Your State Forests
The State of South Carolina owns three forests that are managed by the South Carolina Forestry Commission for multiple uses. Operations on the forests are primarily supported by revenues generated from the forest, with a small percentage supported by tax money. Every year twenty-five percent of the income from each forest goes to the local school district.
South Carolina Has Many Forests
The state forests are not the only publicly owned woodlands in South Carolina. There are two national forests, administered by the USDA Forest Service Sumter National Forest, in upstate South Carolina, and Francis Marion National Forest near Charleston. The State Parks system includes many forested areas throughout the state, and the Department of Natural Resources' Heritage Trust has purchased several tracts of valuable woodland property such as Jocassee Gorges in the mountains of Pickens and Oconee counties.
Why State Forests?
It may come as a surprise, given the number of publicly owned forests, to learn that the vast majority of forestland in South Carolina (72%) is still owned by private citizens. The Forestry Commission works with these private woodland owners to protect and enhance their forestlands. Manchester and Sand Hills State Forests were originally developed to help the Forestry Commission demonstrate good forest management practices. The smaller, more urban Harbison was developed as an educational forest. All three now support heavy recreational use.
HARBISON
Location: Harbison State Forest is nine miles NNW of the city of Columbia on US 176 (Broad River Road).Description: Bounded along its northeastern edge by the Broad River, the 2,176 acre Harbison State Forest is one of the largest public greenspaces inside a city limits in the eastern United States.
History: Harbison State Forest lies near an ancient fording location on the Broad River used by Catawba and Cherokee tribes before the arrival of German settlers. In 1951 the Forestry Commission purchased the land from the Board of National Missions for the Freedmen of the Presbyterian Church. The Church stipulated that the land be named "Harbison" after a major benefactor.
Recreation: The primary emphasis of the forest is natural resource education. Trails and recreational areas feature outdoor exhibits and demonstrations of forestry practices. Harbison staff lead nature hikes and conduct classes for school groups. Because the forest is located in a highly populated, urban area it does not support hunting, horseback riding or off-road vehicles. Hiking and mountain bicycling trails crisscross the forest and a canoe landing gives access to the Broad River. There is a gazebo and large covered shelter available for groups. The forest headquarters doubles as a conference facility.
Phone: (803) 896-8890
MANCHESTER
Location: Between Wedgefield and Pinewood in Sumter County, take US 378 out of Columbia, turn right on Highway 261.
Description: Manchester State Forest is over 25,000 acres of ridges, sand hills, hardwood bottoms, bays, and swampland on the fall line between SC's piedmont and coastal plain. Its oak-pine forests feature a plant mix unique in South Carolina pockets of flowering mountain laurel mingle with longleaf pine, dogwood and red cedar draped in Spanish moss.
History: The erstwhile town of Manchester was an active trading center in the early 1800s. To escape summer swarms of malaria-bearing mosquitoes, wealthy planters built homes on the ridges above the Wateree swamp. Manchester State Forest is located on the lands of three of these former estates. Bellefield, built in 1890, was the home of SC Governor Richard Manning during World War I. Today it is the home of the forest director.
The federal government obtained the land during the Depression, transferring ownership to the state in 1955.
Recreation: Four ponds are available for year-round fishing only electric motors are allowed. Hunting is subject to WMA rules. Special trails have been designed for mountain biking, horseback riding, and motorcycles or OHVs. A public rifle and pistol range is open at posted times. The Palmetto Trail runs through Manchester along a railroad bed that pre-dates the Civil War, and there are numerous historic sites including Singleton Cemetery and the Milford plantation house.
Phone: (803) 494-8196
SAND HILLS
Location: Between McBee and Cheraw in Chesterfield County, US Route 1 takes you directly to the forest headquarters.
Description: At 46,000 acres Sand Hills is South Carolina's largest state forest. Its name describes its landscape deep, dry sand and rolling terrain left behind by a prehistoric sea.
History: During the Great Depression the federal government purchased the infertile, eroding land from struggling local farmers as a relief measure. The Forestry Commission took over its management, planting trees and protecting the land from wildfire. Sand Hills State Forest today is an ecologically rich environment. The native longleaf pine and wiregrass forest has been restored and is home to endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers and other unique plants and animals.
Recreation:Sand Hills has trails designed for hiking, bicycling, and horseback riding. The forest is a Wildlife Management Area (WMA) subject to hunting regulations established by DNR. Sugarloaf Mountain, a unique geological formation, is a popular site for family recreation with picnic shelters, nature and horse trails and a fishing lake. There are 14 stocked ponds available for fishing throughout the forest only electric motors are allowed.
The H. Cooper Black memorial Field Trial and Recreation Area can be reserved for field trials, dog training, and organized horseback riding events, family camping and day riding. Campsites, clubhouse, kitchen, corrals, horse arena and horse stalls are available.
Phone: (843) 498-6478
Permits and Reservations
The state forests require that you buy a permit to use bicycle, horse and OHV trails. Permits can be purchased at any state forest headquarters and adjacent SC state parks (Sesquicentennial State Park for Harbison; Cheraw for Sand Hills; Poinsett for Manchester). Individual permits can be used on any state forest.
Effective July 1, 2000 an annual permit costs $25; daily permits are $5.
Family Permits valid on Harbison State Forest ONLY.
Call state forest headquarters to schedule groups and to reserve or rent facilities.
