Croft State Park

Introduction of Croft State Park

Croft State Natural Area, just miles outside of Spartanburg, South Carolina, offers a sylvan escape with two lovely lakes and over 7,000 acres of rich woodlands. Explore deep green forests dotted with towering oaks, pines, hickories, and tuliptrees; beneath a verdant canopy, a thick understory blushes with spring wildflowers.During the summer months, warblers, tanagers, and other seasonal visitors flit between the branches, filling the woods with birdsong. Hikers, bikers, and trail riders can enjoy an extensive and well-maintained trail network. Croft has over 20 miles of beautiful horse trails, making trail riding especially popular.

Lake Johnson and Lake Craig are two watery gems in the heart of Croft that offer plenty of paddling and fishing opportunities. Anglers can catch bream, bass, catfish, and other species in these calm lakes. If fishing isn’t your thing, try your hand at rifle, pistol, shotgun, and archery target shooting at the park’s excellent shooting range.

Croft’s campground is located near the shore of Craig Lake and has 50 RV-friendly campsites. For those travelling with their equine companions, the park has 50 horse stalls. Croft is one of South Carolina’s most popular parks, thanks to its beautiful trail network and convenient location, so visitors should take advantage of the park’s reservation system, which allows spots to be reserved up to 13 months in advance.

Croft State Park Camping

The Croft campground is divided into two loops and offers spacious, shaded spots beneath towering pines. The campground has 50 total campsites, all of which have electric hookups. There are no water or sewer hookups, but a dump station is located between the two loops. There are also potable water spigots.

Both loops have modern restrooms with showers, as well as several sheltered picnic areas and a playground. Horses can be stabled at the stalls located a few hundred feet to the south of the campground loops; there is also a dedicated horse-trailer parking area.

The park’s boathouse and one of its boat launches are located just east of Loop 2, which is almost directly on Lake Craig’s shore.

All of the RV sites at Croft can be reserved, and the reservation window is open for 13 months. Because Croft is a popular park, especially among riders, peak-season reservations are frequently required.

Croft State Park Activities

Fishing

Lake Craig and Lake Johnson, which are 150 and 40 acres, respectively, provide excellent fishing opportunities. The calm waters are teeming with fish, and the tree-lined shores provide a peaceful setting for casting. You can also go fishing from one of the park’s piers or from the water itself. The park’s waters are home to bass, catfish, bream, and crappie. Before casting, make sure you have a valid South Carolina fishing licence.

Padding

When the cicadas are chirping and the temperature is rising, lake water can have an almost magnetic pull. Paddlers can explore the calm and inviting waters of Lake Craig and Lake Johnson from Croft. Look for turtles basking on logs, egrets and herons soaring overhead, or the ideal spot on the water for casting a line. There’s a boathouse and two convenient boat launches at the park, and a concessionaire rents out kayaks and canoes for daily use, so there’s no reason not to get out on the lake!

Birding

Hundreds of bird species flock to Croft’s lush forests and waters. The park contains some of the best remaining upland and cove forests in the Piedmont region. Seasonal visitors include scarlet tanagers, summer tanagers, yellow-throated warblers, American redstarts, and black-and-white warblers, as well as barred owls, Cooper’s hawks, American woodcock, and red-headed woodpeckers. In and around the park’s two lakes, you can see herons, egrets, eagles, and a variety of waterfowl.

Hiking and Biking

Though trail riding is one of the most popular activities at Croft, hikers and bikers can also enjoy the park’s sylvan trails. Bikers will find a spectacular 16-mile network of bike-friendly trails zig-zagging beneath the tall, verdant crowns of oaks, hickories, and tuliptrees in the southern portion of Croft. Hikers can walk these trails or head to the Nature Trail, which passes through mixed pine-hardwood forests, along the banks of Fairforest Creek, and by a couple of Croft’s historical sites.

Shooting Range

Croft will also provide opportunities for marksmen and markswomen. Just outside Croft’s gates is a South Carolina DNR skeet and target range. The range has a 100-yard rifle range, a 200-yard rifle range, a 25-yard pistol range, and a few archery positions. Visitors can hone their skills at a tree-lined range in the great outdoors, under the warm South Carolina sun. The range is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays, and all visitors must bring their own equipment.

Croft State Park Location

Croft is only about ten miles from bustling Spartanburg, South Carolina, which is served by two interstates (I-85 and I-26). The park is very accessible, and depending on where you’re coming from, there are several different routes you could take to get there. Most visitors, however, will likely take SC-56 or SC-295, which provide access to the park via short spur roads. Park Road leads to the campground, Craig Lake access, and numerous trailheads, whereas Johnson Lake Road (surprisingly) leads to Johnson Lake. Drivers should face few difficulties because the access roads are paved, flat, and free of sharp turns.

Parking

Croft State Park’s campground is near the end of Croft State Park Rd. The majority of the spots are back-in, with a few larger ones being pull-through. There’s plenty of space between sites, and drivers in larger vehicles should have no trouble finding parking. A large horse trailer parking area near the stalls makes loading and unloading a breeze for those travelling with horses. There is also parking at the park’s other day use areas and trailheads.

Public Transport

Public Transport is not available