Woods Bay State Park — Attraction in Lake City

I recently visited Woods Bay State Park in South Carolina and had an absolutely fantastic experience, thanks in large part to the incredible service provided by Mike, one of the park's staff members. From start to finish, Mike went above and beyond to ensure that my group had a memorable and safe visit to the park.

One of the highlights of our trip was the chance to see some of the local wildlife up close, including several alligators. Mike was an amazing guide, leading us to the best spots to observe these magnificent creatures and providing us with fascinating insights into their behavior and habitat. He was incredibly knowledgeable and clearly passionate about the park and its inhabitants, making our experience all the more engaging and enjoyable.

But perhaps the most impressive thing about Mike was his dedication to safety. Woods Bay State Park is home to a number of venomous snakes, and as a group of city dwellers, we were understandably nervous about encountering them. Mike was patient, reassuring, and informative, taking the time to educate us about the various species of snakes in the park and showing us how to avoid them. Thanks to his guidance, we were able to explore the park with confidence, knowing that we were well-prepared to handle any situation that might arise.

Overall, I can't recommend Woods Bay State Park highly enough, and Mike in particular. His passion, knowledge, and commitment to safety truly made our visit one to remember. If you're looking for an unforgettable outdoor adventure in South Carolina, be sure to check out this amazing park - and...

We got to do a little jungle hike, see alligators, turtles, fish, dragonflies and much much more! We found some poison ivy to identify as well. Because my 9 year old homeschooler said "I need to see them in real life, not just pictures!" This park is in South Carolina and its FREEEE!!! I suggest if you use the road trippers app ( we use it for everything and have for years! It's our favorite app!) that you do NOT follow the GPS through that app to get to this park. It WILL take you down some shady dirt roads and you will not make it there. Search it in your google maps outside of the app. When you get there, there is not much room to get lost. It is pretty small. You follow the sign that points all directions to hiking, boardwalk and fishing. Walk a little ways and you will see the boardwalk. It is unfinished. But you walk down this board walk and you just have alligators all around you. They may be hard to spot at first. There is nothing separating you from these alligators, so show caution. We went back and took the nature trail. It was a good little hike for all of us and it had tons to see. Also they are no longer renting out kayaks for the...

Nice park. There are three trails. All of them relatively short. One is a short boardwalk that takes you through a Tupelo swamp on the way to the edge of the Carolina Bay called Woods Bay. That trail is beautiful and you get to see how dense the diverse flora is. The Nature Trail, the longest, loops you around the old mill pond, that at various points in history, supported several different mills, some at the same time. Flooding can sometimes take over the part of the trail near the Nature Center near the end of the loop. The last trail looks like old service road(s) to the park that merge halfway between the current park center. The left fork tracks you along the bay. The fairly abrupt foliage transition between the surrounding ground and the bay proper is remarkable, though capturing it in photos is difficult. Be ever on the alert for cottonmouth's and alligators. It's the perfect habitat for both and are often seen. I hear the gators like to follow you around, if...