Chester State Park

Chester State Park is a 523-acre park that is located in the rural Chester County between the cities of Columbia in South Carolina and Charlotte in North Carolina. Within the park is a 160-acre lake that is popularly used for lots of water-based activities. The park is also surrounded by two nature trails that cut across a pine forest. If you want to get to the park, you can do so from the I-77 by driving along Highway 97 or Highway 9 to Chester Town. You can then access Highway 72 and drive about two miles west of the town to the park.

Some of the other major attractions to the park apart from the lake and the nature trails are the wildlife and especially the bald eagle. The lake also features a special spillway that creates a waterfall effect since water pours into a trough and then out from the trough creating the said effect.

Some of the amenities at the park that are an attraction to the surrounding communities in the Piedmont Region of South Carolina and beyond include a picnic area, primitive group camp, 25 campsites, three picnic shelters, comfort station, hiking trails, archery range, meeting building, boat rentals, amphitheater, and a playground. Activities popular at the park include boating, camping, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and archery.

If you have a dog, you can bring them to the park for some fun, exercise, and relaxation. That said, you will need to adhere to standard South Carolina state park rules that include the following. First, your dog must always be in a secure enclosure or on a leash with a maximum length of six feet. Additionally, you must maintain immediate control of your pooch and never allow them to stray inside lodges or lodging areas. For the most part, you can take your dog to most outdoor areas of the park, but you must ensure that your dog doesn’t create unnecessary noise nor threaten or harass other wildlife within the park.