SC State Park Baker Creek State

Continuing on our quest to visit all the state parks of South Carolina, we visited Baker Creek State Park near McCormick, SC and very close to 2 other parks we had already visited and reviewed, Hickory Knob and Hamilton Branch. Baker Creek is only opened for about 6 months, from March to October and was closed when we went to the other 2 in January. All 3 of these are located on Lake Strom Thurmond (sometimes called Lake Clarks Hill).

The campground has 50 sites that are gravel with what you would expect in a picnic table and fire ring. Many of them are on the lake and you probably want one of these. The inside of the loop usually backed up to someone on the other side of the loop. Sites are close together so you want have a lot of privacy. Not sure why they didn't spread them more, this park is 13oo acres and there is not a lot else here. Weekends are probably full and with mostly locals. I used to work closer to here and it was popular with a lot coworkers who camped, especially if they fished. When we give this a try, it will be a weekday trip when it will not be so crowded and I can get on the lake.

This would be great place to camp if you like being in a pretty remote area. A lot of the surrounding area is part of a National Forest. There are some hiking and mountain bike trails. Good place if you bring a kayak/canoe with you. It is on a side spur of Lake Thurmond instead of on the larger part of the lake. There is an outfitter nearby too. At the park office, they had maps available showing you the distances between various points of interest. There are 2 boat ramps here and others available in the National Forest and at the other two nearby state parks. The park has a really nice, big covered pavilion that hangs out over the lake down at the office. There is a massive grill there if you wanted to host a lot of people there with plenty of picnic tables. (see Pic) A lot of golf courses including some pretty close to this place. One is Hickory Knob State Park.

About 45 minutes or so from I-20. McCormick is a really small town, but other nearby towns or cities include Abbeville, SC, Greenwood, SC, Aiken, SC and North Augusta, SC plus Augusta, GA is on the other side of the state line. All of these are much bigger places but you might want to check you have all your supplies going in. Basic stuff you could find in McCormick, but if your mouth is set on grilling Sockeye Salmon you better get it on your way in. With the National Forests and state parks there are lots of outdoor activities in the area. Edgefield has the National Wild Turkey Federation Headquarters there as well.

Baker Creek | South Carolina Parks Official Site

 

Wow, you guys need to write a book! You have a head start already! Thank you!

 

LOL, a lot of people have told us that. Back when we tent camped, we used to rely on a book about places to car camp that still allowed you to have a quality experience. Looking at what info he provides, I can see the guy spends a lot of doing research while he is there. Trust me, I just looking around, snapping a pic or two and then the park website helps me out when I start writing. That is why I do them as soon as I can so I don't forget anything.

I started reviewing them here for two reasons. One, somebody here might find something they like and give it a try. Two, it gives me a place to store my info about the campgrounds so if I want to go back someplace I have it here. We have 5 more parks to visit to complete them all. Four have campgrounds and there is one other we visited but did not go in the campground. That one is not far from our house and we go up into that area a lot so I will go check it sometime. Being a native South Carolinian helps with the other info I put and I teach South Carolina History which has helped me learn a lot more about the state.

I have wondered if any other states have done anything like this trying to get people to visit all the state parks in their state. You can drive from one end of South Carolina to the furthest point in five hours, so it is a lot easier task compared to many states. With the coast driving tourism, most South Carolinians end up at the beach so even if you live at the far western corner of the state like we do, you go across the state. This has gotten me off the road at plenty of places I would have never visited.

 

You’ve certainly piqued my interest about camping in SC! A long haul from Oregon, perhaps we’ll do it someday.

Lakes and WPA/CCC construction sounds like our kind of camping!

 

Florida has an initiative to visit all 175 state parks. One can purchase a passport and collect an ink stamp for each park. Upon completion, an annual state park pass good for up to eight people is awarded (value $120).

 

175 would be quite an undertaking. The first year they also had the option of doing the 6 or 7 National Park sites in SC & you got both the state & federal passes for a year.

 

Coast to coast is a haul. We've been out to Arizona and Utah on one trip and got to Spokane, WA on another one. Hoping to make some more trips West in the future, but it will probably be a few years.

With SC, you have the state parks and if you look at the SC-GA border, you have 3 man made lakes in a row with both state parks on both sides and Army COE campgrounds. There are 2 more man-made lakes that help keep a nuclear plant operating with plenty of camping on them. You also have 2 national forests and the Sumter National Forest is split into 3 separate districts.