Calhoun Falls State Park, S.C. Part I The Drive Over

Table of Contents for This Series 

1. First impressions of Park
2. The drive over and GPS
3. Sunday morning drives in South Carolina
4. Looking around the Park
5. Diversity of activities available at Calhoun Falls
6. Interview with Park Manager Mr. David Drake
7. Kayaking on Lake Russell

Today’s the day! Sunday, the 21st of March. Off later this morning to Calhoun Falls State Park. First visit for me. This Park is reputed to have some of the nicest RV camping sites in the whole system. I’ll let you know.

The trip, according to Mapquest and Google, will take about three hours. Even avoiding the homogeneous SuperHighways, like I-20, that whisks South Carolinians over to Atlanta, Georgia, before we even know we’re there. Routes 378 and 28 run along most of the way to Calhoun Falls. They offer far more interesting natural and social scenery. It takes a little longer, of course. But, like life, it’s the journey, not the destination….

Today’s trip too will be the first with the new GPS. It’s a Garmin 260W, a model now discontinued. Which lowered the price on Amazon considerably. You can see the details by clicking here, at least for a while.

I ordered the new GPS on-line right after the hair-raising experience with the single-lane dirt road on the way to Santee State Park. It’s performed very well around town here in Columbia. This will be its first chance to demonstrate secondary road navigation capabilities on a longer trip. Will let you know how it goes.

Calhoun Falls State Park is another of those beautifully situated Parks on Lake Russell. Like the excellent Corps of Engineers campground at Modoc, the Park was laid out on a peninsula that extends a good ways into the Lake. Making it possible to build many, if not most, of the RV campsites right on the lakeshore.

According to one informant at Santee, the RV campsites at this Calhoun State Park are paved, level, and well maintained. That’s a big plus for RV campers. Especially those of us who, once unhooked, like to push our little travel trailers around to get the best view. Again, I’ll let you know how the RV campsites look after arrival.

The Park website mentions the Cedar Bluff Nature Trail. The trail follows the red dotted line in the photo above. 1.7 miles through rolling pine and hardwood forest. Click here to read the full description. It offers “… unexpected vistas as you hike up and down gentle hills and across numerous footbridges.” That’s from the web description provided by the South Carolina Trails website, linked above. Sounds interesting.

One of the Park’s main attractions, at least for me, is the opportunity to dip a kayak paddle in Lake Russell. I’ll have the Expedition inflatable/foldable in the back of the car. Ready to inflate and go. Calhoun Falls has several regular boat ramps. Usually, though, it’s possible to launch a kayak right from the lakeshore near the campsite. We’ll see.

No WiFi cloud at Calhoun Falls State Park yet. Too bad, since it’s quite a drive to the nearest one. In fact, I may have to go clear to Abbeville. But stay tuned. More to come.

Click here for the next post in this series.

Click here to go to the CarolinaConsidered website.