Explore Santee SC
Come experience all of Santee’s Happenings!
Santee, SC is not only recognized for the ultimate Golf and Fishing experiences, but also for its diverse outdoor recreation that will quench the thirst of any outdoor enthusiast during a stay at our Clark’s Inn & Restaurant
Santee is the ideal place for friends, family, and fun and is noted for its natural beauty and wildlife!
There is so much to see and experience in Santee Cooper Country! Here is a list of some of the Most Popular attractions!
Santee State Park
Located in South Carolina’s well-known Santee Cooper Country, Santee State Park sits along Lake Marion has been attracting families for years.
Amenities and activities found in the park include the Village Round, a community meeting building with a large, screened-in grilling facility, biking and hiking trails and pontoon boat tours of the flooded cypress forest on Lake Marion. South Carolina natives and out-of-towners alike can find something fun to do in Santee State Park-camping, fishing, boating and a whole lot more. Start planning your trip now!
Santee Wildlife Refuge
The Santee National Wildlife Refuge is a total of 15,000 acres spanning three counties in South Carolina. The refuge has over 39 miles shoreline along Lake Marion, the largest lake in the State. It is the primary inland wintering area for migratory ducks and geese, as well as a nesting and stopover area for many migratory song birds, raptors, marsh birds, and wetland wildlife. The refuge manages four separate units, which include large migratory bird sanctuaries.
Santee Wildlife Refuge is well known for its diversity of bird life and abundant public opportunities to enjoy wildlife observation, education, interpretation, photography, hunting and fishing. The four units of the Refuge offers a Visitors Center, a 7.5-mile wildlife drive, a canoe trail through a proposed wilderness area, observation towers, miles of hiking/biking trails, elevated boardwalks, towers and some of the best bird watching in America. The Santee Christmas Bird Count is touted as one of the best, if not the best, inland CBC east of the Mississippi and north of Florida.
Withstanding the test of time, the refuge harbors an Indian Mound, built over 1,000 years ago by the native Santee tribe. During the Revolutionary War, it was transformed into Fort Watson, a British battlement overtaken by the “Patriot”, General Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion, in one of the most pivotal victories of the American struggle for independence.
Beidler Forest Audubon Center & Sanctuary
Frequented by photographers and nature lovers from all over the world, our 18,000-acre bird and wildlife sanctuary offers a beauty unsurpassed in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Beidler’s Forest is the world’s largest virgin cypress-tupelo swamp forest -a pristine ecosystem untouched for millennia. Home to 44 species of mammals, 140 species of birds, 39 species of fish, 50 species of reptiles, 40 species of amphibian and various creatures.
Enjoy thousand-year-old trees, a range of wildlife, and the quiet flow of blackwater, all from the safety of our 1.75-mile boardwalk. Feel the beauty and serenity of this ancient forest.
Town of Elloree
The charming town of Elloree sits on the west bank of Lake Marion convenient to Interstate 95 and Interstate 26. Incorporated in 1886, it became a center of commerce and railroad shipping for farmers in eastern Orangeburg County. The historic district includes antique shops, gift boutiques, an art gallery, arts and crafts, quaint restaurants and the Elloree Heritage Museum & Cultural Center. The town hosts numerous events, including the March Elloree Trials, April Pork Fest, October Arts and Antiques Festival, November Festival of Lights, and the December Small Town Christmas.
Elloree Heritage Museum
The Elloree Heritage Museum & Cultural Center is an exciting and educational view of South Carolina’s rural past! The museum portrays rural life when the Town of Elloree was founded by William J. Snider. Visitors to Elloree Heritage Museum can tour Cleveland Street as it appeared in 1900 with recreated stores, banks, and hotels. Explore a plantation cotton gin, learn how cotton is grown, picked, and ginned today. Learn why our town is named Elloree, the Native American word for “The Home I Love.”
Old Santee Canal State Park
Old Santee Canal is a 195-acre park located on the site of the first true canal in America construction began in 1793 and was completed in 1800. The park, on the historic Stony Landing Plantation, has been an important site for trade and transportation since colonial times. The park's centerpiece is its Interpretive Center that chronicles the area's history as far back as 4000 B.C., including the 1863 construction of the Little David, a semi-submersible Confederate torpedo boat used in the Civil War. The Berkeley County Museum and Heritage Center is also located within the park's gates.