About: Lake Keowee has more than 300 miles of shoreline. It is 26 miles long, 3 miles wide, and averages 54 feet in depth. It covers more than 18,300 acres (making it roughly half the size of Washington, D.C.). With crystal-clear blue-green water and gorgeous views of the Blue Ridge Mountains things to do include boating, fishing, water sports, swimming, kayaking, hiking, camping, and picnicking. Boat rentals are available at several outfitters. The lake is close to a dozen public access areas.
About: Created in 1973 through a state partnership with Duke Power (now Duke Energy ), Lake Jocassee is a 300-foot-deep, 7,565-acre, man-made lake. The only public access point to the lake is through Devils Fork State Park. Lake Jocassee is at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, just north of Lake Keowee and remains mostly undeveloped. There are hiking trails including the Oconee Bell Nature Trail where spring hikers are treated to sightings of the endangered Oconee Bell wildflower. The lake offers swimming, jetskiing, stand-up paddleboarding, and kayaking.
About: Conestee Nature Preserve is along three miles of the Reedy River in Conestee, South Carolina, with 13 miles of trails, more than 6 miles of them paved, 1 mile of boardwalk, and 11 wildlife observation decks. It is a 640-acre nonprofit owned and operated wildlife sanctuary located just five miles south of downtown Greenville. The Preserve is an area of a variety of bird species, including a vulnerable species, the rusty blackbird.
About: Contains 1,540 acres of hardwood and mixed pine forest in the Paris Mountains just north of Greenville. The park has more than 12 miles of trails leading through forests and around four lakes (Lake Placid, Mountain Lake, Buckhorn Lake and North Lake). The 13-acre Lake Placid offers swimming and fishing. There also are picnic areas.
About: Bunched Arrowhead HP, offers a 1.25-mile hiking trail that traverses a diversity of habitats. Owned and managed by the SC Department of Natural Resources, the 334.7-acre Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve Complex is comprised of five heritage preserves (Bunched Arrowhead HP, Blackwell HP, Clear Creek HP, Belvue Springs HP, and Core HP) that were purchased to protect the federally endangered bunched arrowhead plant, Sagittaria fasciculata. This plant occurs in wetland seeps within a rare habitat known as the Piedmont seepage forest. Other rare plants found on the properties include climbing fern, Lygodium palmatum, and dwarf-flowered heartleaf, Hexastylis naniflora.