Little Pee Dee State Park Redux
Named after the Little Pee Dee River, Little Pee Dee State Park in the South Carolina Sandhills offers fishing, camping and unique Carolina bays.
southcarolinaparks.com
I was only going to get fireworks,
I swear!!! I make a twice-yearly pilgrimage to Sparky's Old-Fashioned Tourist Trap (OK, that's not what the owners call it) near Marion, SC, on US 501, the main tourist artery into Myrtle Beach. MB is probably the largest resort area in the country with no interstate connection, and 501 connects to Florence, where you can pick up I-95 or I-20.
Sparky's sells all the t-shirts, trinkets, taffy and other crap you can get at the beach, plus they have gas (93 octane, sadly not ethanol-free), diesel, Cowboy and HD-type boots, Minnetonka moccasins, a grill, ice cream, clean restrooms, and, most importantly, FIREWORKS!!! The local paper usually has a full-page ad with prices they don't advertise at the store (local discount), so I take the excuse to ride an hour or so each way and save a little on my boom-boom. Fireworks are legal in my state. MB just gave up on their all-city ban due to a state AG opinion, and my city (Conway) will probably have to back off on their ordinance restricting them to New Year's and July 4 only, with ridiculous time and age limits. I grew up buying fireworks at the corner store where we bought soda pop and nabs, although I will admit that people these days often go too far.
After I got my fireworks fix and a
really generous double-cone, I decided that the latest tropical storm (which had been chasing me all afternoon) was a wussy and I could take the long way home. I had not been to Little Pee Dee SP in a while, so I thought I'd see what it was like on a holiday weekend. I hadn't brought a map or my trusty DeLorme SC Atlas and Gazetteer (the best option for us pre-GPS dinosaurs), so I was at the mercy of the GPS, which predictably sent me around my elbow to connect finger and thumb.
I was pleasantly surprised -- shocked, really -- to find that the entrance road has been re-paved since my last visit with fresh smooth asphalt. The rest of the park was pretty much as previously described, with a few campsites sitting vacant, even on Saturday evening on the July 4 weekend. There are 32 water + electric sites, and 18 tent sites that are water-only and rent for just $15, even on weekends. I also learned that the impounded lake, which suffered a dam breech after a hurricane a couple years ago, has been stocked with fish, so we don't have to wait for ducks to do it for us.
The best news was the addition of one (1) Camper Cabin to the campground. Ya'll are probably familiar with the concept -- it's usually a plywood shack with a plywood bed platform, a light bulb, and an outlet for the old lady's hair dryer. SC has been adding these to lots of SPs; evidently, the idea is to provide "the camping experience" to people that won't tent and can't afford an RV. Hey, whatever it takes to get them to a SP campground; maybe they or their kids
will eventually become campers.
The one at LPD exceeds the standard by a mile. It sleeps four, with one double and two bunks, has
heat and A/C, a coffeemaker and mini-frig. It faces the lake, with its own driveway and handicapped ramp, a little porch with a view of the lake, and it's only 50 bucks a night or 55 on weekends. I might rent it myself one weekend in the off-season just to get outta the house for a couple days. Demand is high, it's booked solid for a while, but advance planning could net you some big savings if you are passing thru. OK, there's no running water inside, but there's a spigot and a nearby bathhouse. I can't wait till the fish get bigger!
The only complaint I have about this park is -- you guessed it, loyal readers -- you can't swim in the lake!!! Obviously there was swimming at some point, because there's a big floating swim platform moored off the end of the fishing pier near a small marshy island. Damn lawyers! If I was in charge, all state parks with lakes would be
required to maintain a swimming area. Grump grump grump!!!
I should also note that canoe and kayak rentals are back. There is a nature trail that I have not explored which leads to a beaver pond. There is a nice shady playground and there are two picnic shelters that can be rented. I passed a "primitive" group camping area in a sunny meadow on the way in. There is supposed to be access to the Little Pee Dee River for more fishing -- the park property borders it -- but I haven't explored enough of the 800+ acres of sandhills and swamp to figure out how to get there yet.
Not surprisingly, I once again took the long way home, heading east on SC 9 to 19 to 410 to 701 so I could stop at Gerald's C-Store (701 and 410) and tank up with ethanol-free 93 octane. I love this place; they have a grill, a liquor store, fishing bait, a little of everything. When I was there on this trip they were putting a new set of rims and tires on a pickup.
On the way, I passed thru the small town of Nichols, devastated twice recently by river flooding, and stopped to see a new mural. Labeled the Unity Mural, it depicts several historic scenes, including a CCC camp. Now I have to do more research to find out if Company 420 built the nearby park.