List of South Carolina state parks

South Carolina
State Park Service
Agency overview
Formed1933
Headquarters1205 Pendleton Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Annual budget$120 million (2008)
Agency executive
  • Joy Raintree, State Park Director
Parent agencyS.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Websitehttp://www.southcarolinaparks.com

The State of South Carolina has a group of protected areas managed by the South Carolina State Park Service (often abbreviated to SCPRT or Park Service). Formed in 1933 in conjunction with the formalization of the federal Civilian Conservation Corps program, the State Park Service is administered by the state's Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (SCPRT). There are a total of 48 facilities that the State Park Service administers, protecting more than 90,000 acres of sensitive, attractive, and/or historically significant lands in South Carolina. The facilities fall under four types of classifications:

  • 38 State Parks
  • 8 State Historic Sites
  • 1 State Resort Park
  • 1 State Recreational Area

Cheraw State Park was the first park to be proposed within the system in 1934 with Myrtle Beach State Park becoming the first park to open in 1936. Within six years, the State of South Carolina and the CCC opened 17 state parks. Originally under the jurisdiction of the South Carolina Forestry Commission, the Park Service has been a unit within the Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism since its formation in 1967. Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort County is the most popular state park in South Carolina and among the most popular in the United States, attracting 1.2 million visitors per year.

Following the Nukegate scandal, Dominion Energy settled with the South Carolina tax agency on $165 million in unpaid taxes owed due to an unfinished nuclear project in Fairfield County. As part of that settlement, the state agency and Dominion Energy agreed that Dominion would offset approximately a third of the unpaid taxes by turning over more than 2,900 acres of land which will ultimately become six new state parks in the coming years. The first state park expected to open from the settlement is Pine Island on Lake Murray.

South Carolina State Parks (Hover mouse over pog to popup clickable link)
Park Name County or Counties Size Year Acquired Year Opened
acres ha
Aiken State Park Aiken 1,067432 1934 1936
Andrew Jackson State Park Lancaster 360150 1953 1957
Baker Creek State Park McCormick 1,305528 1967 1968
Barnwell State Park Barnwell 307124 1937 1939
Caesars Head State Park Greenville 7,4673,022 1976 1986
Calhoun Falls State Park Abbeville 318129 1982
Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site Charleston 18474 1970 1970
Cheraw State Park Chesterfield 7,3622,979 1934 1939
Chester State Park Chester 523212 1935 1936
Colleton State Park Colleton 3514 1938 1940
Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site Dorchester 325132 1960 1960
Croft State Park Spartanburg 7,0542,855 1949
Devils Fork State Park Oconee 622252 1991 1991
Dreher Island State Park Newberry 348141 1970 1970
Edisto Beach State Park Colleton 1,255508 1935 1937
Givhans Ferry State Park Colleton, Dorchester 988400 1934 1937
Goodale State Park Kershaw 963390 1973 1973
H. Cooper Black Jr. Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area Chesterfield 7,0002,800 1994 2006
Hamilton Branch State Park McCormick 731296 1972 1972
Hampton Plantation State Historic Site Charleston 300120 1972
Hickory Knob State Resort Park McCormick 1,091442 1969 1973
Hunting Island State Park Beaufort 5,0002,000 1938 1941
Huntington Beach State Park Georgetown 2,5001,000 1960 1962
Jones Gap State Park Greenville 3,9641,604 1976 1985
Keowee-Toxaway State Park Pickens 1,000400 1970 1975
Kings Mountain State Park Cherokee, York 6,8852,786 1934 1936
Lake Greenwood State Park Greenwood 914370 1938 1940
Lake Hartwell State Park Oconee 680280 1976 1985
Lake Warren State Park Hampton 440180 1980 1990
Lake Wateree State Park Fairfield 23896 1982 1985
Landsford Canal State Park Chester, Lancaster 448181 1970 1973
Lee State Park Lee 2,8391,149 1935 1941
Little Pee Dee State Park Dillon 835338 1951 1955
May Forest State Park Charleston 239.3 2021 2023
Musgrove Mill State Historic Site Laurens, Spartanburg, Union 380150 1975 2003
Myrtle Beach State Park Horry 312126 1935 1936
Oconee State Park Oconee 1,165471 1935 1937
Oconee Station State Historic Site Oconee 21085 1976 1994
Paris Mountain State Park Greenville 1,540620 1935 1937
Poinsett State Park Sumter 1,010410 1934 1936
Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site Aiken 350140 1973 1975
Rivers Bridge State Historic Site Bamberg 390160 1945 1945
Rose Hill Plantation State Historic Site Union 4418 1960 1961
Sadlers Creek State Park Anderson 395160 1966 1968
Santee State Park Orangeburg 2,5001,000 1942 1949
Sesquicentennial State Park Richland 1,419574 1937 1940
Table Rock State Park Pickens 3,0831,248 1935 1940
Woods Bay State Park Clarendon, Florence, Sumter 1,590640 1973 1973