Paris Mountain State Park, South Carolina. Part III The RV Campground

Click her for the first post in this series.

After chatting with several visitors near the Office about their experiences at the Park, I drove to the campground to set up on site # 34.

The drive to the campground alone is worth the price of admission. On both sides it nicely illustrates the Park’s mountainous topography.

The road curves and loops along, clinging to quite a steep mountain.

The foliage here is spectacular. Quite different from what we see in the Midlands, Sandhills, or Lowcountry. I wish I knew more about the plants and trees. Further study needed! 

Here’s a short video that will give you a better feel for what you will see when you drive this road:

Here we are coming up on the stop sign just before the campground entry. We’ll cross and drive on in.

All of the 40 campsites here are paved, like this one. And nicely maintained. Since there aren’t so many, they each see good use during the year. The road has a few tight curves in places. So large Class A motorhomes probably will be more comfortable on those sites close to the entrance. Though I really don’t know a thing about driving Class A motorhomes.

Another thing to note is the degree of slope for each campsite. It varies throughout the campground from negligible to significant. Given the mountainous terrain it can’t be helped. You’ll probably need to get out the levels and boards when you set up. The smooth paving makes a big difference.

Here’s a very nice pull-through site. Number 31. Near one of the several bath houses. It would be possible to level front-to-back quite easily. But the driver-side wheels would need some propping.

I had no difficulty on site # 34. One of the most level in the campground. But it did require the BAL leveler to get things as they should be. 

Here’s the men’s side of the bath house closest to the Aliner. Inside it was brightly lit and clean as a whistle. The shower stalls were comfortably large, and the hot water flow was a comfort.

Now, lots of campgrounds have whistle-clean bath houses. Most of them, in fact. But very few have outside what you see in the photo above. That’s a Carolina Fence-style flower garden. We saw one at Givhans Ferry, you may recall. And an arbor with garden seat on the left.

Now, the arbor is a work of art. Someone has gone to great pains to design and implement this feature of the Park. Four sturdy poles hold up a structure of thick vine-like branches, each carefully selected for both function and appearance. Flowering vines are being encouraged to cover the whole thing.

The wood for the bench was selected with equal attention to form and function. It’s recently been treated with a sealer so even the most fastidious can sit without fear of stain or splinter.

Oh, and to top things off, there’s a bird house up in one corner that’s bound to attract a family at the right time of year. This arbor really gives the visitor a nice impression of the Park.

Finally, here’s a close-up of the work that’s gone into this arbor. Just so you wouldn’t think I was exaggerating. Remarkable!

So there you have it. The RV campground at Paris Mountain State Park. This is another “keeper,” as they say. A must-re-visit Park on the list. Be sure to make your reservation well in advance, though. The word is out.

Stay tuned, because next we’ll take a stroll around the more accessible parts of the Park. It’s beautiful now, even in July. I can’t imagine what it must be like in the spring and fall!

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