Hey there! Today we visit Chester State Park. This is another CCC park that has plenty to offer. This is a large park that has enough to keep you busy on a day trip or longer if you stay at the great campground. They even have a disc golf course! Everything from the shelters to the trail are kept up really good.
We started off hitting the lake trail to the old dam. This trail is several miles there and back, this trail does not loop. From the parking lot head to the boat house, the trail starts just past the boathouse. The boathouse is really neat, it sits on the water and even has a small pier you can fish from!
The trail is pretty level with just a few ups and downs. It's well maintained and follows the lake shore. There's good variety on the trail and plenty of lake views.
A little over halfway along the trail you go by the campground. There's a small dock and bench here, it's a nice spot to rest.
We really enjoyed this hike, even though there and back, is a little long it's not too strenuous. There was plenty to see (the old dam is pretty cool!) and the trail is easy enough to follow.
We highly recommend hiking the whole trail, the dam is pretty neat with a lot of area to explore. I imagine after a good rain or wet season this overflow has a good bit of water running thru it. There was a small stream when we visited, going down into a small "waterfall." Keep going past the dam to see the waterfall.
Aside from the trail, the lake is really nice, perfect for taking a kayak or canoe out on. There is also a neat foot bridge at the park that spans the lake by the day use shelters and playground. Great spot to fish or just enjoy the view!
We will be back to this park to enjoy the lake more and possibly the campground! It's not too far from Landsford Canal for exploring even more. Make sure you plan for enough time to check out the trail and enjoy the lake, this park is definitely worth it! I ended up with more pictures than room so be sure to scroll down past this to see a few more pictures and as always, the rest at our website. Be sure to read the rest of this blog to see our other state park adventures and then visit our website to see the pictures in higher resolution. Fine art prints are available for purchase at my site also. Be sure to connect with us on social media! All this can be found at our site: http://www.centerlightstudios.com.
Hey there! Today we visit Redcliffe Plantation. This historical site has several buildings as well as several acres to explore. We highly recommend a tour of the house, be sure to check their website for dates and times of the tours! The main entrance was moved a few years back and is a gravel road before the main entrance. You'll park close to the main park building where you can pay for the tour and buy gifts and snacks.
Heading out from the main park building you'll go up the hill to the house and buildings. There are just a few buildings left but they are well maintained and have plenty of learning stations!
There is a lot to learn here, we have a way to go but seeing how far we've come gives hope. There are original artifacts and some areas have been kept untouched through time.
There are plenty of old and unique trees to be found on the property also, from those right by the house to those lining the old road, it's like stepping back in time.
It's easy to find a place to rest, enjoy the shade on the grass or find a bench around the property. We ended up walking 2 miles -including the house tour- at the property so be prepared if you want to take in all the sights!
There is plenty to explore around the grounds but it's really worth your time to take the house tour!! There's a lot of history and a lot of the house is preserved to a good historical accuracy. There's even a section that was renovated in the early 20's, and it has the look!!
The tour takes you back throughout the history of the plantation and house. Being in the family several generations and throughout the time periods it was in, it's very interesting to see how the house progressed and yet stayed the same. Did you know most of the old plantation houses did not have kitchens in them?! One of our favorite rooms here was the library, it still contains a lot of its original books!!!!
With so much to do and see you could spend a good bit of time here. If you're a history buff this is a must visit along with the house tour. The grounds, buildings and artifacts are maintained and preserved with care. This is also a beautiful place to photograph, from the old buildings to the landscape and the beautiful trees and flowers you'll find plenty of places to snap! This park is close to Barnwell and Aiken state parks, if you're camping at either one of them this is a great excursion!! This turned out to be another park that gave me more pictures than I could fit on the blog! Scroll down past this to see a few more pictures from the park and as always, be sure to read the rest of this blog to see our other state park adventures and then visit our website to see the pictures in higher resolution and the ones that didn't make it into the blog! Fine art prints are available for purchase at my site also. Be sure to connect with us on social media! All this can be found at our site: http://www.centerlightstudios.com.
Hey There! We're back and hopefully have a fix for the blog site so there won't be any more interruptions. Thank you for your patience and bearing with us.
Today we visit Aiken State Park! From canoeing to camping to hiking this park has plenty to keep you busy! There's also good history here, as this park was built by the CCC. We weren't able to go on the canoe trail but have heard it's really good, maybe a follow up visit will happen soon!!
Today we hiked the jungle trail, it's 3 miles (Not including any extra exploring!) but relatively flat. There are shortcuts you can take if you don't want to hike the whole trail. One of the shortcuts is where the trail crosses the road, if you started the trail at the lake and took a right at the splits you'll come to this spot and all you have to do is hang a left walk along the road and you'll come across the trailhead further up the road.
The trail is well marked and varies a lot in vegetation. The start of it is mainly piney woods, then you traverse into other and thicker vegetation. There are sections of the trail where you are on a raised boardwalk due to the swampy area.
There are a few (But not a whole lot) learning stations along the trail to provide a break and good information. Most of the stations were in good condition.
Some parts of the trail are very thick and overgrown, it lives up to the jungle name! There were a few sections of boardwalk that were damaged but it looked fresh and hopefully will be fixed soon.
There's plenty of beauty at this park, sometimes you have to look to see it!
The park has a really nice campground, it's very level and as you can see in the middle of tall pines. We will probably be back to camp here in the future! They also have several of the original buildings from the CCC, there's history stations around them to tell you the stories.
This is a great park and we look forward to visiting again and do some camping and canoeing. Scroll down past this to see a few more pictures from the park and as always, be sure to read the rest of this blog to see our other state park adventures and then visit our website to see the pictures in higher resolution and the ones that didn't make it into the blog! Fine art prints are available for purchase at my site also. Be sure to connect with us on social media! All this can be found at our site: http://www.centerlightstudios.com.
