Sparkleberry Swamp

As mentioned previously in my Allegheny Islands report, 2025 has been unusually dry in Western PA and, by mid-October, we were in desperate need of rain.  

I’d been working 6+ days most weeks since returning from Canada the previous July and, by mid-October, I was in desperate need of some time off.

I’d procrastinated all year while putting off home repairs that needed done before winter and, by mid-October, I was running out of time.

I definitely did not need all 3 issues to attempt resolution in the same week.

While not exactly rain on my wedding day, almost all of my planned activities involved work on the outside of my house.  I was lamenting my ill fortune to a friend in South Carolina when she mentioned that the weather was really nice there, she was having trouble finding anyone reliable to do some repairs for her, and I was seriously overdue to visit her anyway.

After a quick comparison of the 10 day forecasts, I resolved to make short work of cleaning the furnace and replacing the front door, procrastinate even further on fixing a hanging gutter, replace a few missing shingles instead of attempting the entire roof and then go put some vacation back in my vacation.

You see, without much of a detour, I would cross Lake Marion about an hour and a half North of her house and the North end of the 110,000 acre expanse of Lake Marion contains 16,000 acres known as Upper Santee / Sparkleberry Swamp.

Lake Marion was created in 1941 by the construction of the state-owned Santee Cooper dam.  Although among the largest lakes in the US in terms of surface area, its average depth is barely over 13 feet (a little less than 4 meters). 

Because the area was not completely cleared when the dam was built, there are large expanses of Bald Cypress & Tupelo forest within its basin.

Although camping is allowed in the swamp and there are some established campsites and a few cabins (reportedly open for anyone to use) within it, there are no maps, the trees are supposed to be thick enough to easily disorient a paddler and every source I can find recommends either carrying a GPS device or hiring a guide if paddling there (there are a couple of outfitters who provide guide services).

I threw some overnight gear in the car and was off on Wed morning. The drive went smoothly after an initial delay of buying an ez pass at the PA Turnpike office.  (I typically avoid the PA Turnpike like the plague but SR43 to Morgantown & the 2 toll sections of I64 in WV would save over an hour of driving so I finally gave in)

For most of the drive, I was battling 35 mph (56kph) crosswinds while driving between 75 & 85 mph (120-140 kph) depending on how closely I felt the conditions matched the (still theoretical) speed limits.  The end result was that the canoe was often moving side-to-side above me and I stopped repeatedly to check ropes until, finally, I decided that it was just going to dance a little up there but couldn’t actually get loose.

I finally arrived at Poinsett State Park around 9 pm and set up camp in the dark.

The following morning I realized that, in the darkness, I’d actually pitched my tent on the campsite's driveway but it was just hard-packed sand and I’ve become somewhat accustomed to camping on solid Canadian Shield rock so I slept well.

The dirt access road was much smoother and not nearly as wide as the roads I’ve followed for my Canadian trips and it soon led me to a very large parking lot with quite a few boat trailers already parked there.  It certainly didn’t look like I would be alone on the water.

Once through the trees, there are deeper, open areas, many of which the locals have named with their own lake names.  Although these were inviting, I chose to wander off once more among the trees so I noted the sun’s position, kept it over my left shoulder and paddled on.

There were many places where trees were painted with either colored blazes or arrows but I’d urge caution in following them as there’s really no way to know where the trail would lead and some of them seemed to peter out after a bit.

Upon inspection, I found that it was surrounded by extensive floating docks, was wired for electricity (if you bring a generator), included a full kitchen, air conditioner and a sleeping area that would accommodate at least 4 people. 

It was, indeed, unlocked and seemed as if there would be no issues in spending the night there.

Although I wasn’t working hard to propel the canoe, the shade of the trees was welcome and the day was extremely pleasant as I paddled through the flooded forest.

I turned toward the South and the forest started to open up more with masses of floating flowers and spanish moss hanging from the trees.

Shortly after the pipes, I saw my first human: an older guy (probably about my age) fishing from a motorized kayak.  He said that he’d also launched from the Landing and I watched for a few minutes as he caught and released some of the shrubbery.  

He caught a few pieces of flora but the fauna were eluding him so I put the sun in front of me to my right and started  paddling back.

They seemed a little surprised that I hadn’t seen a gator but that the “cold snap” might have sent them to the bottom. (“COLD snap”?!… it was 75° F for goodness sake! I mean, it sounds pretty cold in Celsius (24°) but it certainly didn’t feel cold to me.)

The more talkative one showed me a picture of a 13 foot alligator that his buddy had caught in the swamp a couple of weeks prior and that served to convince me that cabins were definitely preferred over tents in that area. 

He said that there were a couple of established camp sites on Riser's Lake but wasn’t very candid about cabin locations.  I really think the swamp warrants further exploration and I’ll look forward to a return visit.

Note: Since returning, I’ve done the research that I should have done prior to the trip and I've talked to several people about the swamp & potential campsites within it.  Ed Laney, Law enforcement officer for the SC Dept of Nat’l Resources tells me that there are two established sites on Riser’s Lake and some higher areas suitable for camping (with possible established sites) on Deadwater Creek and Broadwater Creek.  He also said that, due to hunting pressure, the feral hogs typically give humans a wide berth.

William Johnson, Supervisor of Forestry & Undeveloped Lands for Santee Cooper, also provided information on the swamp and camping within it.  He even sent maps of the designated campsites in the Upper Santee Swamp (all of which appear to be along the Santee River). He confirmed that the cabins were not authorized to be there and discouraged the establishment of developed campsites (and, especially, cabins) on Santee Cooper's property.

I also found Jane Powell of Santee Cooper Country to be very informative about the lake and swamp.  She tells me that the best time to visit is coming up in early November when the needles of the Bald Cypress turn golden like the Tamarack trees of the North.  (Seems that they’re “Bald” Cypress because they’re deciduous… who knew, right?)

And, finally, thanks to Alton Chewning of carolinacanoeclub.org.  He is currently working with Paul Ferguson to update his books Canoe Kayak South Carolina and Paddling Eastern North Carolina which have been out of print for awhile but may still be available through used book sellers.