Hamilton Branch State Park, SC

The view of the lake from our site

We're off on our second road trip. This time we are spending Memorial Day weekend at Hamilton Branch State Park on Lake Thurmond in Plum Branch, SC. http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/hamiltonbranch/introduction.aspx

Another view of the lake

Clear water and bright sunshine

The park provides access to the 71,100-acre Strom Thurmond Lake. The lake is ideal for fishing, boating and various other watersports. The lake has over 1,200 miles of shoreline, is the second largest lake east of the Mississippi River and among the top ten visited U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lakes nationwide.

It's a little over 100 miles to the park. On the way we drove thru Washington, Ga. A step back in time....
There are civil war sites, revolutionary war sites and over a hundred Colonial, Ante-bellum and Victorian homes on beautiful tree-lined streets. http://www.kudcom.com/www/. We drove past farms with dozens of baby animals grazing. It was an enjoyable ride, far from the maddening interstates, out in the beautiful countryside.

Hamilton Branch is a really nice park. It is amazing how the state parks have such beautiful locations. The first thing we said was "wouldn't this be a great place to build a house?" So, here we are in our house (rv) for the weekend!

Settled in

There are a lot of sites on the water here, coves and amazingly quiet. Some sites are a little tricky for access. Each drive-in goes to 2 sites, right and left. We were lucky to be first in because we had to maneuver the rv over into the left one for us to get situated in the right one. What was nice though, the site was parallel to the water. It had water, electric, fire pit and picnic table. Restrooms are not convenient. We have to learn the conservation thing when staying at State Parks. The fact that turning the water on is easy but you have to remember it's going into a holding tank...and it only holds so much!

Every afternoon duck families would swim in

Baby ducklings in the grass

                                         

Then back in the water

They head on down to the next spot...Dad in front, babies and then Mom

The State Parks in South Carolina offer senior citizen discounts which make them even more affordable. They also offer a unique program at any parks where you can fish. You can borrow a rod, reel and tackle box and maybe even catch some fish for dinner! http://www.dnr.sc.gov/aquaticed/loan/

We had a really enjoyable stay at Hamilton Branch. It's a perfect place, peaceful, pretty as the picture. Lakefront camping, boating, fishing from shore or out on the water and bike trails....