Chattooga Sounds Campground

7/7-7/8

Daina Mike Me 3 dogs

Last minute decision to go somewhere during our 5 day Staycation. We have seen this campground in Long creek SC advertised on facebook. We decided to give it a try and do some waterfalls on Sunday. We called Daina and she was game. We picked her up in Clemson around 3:30. Long creek is about 40 minutes from her.

We have been to Long Creek many times for music and a sorority event. It’s in Oconee County and there are 30 or so waterfalls around here.

We pull in to the campground. On one side of the street is RV sites and on the other tent sites. Their tent sites have a raised shelter at them that you can camp in. We picked a site not far from the bathhouse. We didn’t have any neighbors.

Mike set his tent and chair in the shelter. I got the car emptied and ready to sleep in. This campground has park at sites, walk-in sites, group sites. Some with Shelters some without. It also has a kitchen area, band stage, ropes course, fitness trail, horse shoes and sparking clean bathrooms. They will even shuttle you to whitewater on the Chattooga River.

The campsite has a picnic table and a big fire pit.

We made a fire, cooked some hotdogs and just chilled. Just up the hill is the Chatooga Belle. It is an awesome venue that has beautiful views, a distillery, restaurant, apple, peach and grapes growing. Daina’s sorority had a parent cocktail there last year. Daina and I decided to go there and wIt for the sunset. It was closed but they allow foot traffic.

We didn’t wait for the sunset and went back to the camp. The owner came by to say hi. He said that these orange mushrooms were good to eat. They were everywhere. Of course Mike had to cook some. He put them in some butter and heated them over the fire. He said they were pretty good. He never did start tripping so I guess they were fine!

I brought a bottle of wine. I didn’t have an opener so I walked around the RV site and found a nice couple from Jacksonville who had one. We didn’t have glasses either so we drank it from plastic water bottles!

Then Daina made us s’mores.

Daina and I turned in around 10. Mike sat up at the fire. It was the longest night. Daina and i were car camping at first. I thought it would be more comfortable than a tent in the shelter. Nope. It was warm. These 3 dogs made it hard to sleep. Riley was panting super hard so I moved him to mikes tent and traded him for cooper and tucker. I tossed and turned and went in the tent then I got up early started a fire and tried to sleep in the chair.

In the morning we broke down camp and headed to Riley Moore Falls. It’s a 2 mile walk most of which is down a rough dirt road. Instead of parking at the top I drove down this road. It was a bit hairy but I made it to the bottom! From here it’s less than a mile. We got the dogs our packs and towels and headed down. This is a great swimming hole. When we got there 2 people were leaving that camped out and 2 older people were down there. For a bit we had it all to ourselves. The dogs loved it!

Riley loves the water and was swimming out there! Cooper chased the ball. They had a blast. People started showing up. I’m sure it gets pretty crowded here.

We decided to pack up and go to opossum falls which is on my challenge list. It was a 5 mile hike. Mike said he’d wait for us but that would be a couple hours so we decided to go to Chau Ram Falls. It’s was a beautiful park on the Chang’s River. There were lots of people near the Falls.

Then there are a couple loop trails that go along the river. This park had a campground, lots of secluded picnic areas. It was nice! There was a suspension bridge and a beach.

We walked the dogs along the river. It was a nice rocky river.

We started up the trail and it went up! Mike and tucker went back the other way. I didn’t realize there was so much elevation in the middle. It took Daina and me forever to get to the top! We met Mike back at the bridge.

We decided to go back to the car and take Daina back to Clemson and head home. That was a 24 hour trip. The Long Creek area is so nice! We had a great 24 hours!