Day Trip to Cheraw State Park, SC

Our most recent day trip was to a quiet

destination exactly one hour from home.

Cheraw State Park, just south of Cheraw, S.C.

Join me for a brief tour.

Here's a view of the boardwalk that skirts

one shore of the lake.

Taken from the boardwalk.

Long enough for a little exercise, but not
overly exerting.

Especially for Liz. (Private joke).

The noise of the spillway creates the illusion
of a mountain waterfall.

Can you spy the skink lurking on the old iron bridge?

The lake is pod-shaped.  This view is from one
end to the other.

Unlike most parks, this one actually invites you to leave
the trail and proceed downstream below the dam.
With caution!

A brochure explained that the apparent "soap suds"
were a natural product of certain decaying leaves,
not a result of pollution.

A nice view below the dam.

The massive roots of a bald cypress tree.
They were plentiful downstream.

And the natural suds billowed to epic size!

This reminded me of a canoe trip on the Lumber
River years ago.

In this watery environment, trees send out roots in
all directions seeking to drink up every drop they can.

Liz, I repeat: This means you!

It's always fun to spot a turtle or other wildlife.

Or two.

A beautiful variety of wild iris grew right in the water.

While hiking a loop trail in a longleaf pine forest
we spotted this Reconyx Rapidfire game tracking camera.
Very cool.  It can take a picture per second of wildlife in
motion.  Including me and Judy, I suppose.

Needless to say, we were already familiar with the
longleaf forest habitat.  We prefer the varied trails
at our own Weymouth Woods.

Isn't it nice when trail directions are so specific?

This simple boardwalk through a sometimes
wet area gave me a great idea for a similar
problem on the Farm Life Nature Trail.
The county has promised assistance.

We picnicked near this nice little playground.
On departure we drove through the park's campground,
then wound our way homeward, with a few timely
stops in Cheraw and Hamlet, NC.  Including cheap gas!