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.
Four mountain streams and several waterfalls feed into the lake, making it cooler than Lake Keowee and Lake Hartwell to its south. Located in the Jocassee Gorges near the cities of Salem and Sunset, the lake and its surrounding areas were once home to part of the Cherokee Nation. The name Jocassee means “Place of the Lost One.” Its special temperate rainforest climate, created by the Eastern Continental Divide, contributes to the area’s biodiversity—bobcats, black bears, wild turkeys, deer, river otters, hawks, and even bald eagles live and thrive here. In the Jocassee basin, in addition to the Oconee Bell, threatened mosses, wildflowers, and rare orchids also are present. Surrounded almost entirely by public property, Lake Jocassee remains largely untouched with 75 miles of shoreline and 43,000 acres of surrounding forest with dense foliage, abundant wildlife, and towering waterfalls.
Hours: Late spring to mid-fall, 7am-9pm, daily; late fall to mid-spring 7am-6pm, daily. Office: 9am-5pm, daily. Admission: $8 adults; $5/ SC seniors (age 65 & older); $4 children ages 6-15; ages 5 and under, free. Admission to the park is free on each Tuesday.
Location: From SC-183/Farrs Bridge Road turn left onto SC-8 E and turn right onto E Jones Avenue for 1.4 miles. Continue onto Reece Mill Road for 4 miles. Turn right onto Shady Grove Road/State Rd S-39-32 for 4 miles, then right onto SC-133 for 3.3 miles. Go left onto SC-11 S for 3.3 miles. Turn right onto Boone Creek Rd/State Rd S-37-127 for 1.0 miles, then turn right onto Jocassee Lake Rd/State Rd S-37-25 for 2.7 miles. Continue onto Francis Falls Drive, and in 305 feet continue onto Jocassee Lake Road. In 427 feet turn right onto Holcombe Circle, then in 174 feet turn left to enter Devils Fork State Park, 161 Holcombe Circle, Salem, SC 29676
Links: https://southcarolinaparks.com/devils-fork https://www.visitgreenvillesc.com/blog/stories/post/your-guide-to-spending-the-day-on-lake-jocassee/
