THE WORLD OUTDOORS - Hiking in The Swamp

Posted 2/12/20

The Palmetto Trail is South Carolina's longest and most diverse hiking trail eventually spanning from the mountains to the sea. Right now, 29 sections are open with several more opening this year, …

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THE WORLD OUTDOORS - Hiking in The Swamp

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The Palmetto Trail is South Carolina's longest and most diverse hiking trail eventually spanning from the mountains to the sea. Right now, 29 sections are open with several more opening this year, That’s over 350 miles of trails for you to explore. 

I was introduced to the Palmetto Trail a few years ago through my journey to visit all 47 of South Carolina’s State Parks, but in 2019, I became addicted. I hiked over 75 miles along 9 Sections in 2019. 

In 2020, I plan to keep on exploring the PT. The next step in my journey would be to hike the Lake Marion Passage. 

The Lake Marion Passage follows the Lake for 33.6 miles from the town of Santee to Mill County Park near Pinewood. Unfortunately, much of the trail is just roadwalking, which just isn’t appealing to me. However, there is a promising 5-mile section that borders Sparkleberry Swamp near Rimini. That’s where I wanted to hike. 

Once again I convinced my friend David Gabrielli to go along with me and finally over the Martin Luther King Day break, we found our opportunity to hike it. There was just one problem, the lake was very high and apparently part of the trail was flooded.
My friend David and I met in Eastover to make the 45-minute drive to the trailhead near Pinewood. It was 7:00 and we had just 6 hours to hike the trail before he had to work. As we drove across the Wateree Swamp, the sun was just poking out. The sky was a beautiful blend of fire however the temperature was a chilly 40 degrees. 

We made it to Packs Landing on Lake Marion where we planned to finish and dropped off David’s 4Runner. We hopped back in my car to make it back to the much more primitive Sparkleberry Landing where we would start.

The dirt landing sat right on the edge of Sparkleberry Swamp, a huge swamp in the headwaters of Lake Marion at the Conflux of the Congaree and Wateree Rivers.

The hike didn’t start off too promising. Just feet into the trail and we were already walking around puddles. 

For the first mile and a half, we weaved around big puddles along a double track trail that followed right on the high water line of the swamp. The scenery was just great. It reminded me of the Great Wateree Swamp with its Cypress Trees towering above making plenty of shade. It would be perfect for kayaking and I’d like to return to do just that. 

Eventually, we reached a little creek crossing, it smelled awful, like chemicals, and the water looked a little hazy. Just upstream was a tall fence covered with no trespassing signs and just inside the fence was a pipe dumping that sketchy water straight into the creek. A little research showed it to be an old hazardous waste dump.
Over the next half mile, we slowly ascended along a trail up a manmade mountain with hazardous waste underneath. It smelled awful, although it wasn’t a strong smell, it was enough to make us wanna get out of there. 

By now the trail had turned away from the swamp. The trail crossed private property for what felt like a mile because much of the trail was underwater.
It’s almost guaranteed you will get lost along this section so make sure to use an app like AllTrails to keep you on track. We got turned around multiple times due to miss leading trails and a lack of signage. 

Eventually, we ended up back near the lake, the swamp has opened up into the wide yet shallow Lake Marion, however, we still had about a mile to go. It would be the longest mile I’ve ever hiked. Simple crossings we’re near impossible without getting wet because of how high the lake was.

At one point, we reached a small 5-foot bridge with one problem, it was right in the middle of a 20-foot creek crossing. Instead of getting wet, we decided to follow the creek upstream outside of the flooded area. It got narrow enough that we could just jump right over the creek then we could just follow it downstream. 

We repeated that process 4 times over the last mile. At one point after getting around a flood, we found an old rusted and gutted car right by the trail. We had absolutely no clue how it got there but it was cool. There was a detached door leaning against a tree that we were tempted to take with us but we ended up deciding against, probably for the better.

And just like that, we reached the boardwalk that led to Packs Landing.

Packs Landing was interesting, it’s set back into a cove on the lake with a main ramp and dock, a little store, large parking area, a gazebo, and the boardwalk

Despite the flooding, David and I still had a great time, however, for the average person, this trail would probably not be enjoyable.

If you decide to hike it, I would recommend checking the Lake Marion water level. The trail will probably be easier if the lake is below 75 feet. 

If you want to hike the swamp, don’t come here. Instead, visit the Wateree Passage of the Palmetto Trail in Eastover, it’s easily my favorite section on the midlands and it offers a bit of everything from Cypress Swamp to mountains and much in between. 

Lake Marion, Swamp, Cole, world outdoors

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