Mistletoe State Park, Appling, Georgia

“Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Joe and I wanted to take a break and get out of the house to get some exercise and decided to take a nice hike. We hadn’t been able to get out much during this COVID 19 pandemic and wanted to get out, social distance, and get some fresh air and sunshine. We decided to head to Mistletoe State Park since we hadn’t been there for about three years. It is a beautiful park but with Columbia County being as large as it is, it takes us just over 30 minutes to get there and is about 30 miles from our home to the other side of our county. The drive to the park is gorgeous as you drive through the country seeing Columbia County’s farms and remote estates. We live in a gorgeous county.

Mistletoe State Park is a 1,920 acre park located on the 71,100 acre Clark's Hill Lake also known as Lake Strom Thurmond. The area where this park is situated is well known as being one of the finest fishing spots in the nation. There are many varieties of fish in this lake but most people fish for Largemouth Bass and Striped Bass. This place is a fisherman's delight and the park makes it easy to launch a boat since there are three nice boat ramps.

When you enter the park, you pay a $5 parking fee for the day. When we went this past weekend, they had envelopes on the visitors booth and outside the Visitors Center to put your money in then deposit it in the lock box. They do take checks as well as cash. That worked out well since there was no one at the visitors center on duty because of COVID 19. We paid our fee and put the parking pass on our rear view and drove in. We parked near the Visitors Center to hike one of the many trails. You can pick up a map before you head out for your adventure.

The park boast of 15.5 miles of trails with some that are nice and easy, while others present quite a challenge. When our eldest son, Jason was training to walk the Appalachian Trail, he used to drive out to this park with his backpack to practice before his trip. Near the Visitors Center is a nice trail that is paved with recycled tires. Just off that trail, is an observation area where you can see what appears to be a canyon which has been there for years. This canyon, of sorts, occurred from erosive farming practices. Some of the trails are not marked as well as we would have liked but they were clear and clean. There is an amphitheater there where they do nature talks.  Walking under the array of tall pines and mix of hardwood trees made for a lovely day. The birds happily flitted from tree to tree in the woods and the squirrels seemed to be well fed and happy.

After our walk, we drove down to see the beach and let our dog, Teddy go for a swim. When we walked past the beach, we saw a couple of children playing in the water which I’m sure was quite chilly but they didn’t seem to notice. There were many picnic tables just off the beach in a wooded area.  What a lovely place to have a picnic and look at the lake. There are also five covered picnic shelters that can be rented. It was a beautiful day and the sun felt amazing. Just up the hill from the beach is the beach house which offers classes throughout the year such as wreath making.  There is a volley ball court between the beach and the beach house. There was also a nice playground that was roped off so no one could use it during this time.

This state park seems to have it all. There are 93 tent, trailer, and RV campers, many right on the water, one fisherman’s cabin with bunk beds and a private dock, a tent cabin, four walk in campsites, and one pioneer campground. All the campsite are well spaced and most are shaded and located on a peninsula that offers great views of sunrise and sunset over the lake. Each campsite has a table, grill, and a fire ring. There are also 10 fully equipped cottages that you can rent and five of them are log cabins.

This park also offers good biking opportunities as well as a place where you can rent a canoe or kayak while you are staying here. Through out the year they offer many events such as nature walks, astronomy, Halloween events, moon walks, and Christmas events. This is a lovely family/pet friendly park that is worth your visit.

We had a lovely day and plan on coming back again to do more hiking. You have to check this place out. It is stunning.

Take care of yourselves. Till next time. Bye for now.