Join a Naturalist for a hike through the maritime forest. View ancient dunes, learn about the edible plants of the island and see some of the creatures that call our forest home.

Set against the calm, winding South Edisto River, Aiken State Natural Area is a popular destination for the family or a budding naturalist.

The beautiful park in rural Aiken County offers canoeing in the river, peaceful picnicking, fishing in the river and the park’s spring-fed lakes, campground and trailside camping and hiking trails.

The 1,000-acre site is uniquely diverse, combining a blackwater river and swamp, bottomland forest and dry sandhill pine forest.

Aiken State Natural Area also has its place in history. It was built during the Great Depression by an African American detachment of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Interpretive signage tells their story and their work can still be seen in some of the park’s original structures and features.

Generations of history come together with miles of fun at Lake Greenwood State Recreation Area.

The park occupies a series of peninsulas on Lake Greenwood, which itself offers 212 miles of shoreline and 11,400 acres of boating and fishing opportunities year-round.

Lake Greenwood State Recreation Area is one of 16 state parks in South Carolina built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression. That history is captured in the park’s CCC museum, which also serves as a popular reception and meeting center.

CCC structures remaining at the park include picnic shelters, a boathouse, water fountain and lakeside terrace.

In addition to lakeside camping, picnicking and hiking, the park also hosts the South Carolina Half-Iron Man Competition, a popular endurance contest, each fall.

Site of one of the Confederacy’s last stands against General William T. Sherman’s sweep across the South, the still-intact earthen fortifications at Rivers Bridge State Historic Site bear silent witness to the fierce battle that raged there on Feb. 2-3, 1865.

The outnumbered Southerners held on for two days, marking the only major resistance the Union army encountered on its march from Georgia through South Carolina, which culminated a few weeks later with the burning of Columbia. The war itself ended soon after.

Today, Rivers Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the only state historic site in South Carolina that preserves a Civil War battlefield.

Rivers Bridge also preserves and interprets the Memorial Grounds where Confederate dead from that two-day struggle are interred. Ranger-guided tours and special programs help educate visitors about the battle and military life during the Civil War.

Join us in October for an evening’s journey into the spooky past as “Tales of Union County” presents an eerie experience for visitors to enjoy local ghostly tales and spine-chilling legends in a family setting with marshmallow and wiener roasts, apple bobbing, and other fall festival activities. Attendees can sip a cup of hot chocolate, or hot apple cider as guest storytellers and local historians relate the folklore, stories, & legends of Union County and the Upstate from the American Revolution to the present, by the flickering light of the campfire. We might even see a ghost or two...

In support of the nation-wide Great Backyard Bird Count, observations will be made at Table Rock. The information we gather will contribute to a broad study by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology of winter bird populations in North America. Participants can enjoy a morning of birdwatching as we seek out a variety of species in wooded, weedy, and wetland habitats.