Year-round
recreational opportunities abound in Clarendon
County. Due to the temperate climate, residents
enjoy the ability to hunt, fish, golf, boat,
or do just about anything the outdoors have
to offer.
Throughout the area, there are many lakes, streams, parks and other areas to enjoy
the great outdoors.
Golf
If you love the game of golf, you’re
gonna love Clarendon County. With year-round
golfing at over 12 nearby championship courses
you can find a course to call home. In addition,
Clarendon County is within an hour’s
drive to the Myrtle Beach Grand Strand which
is known worldwide as the home for golf with
over 100 championship courses to choose from.
Also one hour away are the courses in the
Charleston area, including Kiawah Island.
The following are the courses located in Clarendon
County for you to endjoy:
Clarendon Golf
and Country Club
One of Santee-Cooper Country's oldest courses
Location: I-95, exit 119, SC 261 East, Bloomville
Hwy., Manning
Phone: 803-435-8752
Par: 72 Yards: 6663 Designer: Eddie Riccoboni
Grass Type: Bermuda overseeded with rye in
winter
Description: Located in a beautiful pine forest
setting. Signature hole - 136 yard Par 3 -
9th. Pro shop, snack bar, putting green, driving
range, carts, lessons and club rentals.
Foxboro
Golf Club
Location: I-95, exit 108, East, 1438 Wash
Davis Road, Summerton
Phone: 1-800-468-7061
Par: 72 Yards: 6889 Designer: Porter Gibson
Grass Type: Bermuda overseeded with Winter
Rye.
Description: Nestled on the shore of Lake
Marion in the Taw Caw Creek area known as
Goat Island. Pro shop, snack bar, putting
green, driving range, carts, lessons and club
rentals.
Players
Course at Wyboo Plantation
Location: I-95, exit 119, East, SC 260 South,
Players Course Drive, Manning
Phone: 1-800-538-0623
Par: 72 Yards: 7007 Designer: Earnest Wallace
Grass Type: Bermuda greens and fairways overseeded
with Poatrivailis in winter
Description: Exceptional 18 hole championship
course. Located near Lake Marion. This course
has its own 35 acre spring-fed lake. Driving
range, puting green, snack bar, carts and
lessons.
Royal
Oaks Golf Club
Location: I-95, exit 119, SC 261 East, SC
260 South, King Road, Manning
Phone: 803-478-7272, 1-800-522-5075
Par: 72 Yards: 7074 Designer: James Goodson
and Earnest
Wallace
Grass Type: Tifton II overseeded with Rye
in winter Description: In Santee Cooper Country,
Royal Oaks Golf Course is surrounded by native
foliage. This course has more elevation than
any course in the area. Signature hole - all
water - 15th. Driving range, putting green,
snack bar, carts and lessons.
Wyboo
Golf Club
Location: I-95, exit 119, SC 261 East, SC
260 South, Deercreek Plantation, Players Course
Drive, Manning, SC
Phone: 803-478-7899, 1-888-245-9300
Par: 72 Yards: 6950 Designer: Tom Jackson,
Inc.
Grass Type: Pif Eagle greens and Pifway II
fairways.
Description: Exceptional 18 hole championship
course. Signature hole #4 over lake, wellbunkered.
Santee Cooper Country's newest course, opened
October 1, 1999. Driving range, putting green,
snack bar, carts and lessons.
Fishing
If fishing is more your hobby, we have that
too. Clarendon County is located on Lake Santee
and Lake Marion, nationally acclaimed as being
two of the finest lakes in the nation for
freshwater fishing. The largest lake in South
Carolina, Lake Marion offers landlocked striped
bass, crappie, bream as well as catfish. Lake
Marion holds the record for the world’s
largest Channel Catfish at 58 lbs., which
is sure to hook any fisherman.In addition,
Clarendon County hosts the annual Striped
Bass Festival each April which is part of
the Bassmaster Tournament series. The week-long
event includes arts, crafts, festivals, and
other events for the entire family. If you
love fishing, you won’t want to miss
any of the festival.
Area
Lakes – The Santee Cooper Lake System
The Santee Cooper lake system consists of
two lakes, Marion 110,600 acres and Moultrie
60,400 acres. These two lakes are joined by
the 6.5 mile Diversion Canal. These world-class
fishing lakes were created from 1939-42 for
a hydroelectric project by the S.C. Public
Service Authority, commonly known as "Santee
Cooper" because of the two river systems
the project connected.At the present time
these lakes hold a world record Channel Catfish
(58 Ibs) and a Warmouth weighing 2.2 Ibs was
caught in a creek a few miles from lake Marion.
These lakes held the record for striped bass
until 1977, its weight was 55 Ibs. State records
held are: Largemouth Bass (16.2 Ibs), Black
Crappie (5 Ibs), Chain (Jack) (6.4 Ibs), Channel
Catfish (58 Ib.), Arkansas Blue (109.4 Ibs)The
Santee Cooper Lakes vary from shallow swamps
and blackwater ponds to vast open water with
a multitude of underwater structures. Lake
Marion was not completely cleared, as a result,
fishermen will find there are thousands upon
thousands of stumps, standing dead tree trunks
and live cypress trees. Lake Moultrie is more
open and is 14 miles across at its widest
point.These lakes do not ice over during the
winter and there is no closed season for fishing
season. Weather permitting, fishermen can
fish year round.
Hunting
The opportunities to hunt are almost year-round
as well. There are literally hundreds of thousands
of acres, most public areas, to hunt. From
deer to doves, you’ll find the wildlife
abundant and the hunting among the best anywhere.
In fact, here are just a few of the public
lands available to you for hunting –
but remember to get that license before you
go:
Santee Cooper Game Management Areas - Orangeburg
County new Eutaw Springs
Santee Wildlife Refuge - Clarendon County
on the north side of Lake Marion
Moultrie Management Area - Berkeley County
on the northern shore of Lake Moultrie
Francis Marion National Forest - Berkeley
County - Over 249,000 acres. Five game management
units
Manchester State Forest - Sumter County
Upper Lake Marion - Approximately 20,000 acres
of inland duck hunting over swamps and flats.
Santee National
Wildlife Refuge is located two miles north
of Santee on US 301 and Hwy 15, the refuge
provides a haven for thousands of ducks and
geese in the fall and winter months. There
is a nature trail that winds through the low-lying
swamp of Lake Marion. A visitors center housed
in a modern structure that over looks the
lake. It houses the administrative offices
for the preserve, several dioramas of animals
native to Santee Cooper county and an aquarium
with species of fish native to the Santee
Cooper Lakes. Open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Free (803) 478-2217.
Boating
& Camping
If you just love to get out on the water and
ski, drift, or get together with friends and
then enjoy a relaxing evening afterwards camping,
Clarendon County has that too. Santee Cooper
Country is not landlocked. Residents and many
visitors enjoy travel from Lake Marion through
the Diversion Canal to Lake Moultrie. At the
end of Lake Moultrie lies the 75-foot high
Pinopolis Lock which will lower boaters down
to the Tailrace Canal which takes you to the
Cooper River and on to Charleston. The trip
from the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree
Rivers to Charleston Harbor is 162 miles.
Many residents launch their boat on Lake Santee
or Lake Marion and then take a day trip through
the locks and travel to Charleston. The beauty
of Charleston is unsurpassed and there are
literally hundreds of shopping, dining, and
sightseeing opportunities in this one of the
nation’s oldest towns. There are several
marinas and campgrounds to choose from including
State and
Local Parks, Hiking, Picnics, and Other Points
of Interest
Pocotaligo
Swamp Park & Trail
Located on Hwy 301 just 1.6 miles north of
Manning
Clarendon County Recreation Dept., PO Box
486, Manning, SC 29102
Telephone: (803) 435-2683 Fax: (803) 435-8258
Hours & Days of Operation - Always open
Accessible to Handicapped: Yes
Admission Charge: n/a
secrets since
the days of the Indians, its wildlife sequestered.
A glimpse into its murky magnificence is from
a board walk trail. The half mile boardwalk
allows visitors to see native trees such as
black gum, bald cypress, water tupelo, bay,
willow, oak and red maple. Wildlife includes
wood ducks, songbirds, amphibians and an occasional
glimpse of a reptile or two.
The
Santee Dam on Lake Marion
Located at the end of Hwy. 260 - about 15
miles from Manning
Telephone: No
Hours of Operation: Always Open
Accessible to handicapped: No
Admission Charged: No
The two preferred
activities on the roadway that is the surface
of the Santee Dam, but be sure to bring along
your binoculars. As you walk down the Dam,
to your right is Lake Marion- as far as the
eye can see. To your left is the picturesque
"Borrow Pit". The borrow Pit, or
Bar Pit as our locals call it, is a the long
narrow trench that was created when the drag
lines Borrowed the earth to make the last
earthen dam under the custody of the Army
Corps of Engineers. Between the dam and the
bar pit is a long sloping, well-tended grass
field. Beyond the bar pit is the Little River
and Santee River swamp.
Time to break
out your binoculars and check these waters
for some of the biggest gators around, check
the bank fishermen, on the grassy side nearest
you, many 40+ lb. catfish have been caught.
On the opposite bank is some of the best bank
fishing for Bream and Redbreast anywhere.
To your right, just 100 feet off the dam,
the water is between 25 and 40 feet deep.
From landfall to the spillway is 4.7 miles,
and remember, it is also 4.7 miles back. The
good news is that you don't have to go all
the way.
Looking out
over Lake Marion, after about a 1-mile walk
you will be within a few hundred feet of the
main reason why this is one of the nations
finest fisheries- structure. The Cypress tree
trunks and branches still stand above the
water after 60 years. The standing timber
of the "Dead Forrest" make for an
underwater environment that is hard to surpass
as FISH HEAVEN. Eagles, Egrets, Loons, Cormorants,
Herons and Turkey Vultures are just a few
of the species of birds you are likely to
see. Public Restrooms, restaurant and conveniences
are available at Randolph's Landing at the
foot of the Dam.
Santee
National Wildlife Refuge
Hwy 301/15 - Exit 102 off I-95 North Santee
Telephone: (803) 478-2217 Fax: (803) 478-2314
Web site: www.fws.gov
Days &
Hours of Operation: Tuesday through Sunday
8A.M. to4P.M.
Accessible to Handicapped: Yes
Admission Charge: No
This is paradise
for bird watchers. A myriad of wildlife species
inhabit the varied landscape of Santee. During
the winter months, the threatened bald eagle
and occasionally the endangered peregrine
falcon, can be seen. From November through
February migrating waterfowl such as mallards,
pintails, teal and wood ducks along with Canada
geese are a major attraction. Throughout the
year red-tailed and red-shouldered hawks can
be viewed. Trails are open for wildlife observation,
photography and hiking. Wading birds, song
birds and wintering migratory waterfowl may
be observed from he observation tower along
the Wright's Bluff Nature Trail. The Visitors
Center contains a number of displays describing
refuge wildlife and habitats. It provides
an excellent opportunity for visitors to become
acquainted with the refuge before venturing
out. This is highly recommended, especially
for the first time visitor. For the history
buff, Ft. Watson located atop the Santee Indian
Mound, is the sight of a significant Revolutionary
War battle.
Woods
Bay State Park
11020 Woods Bay Road
Exit 146 off I-95 take 301 west 3 miles
Telephone: (843) 659-4445 Fax:
email: woods_bay_sp@prt.state.sc.us
Days & Hours of Operation: Thursday through
Monday 9A.M. to 6 P.M.
Accessible to Handicapped:
Admission Charge: None
Located in
the Santee National Wildlife Refuge, Woods
Bay State Park is an elliptical depression,
Woods Bay is one of a series of natural phenomena
known as Carolina Bays. The main concentration
of these depressions occurs in the coastal
plains of the Carolinas. Woods Bay offers
a variety of natural habitats in which many
species of wildlife can be found. Visitors
to the 1,541 acre state park can enjoy a boardwalk
and a canoe trail extending into the bay.
Other facilities and activities include; picnic
area and shelter, canoe rentals and nature
programs.
