A Quiet Sabbath

Chester State Park is in beautiful Piedmont South Carolina, and according to the park’s literature, “just a few miles off Interstate 77, centrally located between Columbia and Charlotte”. Chester is one of the 16 Civilian Conservation Corps parks and sits on 523 acres with a 160 acre lake in the middle (SC State Parks). There’s a small campground with 25 spots. When we camped this weekend, we were the only folks in tents.

There’s fishing but no swimming at the park, and because it’s small–reduced ranger hours. The store is only open from 11 to noon and 4 to 5 p.m., and there’s no ice at the park store. Fear not, however, just five minutes down the road on the way to Chester there’s a gas station with firewood and ice. Chester is a quaint little town too, and it’s less than ten minutes from the park.

Rumor has it you can catch sunfish and bass, but I only saw folks gently kayaking while I was there. The hiking is lovely and not too strenuous if you stay on the trails. Much of the trail follows along the lake, and is quite lovely and easy to traverse. Looks like there’s an unofficial trail going around the lake that may have been a bit tougher, but we didn’t have time to finish it. Oh, and there’s a playground too and a lovely bridge and at least two fishing piers.

Chester State Park

All photographs by Rev. Darlene Kelley-Walters