Pics of Lake Jocasse and Keowee

[diddlydudette]

Originally Posted by Back2Gville

Great pictures, information, and timing! I’m planning a sightseeing trip up to this area very soon. I've only been over the northern end of Lake Keowee on Highway 11. I'm planning a day trip to visit Keowee Toxaway State Park, Devils Fork State Park, Bad Creek, and Whitewater Falls (in NC). I’m hoping to snap a few nice pictures of my own (none from the water unfortunately).

I’ve been looking at the SC State Parks website and I’m not sure how much there is to see at these two parks. It looks like their main focus is on boating and camping. I did see a picture of a small waterfall at Keowee Toxaway but haven’t found any specific info on it yet. I know there are several hiking options in and around both parks but I'll have to keep them short on this trip, since I’m planning to cover a lot in one day. Looks like some nice sightseeing opportunities at Bad Creek and Upper Whitewater Falls (in NC) looks very scenic with very easy access.

Are there any other nice sightseeing opportunities (with easy & quick access) in this specific area (northwestern Oconee county or just north in NC)? I was considering trying to stretch this trip to include either the town of Highlands, NC or Gorges State Park in NC or heading back south to Spoonauger Falls. I would love to hear anyone’s thoughts, suggestions, or experiences regarding the best sightseeing and photo opportunity spots in particular area. Thanks!

For just a day trip, that's hard to plan what to do.

Yep for the most part, Devil's Fork and Keowee Parks more or less focus on boating, camping, fishing and hiking.

I love visiting the areas and spending time on the water, especially this time of year. The water if warm and the scenery is gorgeous. There are plenty of places to rent kayaks, canoes, speed boats, pontoons, etc. They will even deliver to the boat docks for you. Is that an option?

I have been on the Whitewater Falls hiking trip a few times and it's enjoyable and the falls are great. Most of those hikes take pretty much all day. There are some nice shorter trails in the state parks though....probably the ones at Keowee State Park are more scenic but at Lake Jocassee you can walk around the water on the rocks and there are a couple of nice hiking trails in the woods.

We considered taking a day trip from Jocassee to Cashiers or Highlands but we found enough to keep us busy at the parks nearby. I think to get to either place from the Jocassee area is about an hour drive.

Nothing more scenic and nothing offers more photo opportunities though than getting out on the water and actually seeing the lakes. Both Jocassee and Keowee are gorgeous.

Not sure where you're coming from or what you have in mind but I guess you could always do a quick hiking trip at one of the state parks and then head up to Cashiers or Highlands for dinner.

Falls Creek boat landing at Keowee, which is right off Hwy 11 across from Devil's Fork has a nice picnic area at the boat dock. There is a little beach area also. You can watch people jumping off a big rock into the lake across the lake there.

Let us know what you decide. I can't wait to see pics.

[beckycat]

Where is the best beach for swimming? I know it was mentioned that some are the beaches are low. It would be nice to swim in a lake with clear water.

Also, where are the best trails near the beaches to see waterfalls?

[diddlydudette]

There were plenty of people swimming the Lake Jocassee mid May. The water level was down but people were still getting in the water. One lady swam from one side to the other. Also people were swimming in Keowee near the Falls Creek boat landing.

The best waterfall around Jocassee is the Whitewater Falls. It seem though that when we first did it we drove to an area to get on a trail to get to the falls. There are directions to get to the lower and upper Whitewater Falls. You can google to get an idea of where it is. I think you can just drive to lookout points to see the falls too.

There are usually some waterfalls to see if you have a boat and on Lake Jocassee but they were all pretty much dried up when we were there earlier this month.

There are some nice trails at Keowee State Park. We enjoyed Natural Bridge Trail when we were there in November. There is also a longer trail in that same area. The Natural Bridge Trail had a lot of interesting things to see along the way.....little waterfalls and the natural bridge was nice. We found a geocache along the way so that was fun too. The water falls are nothing like Whitewater though. It depends on what you're looking for.



But if you just want to go hiking to see waterfalls and don't care about the lakes, then I highly recommend Dupont State Forest....lots of beautiful waterfalls there.