Interested in hearing other people’s impressions of the area. lake Murray is huge! Might have an opportunity there and wanted to know from people how the city is etc.
paul
It is within two hours of just about any
kind of water you would want to paddle; lazy rivers, swift rivers, whitewater, ocean, lots of lakes.
The city itself is big enough to offer almost everything, but not so big as to have a lot of the bigger city problems. One hour to Charlotte, three hours to Atlanta, two hours to the beach, two hours to the mountains.
Lakes of interest: Murray, Wateree, Jocasse, Marion, Moultrie. Rivers of interest: Saluda, Catawba, Broad, Congaree, Edisto, Lynches, Black, Great Pee Dee, Little Pee Dee, Pocataligo, Enoree, Tyger. Other water: Stevens Creek, Lawson’s Fork Creek, Sparkleberry Swamp, Cedar Creek and Congaree National Swamp.
Several colleges. Temerate climate (although very, very hot and humid from July until September).
Most of the rivers have very little development along them. Great camping.
I live about fifty miles east of Columbia.
Sweet tea year round. Lots of barbeque. Come on over.
yes it seems nice
Looks like it is just big enough to provide some amenities but still small enough to enjoy a quieter lifestyle?
Paul
It is a relatively large area with a
small population (
L
– Last Updated: Aug-07-06 10:18 AM EST –
Small? what’s the def of small? It’s a pretty big city, sprawled out all over the place. But as a paddling jumping off point its not bad. My Wife works in Columbia but commutes from Wedgefield. Its about 40 miles from Columbia. Now Wedgefield IS small...
Info from a South Florida Transplant
I grew up in Miami and went back and worked there after college. Now that I live here in SC, I would never move back. The paddling options here are great though Murray would not be my first choice. The variety of paddling here in SC is much better than Miami IMHO. As far as socially, the options are obviously better down there though the cost of living here is much less. A big plus here is you would be close to the mountains. You also won’t be limited to the two seasons down there of Hot and Hotter.
Miami = Four Seasons…
Football
Baseball
Basketball
and
Hockey… 
yeah
what seatec said, I am a Florida transplnat too, from casselberry, near Orlando… The best lake in SC IMHO is lake Joccassee, althouh lake Murry is not bad, at least its a clear water lake, and the Saludia river that goes through Columbia is a fun paddle trip… and Columbia even has a bit of white water!
Columbia, SC
The places listed below are all a little drive from Columbia, but are worth the effort. I think there is a paddling group in Columbia, as well, but these are the ones I’m familiar with.
Berkley County has a very active paddling group
http://www.berkeleyblueways.com/
Lots of opportunities for paddling in the Charleston area and surrounding counties…
Low Country Paddlers in Charleston is active on rivers, creeks, ocean, etc.
http://www.lowcountrypaddlers.net/
The ACE Basin is a wonderful area to paddle, this is a federally protected area between Charleston and Beaufort.
So, there are lots of SC options, in all directions from Columbia!!!
yeah
The palmetto paddlers, they are a great group, just google them… they go all over the place and do all differnt kinds of paddeling. they dont care what you paddle, just THAT you paddle.
Columbia is HOT!
Almost too hot for humans in late summer.
yeah I had heard that
I might drive up in the next couple of weeks to see how the city is. should be the worst part of the year for heat so I will probably get a good impression of the heat.
Otherwise you all would recommend it as a good city to relocate to?
Paul
yes
I would recommend it, Its got the college town feeling to it, not as good as Clemson. However I do recommend living in the outskirts and commuting. The City doesn’t really have that much in the way of housing, and what it does, its either something you wouldn’t want, or couldn’t afford. It’s a decent town, just big enough to be cool, with some neat places like the museum. It nothing like Charlotte, Atlanta and the other mega cities. It is hot in the summer, but Columbia has 3 rivers… The Saluda, the broad and the Congeree. Although the Congeree is really just the Broad & Saluda. Paddeling is year round.
And you can paddle with people
like Swedge and I , and maybe even some normal ones.And go watch Chickin football.
Yep
I still cant get used to folks shouting “Go Cocks”
going up next weekend
Will be driving up next weekend. Might be able to get a paddle in or two. Always wanted to do a little whitewater…very basic as the shortest kayak I have been in for the last year is 15 feet…any good outfitters that give half day trips and include gear?
Paul
Why not Murray
– Last Updated: Aug-14-06 6:57 AM EST –
there have been several comments about how Lake Murray would not be a first choice. Why? It seems to be the biggest water around and from an outsiders viewpoint, the one I would most use if I lived in the area.
...Of course I go out every day for fitness as well as roll practice etc so would want something close and easy to drop a boat onto.
Would appreciate any information on Lake Murray and any pros and cons about it.
Paul
hmm
Murry is a fine lake, its only problem is that it sees allot of boat traffic. It’s a Clear water lake, un like Wateree and everything down stream from it. I think what happens is that folks get spoiled by Lake Jocccassee which is only about 2 hours from Columbia…
good
I didn’t know if it was a former nuclear waste site that they had turned into a lake or something.
Paul
registration question
South Carolina? Do you have to register human powered craft?
Paul