signs along the way. Rifle pit mounds Retreat Trail There's also another trail that marks the route that the soldiers took as they retreated and a cemetery that has the dead from the battle. The park is free and has good visuals of how the battle took place and who was involved in it. There is also a community center and some neat events that take place throughout the year that show you what life wa
Read more

Charleston Area State Parks

Image
2019 Hiking Week 41 Charles Towne Landing Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! It’s been quite the year traveling all over the state and seeing all that South Carolina has to offer. We didn’t anticipate at the beginning of this year that we would visit all of the South Carolina State parks but we finished and received our certificate! We ended our state park visits with Charleston area parks. We stayed in the area and visited Edisto , Colleton, Givhan’s Ferry, and Charles Towne Landing . We had previously visited Colonial Dorchester State Park on a day trip.  Edisto Beach State Park covers a large part of Edisto Island. There is an inland section with trails, camping, a boat dock, and nature center, as well as a beach section of the park. It was pretty cold when we visited but still beautiful. Edisto is one of the barrier islands that is remote and takes awhile to get there. It’s about an hour’s drive from Charleston. We’ve stayed there a couple times and it’s one of tho
Read more

Going Greek

Well, it's one of my favorite times of the year in Columbia. Football season, fall and...the Greek Festival! If you live in the area and haven't been, you need to make it a point to go. It's a great festival with lots of great food and some real friendly people. Now, disclaimer, it gets crowded! They usually take up one block with booths, games, entertainment stages, and food vendors so every free space there is can be filled with people. I recommend going during one of the off-times. Like take a late lunch or an early dinner. Or even an early lunch. They're open from 10 am - 10 pm Thursday through Saturday. They also have Sunday hours. But while you're there, try and make it a point to tour their church. It was just built in the last couple of years and they are always working on adding new artwork. It's beautiful. You can sit there and study all of the Greek Ikons and learn about the history of each painting. Greek Festivals are great family activities and I
Read more