A Sparkleberry Day
A Sparkleberry Day
A Carolina Paddler “Other Waters” Article
Text and Photography by Steve Doyle
∞ I’d been working six-day weeks and needed some time off. When a friend invited me to come to South Carolina for a visit, I thought maybe a paddle could be mixed in with the trip.
Glancing at a map, I determined, without much of a detour, I could cross Lake Marion about an hour and a half north of her house. The north end of the 110,000 acre expanse of Lake Marion contains 16,000 acres known as Sparkleberry Swamp.
Lake Marion was created in 1941 by the construction of the state-owned Santee Cooper dam. Although among the largest lakes in the US in terms of surface area, its average depth is barely over 13 feet (a little less than 4 meters) and, because the area was not completely cleared when the dam was built, there are large expanses of bald cypress and tupelo forest within its basin.
Camping is allowed in the swamp and there are some established campsites and a few cabins within it, but there are no maps available. The trees are thick enough to easily disorient a paddler and every source I found recommended carrying a GPS device or hiring one of the local guides.
I didn’t have much time to plan for camping within the swamp. I wasn’t sure of how hard it would be to find my way around or to locate dry ground, so I planned it out as a day trip, I reserved a campsite at Poinsett State Park for one night (you can’t beat $20 a night) and told my friend I’d arrive the following day around dark.
I live in Pennsylvania and after a long drive, I finally arrived at Poinsett State Park late and set up camp in the dark. After a quick breakfast the next morning, I opened the Earthmate1 app on my phone to study the map. My Garmin GPS had no idea where Sparkleberry Landing was so I zoomed in on the map and determined that I could find the launch from Camp Mac Boykin road. I soon found that the launch was clearly marked.
A smooth dirt road led me to a large parking lot with quite a few boat trailers already parked there. It certainly didn’t look like I would be alone on the water. I unloaded my Raven canoe and set about exploring Sparkleberry Swamp.
Directly across from the boat launch was an opening in the trees but someone was fishing there and I decided to allow him to fish in peace. I paddled along the shore figuring that I could slip through the trees further upstream.
The vegetation was thick and I couldn’t find a way through. By the time I returned to the launch the fisherman was gone and I paddled through the narrow channel. The far end of the channel was signed although not quite as one might suspect for a passage marker.
Once through the trees, there are deeper, open areas, many of which the locals have given lake names. Although inviting, I chose to wander off once more among the trees. I noted the sun’s position, kept it over my left shoulder and paddled on.
Cypress apparently spread by sprouting “knees” from their roots.2 In some places I would hit knees or stumps and get hung up briefly or risk tipping. Even so, paddling through the trees had advantages. It allowed me to get close to some of the birds, eliminated motorboat traffic and allowed me to more directly slip from one open area to another.
There were many places where trees are painted with either colored blazes or arrows. I would use discretion in following them as there’s no way to know where the trail will lead and many seemed to peter out after a bit.
The water was low during my visit and I had no trouble finding dry(ish) ground when I felt the need to go ashore. Even with a couple of feet more water, a few areas were high enough for camping.
Cabins are another option for camping, although hard to find. Reports said the cabins within the swamp are left unlocked and open for anyone to use. I was hopeful that I might find one.
Cutting through the trees paid off and I soon noticed what appeared to be a tiny house nestled among the trees. Upon inspection, I found it surrounded by extensive docks and wired for electricity (generator not included.) The amenities featured a full kitchen, an air conditioner and a sleeping area accommodating at least four people.
It was, indeed, unlocked and there seemed to be no issues in spending the night there. Well, at least no issues as far as the house builders were concerned. Sumter County, South Carolina officials seem to take a dimmer view of the cabin’s existence within the swamp. A notice stapled to the wall ordered the cabin’s removal citing the Public Water Nuisance Abatement Act.
Personally, I found the cabin to be more of a convenience than a nuisance but it’s easy to see how such activity could get out of hand. All the same, I wouldn’t hesitate to avail myself of the accommodations if it’s still there and unlocked on a future trip. I’d certainly feel safer in the swamp cabin than laying on the bank with alligators and feral hogs as neighbors.
I was hoping to see an alligator but, like the moose and bears on my first trip North, they eluded me. The only wildlife I saw were birds and turtles.
I continued paddling through open areas and flooded forest while catching glimpses of large white birds that appeared similar to herons.
They seemed particularly camera-shy and I struggled to get clear pictures. Later, I learned this bird was a white ibis.
The shade of the trees was welcome even though I wasn’t working hard to propel the canoe. The day was extremely pleasant as I paddled through the flooded forest.
I turned toward the south and the forest started to open up more with masses of floating flowers and Spanish moss hanging from the trees.
I found several pipes or rods sticking out of the water in one creek. They were solidly anchored. Later, I learned they were driven into stumps during low water as markers.
The tops of the stakes were sharp and I would hate to scrape over one of these in high water. Maybe it never gets that high.
I soon saw my first human, an older guy about my age, fishing from a motorized kayak. He said he launched from the same landing. I watched him catch and release some shrubbery and decided to start back.
On my way back I had luck with another camera-shy white bird.
I learned it was an Egret and wondered if I took another photo of the same bird, would that be a Regret? It was getting later in the day.
Close to the launch I noticed a gauge nailed onto a cypress. If anyone is curious, it almost directly of from the canoe launch.
I’m not sure what the graduations on the scale are. They certainly are not inches and feet.
I beached the canoe and decided a more thorough tour of the swamp would be needed in the future.
After loading up, I met two young men packing their boat. They were headed out to bait hogs and deer. I asked about the cabins and they said the swamp had a half dozen cabins, all left unlocked. They were surprised I hadn’t seen a gator. Maybe the “cold snap” had sent them to the bottom. I said, “Cold Snap? It’s 75º F for goodness sakes. It didn’t feel cold to me.”
The more talkative one showed me a photo of a 13-foot gator a buddy caught in the swamp a couple of weeks earlier. The photo convinced me staying in the cabins was preferable to a tent.
The fellow said Riser Lake had a couple of established camp sites. He wasn’t as forthcoming about the cabin locations. The swamp warrants further exploration and I look forward to a return visit.
Since the trip, I’ve talked to several people about Sparkleberry and potential campsites within it. Ed Laney, an enforcement officer with the SC Department of Natural Resources, told me about the two sites on Riser’s Lake and also about suitable campsites on high ground on Deadwater Creek and Broadwater Creek. He assured me the feral hogs weren’t much of a concern. Hunting pressure makes the hogs give humans a wide berth.
Jane Powell of Santee Cooper Country was very informative about the lake and swamp. She says the best time to visit is in early November when the needles of the Bald Cypress turn golden, like the tamarack trees up North. Bald Cypress are deciduous… Who knew?
Thanks also to Alton Chewning of the Carolina Canoe Club. He provided me with information on the swamp and a map from the guidebook, Canoe Kayak South Carolina by Paul Ferguson. The map shows the location of Riser’s Lake (shown as Old Riser’s River) and Broadwater Creek.
You can probably identify the area using Google Earth or any good map but I recommend buying the Ferguson guidebook if you can find it. Paul’s two books, Paddling Eastern North Carolina and Canoe Kayak South Carolina are out of print but Alton is working with Paul to update the books for publication by UNC Press. See more information below.
I paddled a Raven3 design wooden canoe on this trip, a canoe I made from Tamarack and Sassafras. See more below.
For a full trip report version of this article and Steve’s other trips in the US and Canada, please see Steve’s website, fewerfootprints.com
Notes:
1 Earthmate app: Earthmate is a phone app that links my Garmin inReach to my smartphone. I’ve downloaded maps to the app and synched information from both so that I can see my actual location on the map and can send & receive text messages through the inReach when I’m off-grid. I didn’t need this feature in Sparkleberry Swamp because, as much as I noticed, cell service is present through most of the area.
The inReach will show my location in real time to anyone with the access link and the inReach works anywhere in the world.
Geographically specific maps must be downloaded to the Earthmate. Even without these it will work for communication.
In the swamp, I used the app to monitor my location and to navigate to a waypoint I’d placed on the map from my laptop. The waypoint was an experiment to see if I could find a specific land feature that I’d noticed on Google Earth. The combination of GPS and Earthmate worked flawlessly.
I also use the inReach to map my route and display the track. On multi-day trips, I post progress tracks at the end of each day but, on day trips, I just take a screenshot of the finished route.
2 Bald Cypress -For a discussion on the purpose of Cypress knees see this Carolina Preserves article.
3Raven design The Raven is a John Winters design. I bought the plans through Green Valley Boat works but the rights to all of John’s designs have been sold to Noah’s Marine. Green Valley sent paper plans but I think Noah’s offers them in either hardcopy or digital. Each set of plans authorizes the buyer to produce one hull for personal use. Reproduction for sale requires additional royalties.
I built my Raven from Tamarack (aka Eastern Larch) & Sassafras (instead of the traditional Cedar) and it weighs 50.3 lbs (not bad for a canoe 16 feet long and 34 inches wide with loads of carrying capacity).
New paddling guidebooks
(According to Alton Chewning)
Our new guidebooks will be an updated version of Paul Ferguson’s well-respected books, Paddling Eastern North Carolina and Canoe Kayak South Carolina. The new guides will be published by UNC Press as part of their Southern Gateway series.
(in August 2026) Paddling the Carolinas – Exploring the Northern Basins By Paul Ferguson and Alton Chewning -The first book covers the six northern basins, mostly located in NC: Chowan, Pasquotank, Tar-Pamlico, Roanoke, Neuse and White Oak.
(in Spring 2027) Paddling the Carolinas – Discovering the Southern Basins By Paul Ferguson and Alton Chewning -This second book covers the Neuse basin and the Yadkin-Pee Dee basin, including the South Carolina rivers in the Great Pee Dee watershed.