Biking the Palmetto Trail around Lake Moultrie, Russelville, SC

 

• Date Biked:  June 3, 2021 and June 6, 2021
• Posted Mileage  26.7
• Total miles Tracked: 17.2 miles and 15.6 miles
• Type of Trail:  gravel and grass, much of it on dikes
• Conveniences:   Nada
• Best Features:   Great views
• Worst Features:   Rugged terrain and bare minimum signage
• Wildlife spotted:  Gators, herons, turtles, crayfish! (keep reading)
• Vegetation: Pines, cypress, miles and miles of swampy vegetation
• Associated Website:  Map – Palmetto Conservation Foundation
• Primary Author: James

In our last post, we kayaked at Lake Moultrie, heading to a tupelo swamp for one of our most memorable paddling adventures to date. But, Lake Moultrie turns out to offer just as much adventure on land as on water, since the dikes and logging roads around the east and north shores are part of the Palmetto Trail, a statewide trail that spans South Carolina all the way from the coast to the mountains.

Ominous gray skies will be a recurring backdrop in many of these photos.

We devoted two days of biking to exploring this trail and didn't see it all. We also didn't see any other bikers or hikers the whole time we were riding, probably because thunderstorms were rolling through the area both days. But, I get the sense that this trail isn't used much even in good weather. For most of the journey you're riding on a dike that runs around the lake. The dike is flat and straight and offers some stunning views of the bordering swamps full of lilies, lotuses, and alligators. Alas, it's a little difficult to appreciate these views since you spend a lot of the ride avoiding potholes and making sure you don't bounce over the steep slopes of the dike! 

Since the trail is surrounded by alligator habitat, sticking to the center of the path is a good strategy. 

On the first day, we started at the Amos Gourdine Boat Ramp. We rode south toward Bonneau. The trail begins with a locked closed gate and a keep out sign, but there is a tiny marker saying it's the Palmetto Trail, so we lifted our bikes over the gate and pressed forward. The ride to Bonneau is pretty easy. The gravel road is a bit rough, but its free of grass and the rest of the gates you encounter are easier to get around than the first one. The trail ends on a residential street in Bonneau... though, actually, it doesn't end there. In theory, you can keep riding forward, pick up the trail on the other side of the small town, and continue on to the Swamp Fox Passage. Alas, there were no signs we could find marking the way forward, and with the storms situation only getting worse we turned back. In retrospect, if we'd pushed forward we could easily made it to the Watermark Bar and Grill and waited out the storms on their deck with a cold beverage, but that will be a goal for another ride. 

The best journeys begin with a "Do Not Enter" sign.

This is as big as the trail signs get!

The second day, we parked at a small parking lot adjacent to the lake's spillway on Highway 35. Cells of storms were again rolling through the area, but we thought we might have a window to get in a few hours of good riding. I'm happy to say we did get in some good riding--it was an astonishingly wet ride through torrential downpours--but still good. 

The ride got so wet that creatures you normally only find in water were sharing the trail with us! Look, if you encounter crayfish crossing the trail, it's wet. We also encountered a soft shelled turtle, very rare to find on land, which had gotten stuck in some construction along the side of the trail. We freed it an sent it on its way. 

Don't fence me in!

A prehistoric looking critter!

This crayfish didn't take kindly to our presence on its trail!

The ride the second day was much more rugged than the ride the first day. The dikes are mostly covered in grass, so it's slow going. Once you reach the logging roads, the going is marginally easier. Your reward for tackling the rough terrain is gorgeous scenery and plenty of wildlife. The rain kept us from getting out the zoom lens much, but on a dry day this would be a birdwatcher's paradise. Alligators were abundant in the water beside the raised dikes, camouflaged among the lilies but easy to spot once you learned what to look for. 

Peekaboo!

Eventually, the bad weather forced us to turn back. We reached our cars about as coated in mud as we'd ever been. Our bikes were a complete mess. We would have travelled further and take more pictures if it hadn't been raining, but don't regret pressing forward as far as we did. Who knows, maybe we saved that turtle's life. You don't get memories like that if you're afraid of a little rain. 

A satisfied customer!

Why pay a spa for a mud bath when nature provides them free of charge? 

Though what you save in spa fees gets taken back in car washes...

Kayaking to the Jungle at Lake Moultrie, Russelville, SC

 

• Date Kayaked:  June 4, 2021 and June 5, 2021
• Total miles Tracked: 4.5 miles (the Jungle Passage) and 1.2 miles (sunset paddle)
• Type of Paddle: Lake/swamp 
• Put in/Take Out:  paved ramp
• Conveniences: Bathroom, picnic tables
• Best Features: Truly stunning scenery 
• Worst Features:  Open water portions can get choppy, hidden stumps
• Wildlife spotted: Gators, osprey, herons, redwing blackbirds
• Vegetation: Cypress, tupelo, water lilies, some lotuses 
• Associated Website: https://www.berkeleyoutdoorlife.com/
• Primary Author: James

Our last two posts were about SC paddle adventures that were, to be blunt, somewhat disappointing. Cat Island was a tiny spit of land. Wambaw Creek was fine, but maybe not special enough to justify potentially breaking an axle on the miles of dirt roads required to reach it. Wouldn't it be great if there was a remote paddle that left you feeling like you had the body of water to yourself that could be reached on a paved road? 

Well, it just so happens that our next kayak destination turned out to be one of the finest kayak trips we've taken to date. Lake Moultrie in South Carolina is a huge body of water, just shy of 100 square miles. We went there expecting it to be heavily trafficked with motorboats but, at least on the days we visited, the parking lot at the Amos Gourdine Landing was mostly empty. Even if it had been full a lake of this size can probably hold a few hundred motorboats and still leave plenty of room for kayakers to enjoy the shallow, tree-filled waters near the shore. 

The Berkeley county website link above offers several kayaking trails. We chose to tackle the Jungle, a tupelo swamp on the eastern edge of the lake. The website tells you to launch from the main boat ramp, but there's a better site for kayaks. When you first enter the parking lot to the boat ramp, there's a sign to a swim beach. Go down that (very short) dirt road and you'll find a small paved ramp perfect for a kayak launch. Instead of launching into the main lake, you'll start your paddle in one of the sheltered canals. Our first trip was a windy day, but the water in the canal was still as glass, and right from the start you'll appreciate the beauty of the place as you glide among lily pads buzzing with dragonflies. Keep your eyes open for herons and gators, both of which we saw very close to the ramp. After a few hundred yards of paddling, there's a gap on the right onto the main lake. 

As you enter the lake, the full size of  Lake Moultrie becomes evident with the far shore so distant it can barely be seen. The cypress trees rising from the water here are home to numerous osprey nests. You likely won't paddle far before you spot alligators drifting lazily, sinking beneath the surface as you approach. Some might be longer than your kayak, but the open water gives them plenty of space to stay clear of you. 

Due to the wind, our paddle out was quite choppy. This concealed the one difficulty of keeping close to shore, the numerous cypress stumps just inches beneath the water. If you hit one and overturned, it wouldn't be that big of a deal, however, since the water is only a couple of feet deep. 

A person with no fear of alligators could probably wade through about 75% of this journey. 

After you hug the shore heading south for a little more than a mile, there's a cove to the left that's full of cypress and lily pads. Head into this and keep heading back as the cove narrows into a creek. At about the point where you feel like you can't go forward any more, you'll find a deep channel only about ten feet wide heading to your left, surrounded by walls of high reeds. Paddle through this for a hundred feet or so and the reeds will give way to a magnificent, wide open tupelo swamp with water lilies spreading for as far as  you can see. The channel through this was easy to navigate. If you push forward you can reach the dike that runs along the eastern side of the lake, but we only went about half the distance from the entrance to the swamp before turning back. It was insanely hot, with no shade, and the wind that had been fighting us on the open water vanished completely. 

Despite the heat, the swamp stirred our sense of wonder. The unending lilies made us feel like we were paddling through some fantasy landscape. The few patches of open water were mirror smooth, so that we glided across blue sky and clouds. Redwing blackbirds flitted about. The only sounds were bird songs; there's not even a whisper of traffic or motorboats. Put down your paddles, sit, and bask in the tranquility.

We did our first paddle in the middle of the day. The next day, we returned about an hour before sunset, confident that the wide-open lake was going to reward us with an amazing sunset. What we found far exceeded our expectations. The evening was windless, and the second we left the canal and turned onto the open water we found ourselves on what seemed to be a lake of pure mercury, a softly rippling mirrorscape that blended water and sky. The cypress trees rising from the surface had a ghostly quality in the fading light. The moment we came through the gap in the trees to look upon this silvery vastness might be the most breathtaking moment we've experienced on a kayak trip. 

We returned from the trip already talking over when we might return. This was a nearly perfect destination for us, and not just for paddling. In an upcoming post, we'll return to the canals and wildlife, but this time for a bike ride along the dikes that form the Lake Moultrie Passage.