Canoe park work to begin soon; $1.5M development to offer camping in Orangeburg area

Construction will begin soon on Lake Edisto Road for a new canoe park and campsite.

“It’s out for bid now, and it’s going to be done. As soon as the bid is open, they’re going to start construction. That’ll be on Lake Edisto Road,” Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young said.

“It’ll be a canoe park. There will be a place for camping, a boardwalk to the river for access, and there will be a building to have stuff in, and also there will be a small building for a (S.C. Department of Natural Resources) officer. It’ll kind of be like a playground and a camping area, and there will be a kayak launch,” Young said.

Young said the project is estimated to cost $1.5 million.

It will be a tourist attraction, he said.

“We’ve got a large group of people throughout the Lower Savannah region and the Orangeburg County region that do canoeing on the Edisto River, and this just gives them another place to access and have a destination point so they can canoe safely from Lake Edisto Road down to the Gardens, and back and forth,” Young said.

“It’s something that can be done even in the COVID-19 environment, it can be socially distanced and used for recreation, but it’s also a way to get individuals to come to visit Orangeburg County and use the amenities of the lakes and the rivers as a way to have fun,” Young said.

He noted the park and campsite will be located near the City of Orangeburg’s new North Road recreational park complex. The city’s complex has two clusters of baseball and softball fields, restrooms, walking and biking trails, picnic tables, playground equipment and open green space.

“When we have travel ball and teams that are looking for stuff to do in the downtime, that will be another location you can have to do stuff like that,” Young said.

Young stated the project is scheduled to be completed by the first part of 2021.