Three parks were part of 2021 settlement over failed expansion of V.C. Summer
By Skylar Laird
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — Four new state parks could open in 2025, if the state parks department receives the $18 million it has requested from the state Legislature.
The planned parks would join 48 the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism already operates, only two of which have opened in the past two decades. But the agency needs $18 million to pull off the work needed to make the properties public, according to its budget request for 2025-26.
The most recent state park to open was May Forest, a former convent on James Island that became public in October 2023. Before that, the state hadn’t made a new park public since H. Cooper Black Jr. Memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area joined the list in 2006.
The failed V.C. Summer nuclear power plant is one reason for the sudden boom in parks.
After Dominion Energy bought out SCANA in 2019, it agreed to donate four properties to the state that had once served as retreats for utility workers and their families. That 2021 settlement with the state Department of Revenue offset about one-third of the $165 million the utility owed in unpaid taxes, which would have been forgiven if the nuclear plant expansion had been completed.
One, Bundrick Island on Lexington County’s Lake Murray, went to the Department of Natural Resources to manage.
The other three — Pine Island in Lexington County, Ramsey Grove in Georgetown County and Misty Lake in Aiken County — account for three of the four state parks that could open this year, according to the state parks department.
The agency also hopes to open properties it has acquired along the Black River in Georgetown and Williamsburg counties while continuing to expand along the riverfront.
The $18 million price tag to open the parks would fund repairs and renovations to existing buildings on the properties, as well as construction of campsites, cabins, boat ramps, visitors’ centers, trails and other amenities, according to the request.
Some of those projects are underway, with the help of $10 million over the past two years spent on park development. Without the extra money, however, the department might have to push back opening dates, some of which have already been delayed, according to the request.
“These projects, once completed, will create new state park experiences that will generate additional revenue for the State Parks Service and provide direct economic benefit to the parks’ surrounding business communities,” the request reads.
The department does not have firm opening dates yet for the new parks, since the money needed to complete the projects is still pending.
Misty Lake
When the parks department received Misty Lake from Dominion in 2022, the plan was to open a day-use park for hiking, fishing and picnicking, which rangers from nearby parks would oversee.
After beginning to plan, though, officials decided they wanted to add overnight camping to the 192-acre property. While camping can drive extra revenue to a state park, it also requires extra planning. In addition to needing campsites, parks with people staying the night need a ranger to live on the property to take care of issues that arise outside of normal operating hours, department spokeswoman Sam Queen said.
Because of that, along with some administrative holdups, the department pushed the opening back from 2024 to 2025.
The agency has started the process of building offices, buildings and a shop at Misty Lake. In the meantime, work has begun to repair the onsite 6,200-square-foot clubhouse, which utility employees once used for retreats.
Once construction dates are finalized, the department can set an opening date, Queen said.
Pine Island
Originally slated to open in 2023, the 27-acre Pine Island had its opening date pushed back after a traffic study took longer than anticipated. Neighbors near the island, located on Lexington County’s Lake Murray, had raised concerns about increases in noise and traffic if people started visiting.
Officials pushed forward, telling residents they would work with local law enforcement to control traffic, The Post and Courier reported at the time.
Then, in April, a fire at the park manager’s residence building halted progress again. Much of the work that needed to be done, including renovating the house already on the property, required a park manager on the property for oversight. Without anywhere to live, that was no longer possible, Queen said.
Damage from Hurricane Helene, which hit the state as a tropical storm in September, knocked trees and limbs onto picnic shelters and across the island, adding cleanup time and pushing the date back again to 2025.
Fire remediation and construction are almost complete, and the department is hoping to hire a manager soon to live on the property, Queen said. Once a manager is hired and moved in, the department can set an opening date, she said.
Ramsey Grove
Some hikers have already had a chance to visit the 2,600-acre Ramsey Grove. Park rangers hosted several special hikes on the property during 2024 as a preview of what to expect from the Georgetown County property, another former retreat for utility staff.
Work to complete the park is still underway. Park employees are improving the road leading into the park and upgrading the water system, Queen said. The department also plans to build more trails and repair the clubhouse on site, including removing lead paint, she said.
That work could potentially cost about $10 million, according to a plan the department submitted to the state. Once the agency has a better timeline for when work will be funded and completed, it can set an opening date, Queen said.
Black River
Parts of the Black River park, a patchwork of properties that line the river, are already accessible. The parks department plans to add at least some of its own 3,600 acres to that list this year, Queen said.
Officials have been adding bathrooms, trails and boat launches onto its land, preparing the properties for people to use, officials said previously.
While parts of the park could open this year, the work isn’t done. The department plans to continue expanding until there’s enough public property along the riverfront that a kayaker could start a day trip from any given boat ramp, according to the department’s website.
Future parks
The parks department is planning for two more state parks to join the slate in coming years.
Dearborn Island in Chester County has a tentative opening date of 2027. Before the agency can open up access, Duke Energy, which is leasing the land to the state, must build a pedestrian bridge so that visitors can access the river island from nearby Great Falls.
Also on the docket in the coming years is a new 600-acre park in Lancaster County focused on the Catawba Nation’s culture and history. Nonprofit Open Space Institute bought the land in 2023 with plans to transfer it to the state this year, Queen said.
Department officials plan to return to the Legislature next year with a specific request to fund the park’s opening, according to this year’s budget request.
Skylar Laird covers the South Carolina Legislature and criminal justice issues. Originally from Missouri, she previously worked for The Post and Courier’s Columbia bureau. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
