Lake Greenwood State Park
Visiting Lake Greenwood State Park
For details on our visit check out our Lake Greenwood State Park Field Report
Camping and Boating at Lake Greenwood State Park
Occupying more than 900 acres over a series of peninsulas and coves, Lake Greenwood State Park resembles a hand reaching out from shore into Lake Greenwood, and offers a variety of activities from day use areas to camping and boating.
Camping is plentiful at Lake Greenwood State Park with no less than 125 paved camping sites with power and water hookups suitable for RV’s in two campgrounds occupying two of the park’s peninsulas. Being right on the Lake Greenwood, this is one of the busiest state park campgrounds in South Carolina, so be sure to make reservations at (864)543-3535 early if you need a specific date. Getting a campsite during peak weekends like Memorial Day or Independence Day are especially busy.
Campground #1 has a boat launch with a small adjoining parking area as well as a dock. If you’re taking your boat, this is where you’ll want to stay, but expect it to be busy with putting their boats in and out of Lake Greenwood most of the day.
The other boat launch is located near Picnic Shelter #3. It has a much larger parking lot, and if you’re just here for the day, this is where you want to put in your boat. And remember that the coves around the camping areas provide plenty of places for moorings.
Picnicking and Day Use
Three picnic shelters are available each on separate peninsulas. Each can be reserved in advance, but if you find one that’s not already reserved fell free to make use of it. But there are also individual tables are scattered around the park and plenty of green areas where you could put down a picnic blanket. And since all the picnic areas are on narrow peninsulas, you always have a view of Lake Greenwood.
Lake Greenwood is known for excellent fishing either by boat or along the shore. Close to Picnic Shelter #1 you’ll find a small fishing pier. Rods and reals can be rented at the park office if you need them.
Although there are no designated swimming areas and no lifeguards on duty, swimming is allowed in the lake. Across the road from the playground near Shelter #1 seems to be the preferred swimming hole for day visitors to the park. The coves around the campground are also great for swimming, but again there are no lifeguards, so you swim at your own risk.
When you visit the park, be sure to take some time to check out the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Museum in the Drummond Center where the park office is also located. Lake Greenwood State Park was first designed by the CCC and the earliest work on the park was completed by the New Deal project before the outbreak of World War II. As you walk around the park, you’ll find all sorts of examples of their work.
Lake Greenwood State Park’s Origins During the Great Depression
Most State Parks have a story to tell, but few are as poignant as Lake Greenwood State Park’s. It starts even before you get past the entrance. Along the road leading into the park is an unfinished wall. It doesn’t look like much, and you’d be forgiven if you drove right passed without noticing.
This unfinished wall was to be the main entrance to Lake Greenwood State Park and like the park itself was being built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the fall of 1941. On December 7, 1941, everything changed when the Imperial Japanese Fleet launched a steak attack on the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
As the United States entered World War II, the young men and boys building Lake Greenwood State Park doped their shovels to enlist in the military, and work on the park was abruptly abandoned. The unfinished wall and stone blocks that litter the surrounding woods stand as a silent memorial to the men who put down their shovels to fight in World War II. Many of whom never returned .
The Buzzard Roost and Lake Greenwood
Before the 1940’s, Greenwood and neighboring towns didn’t have any recreation options within a reasonable distance. But an opportunity to change that presented itself when the Public Works Administration began building a hydroelectric dam along the Saluda River.
Named for the large number of buzzards known to roost around the property, the Buzzard’s Roost Project would not only provide affordable electricity to Greenwood residents but also create a 12,000 acre lake with 40 miles of shoreline.
Seizing the opportunity to provide recreation and jobs for the surrounding area, the state of South Carolina purchased 1,000 acres of farmland and forest along the proposed shore line. The pieces were beginning to fall into place.
Civilian Conservation Corps Company 2413 Arrives at Lake Greenwood
In May of 1938, the plans for Lake Greenwood State Park were finalized, but construction couldn’t begin until that fall when CCC Company 2413 finished construction of Poinsett State Park in Wedgefield.
The dam wasn’t finished when Company 2413 arrived – and wouldn’t be completed until 1940. This allowed the CCC to gather resources from the area that would be flooded. Much of the wood used in the surviving CCC buildings came from trees on what is now the lake bed. In true CCC fashion, all the timber was harvested and sawed on site. Much of the landscaping was also done with native plants from the flood zone.
Work Left Undone at Lake Greenwood State Park
By 1942, support for the CCC had been waning for a time at the Federal level for some time. With the US now on a war footing and many of the young men who were the labor force of the CCC enlisting in the military, the program was officially disbanded on June 30, 1942. But work on Lake Greenwood State Park would end earlier than that. The camp commander was notified on March 6, 1942 that his post was to be abandoned in 5 days on March 11. Many of the planned projects were left unfinished or never started.
A lodge was planned that would have been the focal point of the park, but never built. In the early 2000’s, the Drummond Center, that operates as park office, museum, and conference center was opened on the site chosen for the CCC lodge.
Behind the Drummond Center is a terraced grass lawn running down to the shoreline. The terracing was completed by the CCC and planted with Bermuda grass.
At the base of the terraced lawn is a stone walled boat basin. While work on the basin was started before the lake was fully flooded, the wall was not finished by the time the camp was abandoned. It was later completed in the CCC style using materials previously gathered.
At least two picnic shelters were planned for the park, but the CCC only completed one. Picnic Shelter #1 on the far right peninsula is the only one dating back to the CCC. Shelters #2 and #3 where built later and although they look similar to CCC construction, differences can be seen. The water fountains around the other two shelters are also made of red brick as opposed to the stone used at Shelter #1.
Other plans for the park included swimming pools because the water from the lake was considered unusable for swimming as well as sports fields.
Segregation
Being built in the segregated South, the plans for Lake Greenwood State Park included areas for both White and Black guests. The park that exists today was the white area. A park for African Americans was planned to be built across the street from the main entrance. It wouldn’t have any lake access, but was planned with similar amenities like a swimming pool and sports fields. Money had already been set aside for a picnic shelter that would never be built and the property was only partially developed. After the CCC abandoned the camp, the land was sold off.
Work Completed by the CCC at Lake Greenwood State Park
The dam wasn’t completed until 1940, so much of the work on the park had to wait until the lake was fully flooded.
The area around Picnic Shelter #1 was completed and represents the most complete CCC area of the park. Along with the shelter twenty-four picnic table and benches, three stone water fountains, and ten outdoor fireplaces were built around the shelter.
Many of the roads and parking areas were laid out and built by the CCC including the circular drive in front of the Drummond Center. Trees and shrubs were planted around the roadways as well as a good bit of the landscaping around the park. Including planting Bermuda grass throughout the property.
Some buildings like the manager’s house that aren’t on public view were also constructed by the CCC as well as a pump house that’s been moved from its original location.
If you visit the park have a look around and see if you can spot the differences in the construction of the CCC areas and the areas constructed later.
What’s Nearby
Fast Facts About Lake Greenwood State Park
Type: | Lakefront State Park |
Admission: | $3 adults; $1.50 SC seniors; $1 children age 6-15; age 5 & younger free |
Location: | 302 State Park Rd, Ninety Six, SC 29666 |
Website: | https://southcarolinaparks.com/lake-greenwood |
Phone | (864)543-3535 |
Things to do: Camping, fishing, picnicking, playground, swimming (no lifeguard), boat ramps