The State of South Carolina has a group of protected areas managed by the South Carolina State Park Service (often abbreviated to Park Service). Formed in 1933 in conjunction with the formalization of the federal Civilian Conservation Corps program, the State Park Service is administered by the state's Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (SCPRT). There are a total of 47 facilities that the State Park Service administers, protecting nearly 80,000 acres of sensitive, attractive, and/or historically significant lands in South Carolina.[2] The facilities fall under four types of classifications:
38 State Parks
8 State Historic Sites
1 State Resort Park
1 State Recreational Area
Cheraw State Park was the first park to be proposed within the system in 1934 with Myrtle Beach State Park becoming the first park to open in 1936.[3] Within six years, the State of South Carolina and the CCC opened 17 state parks.[4] Originally under the jurisdiction of the South Carolina Forestry Commission, the Park Service has been a unit within the Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism since its formation in 1967. Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort County is the most popular state park in South Carolina and among the most popular in the United States, attracting 1.2 million visitors per year.
Following the Nukegate scandal, Dominion Energy settled with the South Carolina tax agency on $165 million in unpaid taxes owed due to an unfinished nuclear project in Fairfield County. As part of that settlement, the state agency and Dominion Energy agreed that Dominion would offset approximately a third of the unpaid taxes by turning over more than 2,900 acres of land which will ultimately become six new state parks in the coming years. The first state park expected to open from the settlement is Pine Island on Lake Murray.[5]
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South Carolina State Parks (Hover mouse over pog to popup clickable link)
Park Name
County or Counties
Size
Year Acquired
Year Opened
acres
ha
Aiken State Park
Aiken
1,067
432
1934
1936
Andrew Jackson State Park
Lancaster
360
150
1953
1957
Baker Creek State Park
McCormick
1,305
528
1967
1968
Barnwell State Park
Barnwell
307
124
1937
1939
Caesars Head State Park
Greenville
7,467
3,022
1976
1986
Calhoun Falls State Park
Abbeville
318
129
1982
Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site
Charleston
184
74
1970
1970
Cheraw State Park
Chesterfield
7,362
2,979
1934
1939
Chester State Park
Chester
523
212
1935
1936
Colleton State Park
Colleton
35
14
1938
1940
Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site
Dorchester
325
132
1960
1960
Croft State Park
Spartanburg
7,054
2,855
1949
Devils Fork State Park
Oconee
622
252
1991
1991
Dreher Island State Park
Newberry
348
141
1970
1970
Edisto Beach State Park
Colleton
1,255
508
1935
1937
Givhans Ferry State Park
Colleton, Dorchester
988
400
1934
1937
Goodale State Park
Kershaw
963
390
1973
1973
H. Cooper Black Jr. Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area
Chesterfield
7,000
2,800
1994
2006
Hamilton Branch State Park
McCormick
731
296
1972
1972
Hampton Plantation State Historic Site
Charleston
300
120
1972
Hickory Knob State Resort Park
McCormick
1,091
442
1969
1973
Hunting Island State Park
Beaufort
5,000
2,000
1938
1941
Huntington Beach State Park
Georgetown
2,500
1,000
1960
1962
Jones Gap State Park
Greenville
3,964
1,604
1976
1985
Keowee-Toxaway State Park
Pickens
1,000
400
1970
1975
Kings Mountain State Park
Cherokee, York
6,885
2,786
1934
1936
Lake Greenwood State Park
Greenwood
914
370
1938
1940
Lake Hartwell State Park
Oconee
680
280
1976
1985
Lake Warren State Park
Hampton
440
180
1980
1990
Lake Wateree State Park
Fairfield
238
96
1982
1985
Landsford Canal State Park
Chester, Lancaster
448
181
1970
1973
Lee State Park
Lee
2,839
1,149
1935
1941
Little Pee Dee State Park
Dillon
835
338
1951
1955
May Forest State Park
Charleston
23
9.3
2021
2023
Musgrove Mill State Historic Site
Laurens, Spartanburg, Union
380
150
1975
2003
Myrtle Beach State Park
Horry
312
126
1935
1936
Oconee State Park
Oconee
1,165
471
1935
1937
Oconee Station State Historic Site
Oconee
210
85
1976
1994
Paris Mountain State Park
Greenville
1,540
620
1935
1937
Poinsett State Park
Sumter
1,010
410
1934
1936
Redcliffe Plantation State Historic Site
Aiken
350
140
1973
1975
Rivers Bridge State Historic Site
Bamberg
390
160
1945
1945
Rose Hill Plantation State Historic Site
Union
44
18
1960
1961
Sadlers Creek State Park
Anderson
395
160
1966
1968
Santee State Park
Orangeburg
2,500
1,000
1942
1949
Sesquicentennial State Park
Richland
1,419
574
1937
1940
Table Rock State Park
Pickens
3,083
1,248
1935
1940
Woods Bay State Park
Clarendon, Florence, Sumter
1,590
640
1973
1973
^https://www.census.gov/govs/state/0841scst.html SC Government Finances
^"1967 - Present: South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation &". Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2013. Park Service History 1967-Present
^"1933 - 1942: South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation &". Archived from the original on August 28, 2007. Retrieved September 17, 2007. Park Service History 1933-1942
^"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) South Carolina Facts
^Hincks, Leah (March 19, 2023). "SC's smallest state park born from state's biggest business bust". Post and Courier. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
and 24 Related for: List of South Carolina state parks information
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