Adventures of a swimming hole aficionado

For the past three days, my mom and I have been kayaking on Lake Jocassee. We had been talking about going again after our trip last year, but there haven’t really been any good stretches of warm, dry weather until this week. Last year, we checked out places within out-and-back paddling distance of Devil’s Fork State Park, but we didn’t get to see all the waterfalls that spilled into the lake because the kayak shuttle was booked up that time (the kayak shuttle is a pontoon boat that hauls you and your kayaks to a drop-off point on the lake, for an exorbitant fee). The named waterfalls on the lake are Laurel Fork Falls, Mill Creek Falls, Devil’s Hole Creek Falls, Wright Creek Falls, and Bad Creek Falls (okay, the last one isn’t named, but it’s large enough to be noteworthy). We had only visited the latter two waterfalls last time, so our objective this time was to see the other three, especially Laurel Fork Falls, which looked like the highlight. The shuttle was available this time, so we were in business. There was only one available villa (#2) at the park this week, so we snagged it while we still could.

( Click here for the full trip report with pictures and videos )

In summary, yesterday’s excursion from Laurel Fork Falls to Devil’s Fork State Park was a pretty good paddle. The temperature was in the 80’s with barely any clouds, and there were plenty of opportunities for swimming, snorkeling, and grapes. Now that I have seen all the named waterfalls of the lake, I would say Laurel Fork Falls is easily the highlight, with Wright Creek Falls (which we saw last year) coming in second. Mill Creek Falls looked like a great swimming spot, but it’s not the most impressive of the waterfalls. Devil’s Fork Falls wasn’t that interesting because it was so cluttered with deadfall that it was hard to get a good view of it. We didn’t really go anywhere new Monday or today, but today was a nice day to revisit some of the highlights from last year. Swimming on the lower Thompson River was much more pleasant than it had been in spring of 2021, so now I can officially give those swimming holes a thumbs up. We saved a few loose ends for a future trip, including the Whitewater River arm of the lake, which apparently has some nice cascades near the mouth of the river.

This is the second of three entries about my three-day vacation at Lake Jocassee in South Carolina. Day 1 of the trip is covered in my first entry.

For the second day of our vacation, my mom and I paddled to Wright Creek Falls on the Thompson River arm of the lake. I had gone to this waterfall the last time I was here, but that excursion was kind of rushed because I rented a kayak from the park that I had to return by 6 PM. I had done a creek walk on the Thompson River that day, which didn’t leave much time to see anything else. Today, we had originally wanted to see the waterfalls on the northeastern arm of the lake (where the Horsepasture and Toxaway Rivers feed in), but that was too long for and out-and-back paddle, and all the kayak shuttles were booked. We opted to just do Wright Creek Falls so my mom could see at least one of the significant waterfalls.

( Click here for the full Day 2 trip report with pictures and videos )

We made it back to the boat ramp and loaded the kayaks into the truck just as it started to rain, although it wasn’t a torrential downpour like earlier. We had paddled 10.4 miles today, according to my fitness tracker (although that also includes my brief waterfall scrambles). That’s about what the distance would have been if we had taken a kayak shuttle to the more distant waterfalls and paddled back to the park. We drove back to the villa and had hamburgers for dinner. I also ate two cupcakes, because screw my arteries! Also, note to self: bring a Brita pitcher or bottled water if you ever stay in a Devil’s Fork State Park villa again, because the tap water here is wretched.

Day 3 of the trip is covered in my third and final entry.

Today, I kayaked up Lake Jocassee to explore some more swimming holes on the Thompson River. I was sort of intent on reaching a swimming hole by unconventional means, and my first idea was to bike (well, partway) to Wintergreen Falls on the Toxaway River, but renting a bike seemed like too much trouble, so I decided kayaking might be fun. Plus, my lower body got a workout yesterday, so I figured I would give my upper body a workout today. Yesterday’s hike at the upper Thompson River had nice waterfalls and a couple of swimming holes, but none that were really primo (plus the air and water were both too chilly for a swim to be pleasant). I was hoping the lower section of the river might be an improvement on both counts, since it looks less shaded on Google Earth and is at a lower elevation. I had noted a couple of significant-looking sliding waterfalls with pools on Google Earth, and it looked like the river had continuous cascades and pools from the lower slide down to where the river flows into the lake. When researching Lake Jocassee, I had also come across Wrights Creek Falls, one of several waterfalls that spill directly into the lake (that was actually how I got the idea to go kayaking in the first place; I didn’t actually decide to do the lower Thompson River until after finding out it fed into the lake near Wrights Creek Falls).

( Click here for the full trip report with pictures and videos )

In summary, I found the lower stretch of the Thompson River to be a little more swimming-hole-licious than Big Falls and the other upstream waterfalls. There were at least three legit swimming holes and one potentially slide-able sliding waterfall. I would say the best swimming hole would be the big one with the log over the cascade that spills into it. I didn’t check the depth there, but it was the largest swimming hole and seemed to have the most potential for vertical tomfoolery. The water was also slightly warmer less frigid here than the upper section, although if you want warmer water, then you might as well just swim and cliff jump in Lake Jocassee, which was about 12 degrees warmer than the Thompson River today. That said, this lake is on my “would come back to” list. The weather was still a little cool for a swim to be totally refreshing, but the lake would be great on a hot sunny day. It has clear blue water and a lot of nice coves to explore. I probably wouldn’t rent a kayak and try to redo an excursion like the one I did today. Having to return the boat at a certain time made things too rushed, and I didn’t have much time to just relax and enjoy being out on the water. It would have been nice to have an extra hour or so. My upper body is sore and stiff from aggressive paddling, my legs and shoulders are sunburnt, and the paddle blisters on my hands are epic. I’m looking forward to a hot bath in the jaccuzi tub and some aloe vera when I get to my parents’ house in Virginia tomorrow. I am now ready to collapse from exhaustion.