Givhans Ferry State Park in South Carolina
Camp South Carolina: We are speaking with Rick today about the camping opportunities at Givhans Ferry State Park. How are you doing today?
Rick: I’m doing fine, thank you.
Camp South Carolina: Perfect. Perfect. Well, we’ll kind of get into it here. When was Givhans Ferry State Park started?
Rick: The Park opened in 1937.
Camp South Carolina: Perfect, so it’s certainly been around a while. Has it always had camping or was it mostly used just for trails and things like that?
Rick: It’s had camping ever since its inception back in 1937. The Park was built by the Civilian Conservation Core.
Camp South Carolina: Nice, so it certainly has a history to it.
Rick: Yes ma’am.
Camp South Carolina: Awesome, that’s great. And so, when people are there for the weekend, what are usually kind of the most popular activities that they like to participate in, in the Park?
Rick: Well, we’re on the Edisto River, which is the longest free-flowing, black water stream in North America. And people mostly engage in river activities. They visit local sites and we’re the closest State Park to Charleston with overnight accommodations, so a lot of people will come with us, stay with us, and take advantage of the proximity to Charleston.
Camp South Carolina: Absolutely. Yeah, there’s certainly plenty of things to do. So, where is the State Park located?
Rick: We’re 35 miles of Northwest Charleston.
Camp South Carolina: Okay, perfect. And so, yeah, when someone is kind of looking to possibly venture out for the day, what are some of those kind of area attractions that they could go see?
Rick: Well, you’ve got (Unclear 1:27.6) Forest. You’ve got (Unclear 1:30.6) State Park. We’re close to Charles Town Landings State Historic Site. And then, like I said, we’ve got the proximity to Charleston. We’re within an hour, 45 minutes to the beaches, and a lot of golf courses around. So, there’s a lot of different things to do if you come and stay at Givhans Ferry.
Camp South Carolina: Yeah, absolutely. And do you have a favorite kind of area attraction that you like to do?
Rick: Well, I love beaches and I’m a golfer. I love the river. So, we’re in the middle. We’re out in the middle of nothing, but close to everything, and that’s what I like about it.
Camp South Carolina: Yeah, absolutely. And kind of coming back to the Park, what are the campsites like? Do you have RV, tent sites?
Rick: Givhans is universal. All our sites can accommodate motor homes, but we’ve got some that’s on gravel and we’ve got some that’s on grass. So, we could accommodate either the big rigs or we could accommodate tents. It’s just whatever people choose to camp in.
Camp South Carolina: Okay, perfect. So, pretty much whatever you’ve got, you can certainly come out and there will be a space for you.
Rick: We’ll find a place for you.
Camp South Carolina: Great. Well, two more questions for you. If you could only spend one hour in the Park, what would you do while you were there?
Rick: I would go sit on the bank of the Edisto River and just reflect.
Camp South Carolina: Perfect. Is there usually good fishing as well in that river?
Rick: It comes and goes. It depends on the time of year and how much activity is in the river and the river levels and that kind of thing. There are some factors into it, so in fact, fish. There are some good times and some bad times. It’s just a matter of hitting it at the right time.
Camp South Carolina: That pretty much sums up fishing in a nutshell.
Rick: Yes, it does. Yes, it does.
Camp South Carolina: And final question for you: if you could spend just one night at Givhans Ferry State Park, which campsite would you choose and why?
Rick: I like number 11 because it’s got a little path that goes to an open field and it would be nice to walk out your camper and walk into that field, and take your blanket and lay on that blanket and look at the stars.
Camp South Carolina: Absolutely. Well, yeah, that sounds great. How many campsites are in the State Park?
Rick: We have 25 campsites. They all have water and electricity. We have 30amp service and fire rings, so people can come out and built them a campfire or cook on the grill, however they want to do it. But we have 25. Then we have a dump station for the rigs that need to do whatever with that.
Camp South Carolina: Cool. Well, that’s great. Certainly seems like you have a variety of sites. It’d be a great place to camp for the weekend.
Rick: We think so.
Camp South Carolina: Great. Well, thank you so much for taking the time. We really appreciate it.
Rick: Thank you.
