Dog-friendly Adventure in the State Parks: Oconee State Park

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Oconee State Park in South Carolina has reasonably priced dog-friendly cabins with options for folks who want to bring their pets. But the biggest selling point of this park is the location. It’s a perfect jumping-off point for outdoor recreation in the mountains of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. This is the first post in a series about dog-friendly State Parks.

Finding Your Dog-Friendly Cabin

The great part about booking a cabin at a South Carolina State Park is how easy they make it to search for dog-friendly options.  This can be hidden a bit more in other state systems, but South Carolina must see/appreciate the demand from pet owners wanting to bring along the pets. And I appreciate them for making this process so easy.

First, cabins and villas can be found from the main state park page with a few clicks to their reservation system, or just go here to see a bit of preliminary information about options.  Once you’re on the reservations page, you can click “lodging” on the left, select “Cabins/Villas” and then an option to further select “pet-friendly” appears.  Click that if you want to bring your pets along (I assume that’s why you’re here).

Now suddenly your SC State Park options are reduced to only those options with Pet-Friendly Cabins!  Sure, there are only five, but that’s better than none, and there are some good locations here. And frankly, this presentation is much easier to navigate than most:

If you’re interested in Camper Cabins, some of those at Lake Hartwell are also pet-friendly.  Campgrounds are also likely to be pet-friendly but you’d need to verify rules for those sites. Alas, I don’t look at those because my dogs and densely-packed campgrounds would not equal a relaxing getaway.

High Season Booking Rules

Some parks will have minimum stay requirements or special rules during the high season or holidays.

If you see 2-3 days of availability but the system isn’t letting you reserve a cabin, there’s probably a minimum stay requirement preventing your reservation. But all hope is not lost. The best thing to do is call that specific park directly and ask if they will reserve the room for you.

I did this at Oconee, and they were happy to book me for 3 nights even though the minimum requirement in July is 4 nights. Hate the phone? Yeah, me too, I get it. But this is one time when you should definitely make a call; only the individual state park can accommodate these exceptions.

Oconee State Park

Oconee State Park is one of South Carolina’s State Parks in the mountain region. It’s not a huge park, but there is a campground, a small lake with swimming areas for people and pets (the pets are separate), a few trails, and a park office.

The cabins were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the old barracks are still used by Park staff. There’s even a statue in front of the office, as an homage to the CCC who developed so many of the amazing Park infrastructure and trail systems throughout the U.S.

The great thing about Oconee is its location. The park is in the mountains of South Carolina, but it’s also less than an hour from either northern Georgia or western North Carolina. It’s a smaller property, but it’s hard to beat the access it provides to little mountain communities and additional recreation areas, which I describe in a bit more detail below (see: Side Quests).

Oconee Cabins

There are three cabin areas at Oconee.  One group of cabins is set further to the southeast and feels a bit more remote, as it is further from the busier lake and the park office. Cabins 1-6 are on the north side of the lake and have adorable log-cabin exteriors that just scream CCC.

The pet-friendly cabins are Cabins 14-20 and are near the lake (many have direct views/access).  They all look pretty similar, although cabins at the park might offer 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom options. The cabins are fully furnished, have a full kitchen, and include a shower-only bath. The interior feels very rustic, but they also include wifi and have a smart TV.

There are many other awesome features of Oconee’s cabins.  The entire front of the cabin shown is a screened deck. The July heat was abysmal but the deck stayed pleasantly cool all morning. The wooded setting was perfect for a morning lakeside walk with the dogs. And until the lake was open for swimming, the park remained quiet even on a holiday (Independence Day) weekend.

If keeping a budget in mind, this cabin ran us just over $600 for 3 nights. That being said, the pet fee is very reasonable here (whether you’re comparison is a pet boarding facility or a standard hotel). And since there’s a full kitchen, you have the ability to really budget food costs rather than spending a ton at restaurants. This is not as budget-friendly as a campsite by any stretch, but it’s definitely a lot less anxiety for all of us – and for that, we are willing to pay a bit extra.  Note: Our stay was over a holiday weekend.  Weekdays are more affordable, as are stays outside of the summer. 

Another dog-friendly benefit of Oconee?  Fireworks are not allowed.  Of course, you can’t force the thunderstorms to stay away, but at least one source of anxiety is abated for noise-sensitive dogs. On Independence Day weekend this was a huge, if unexpected, win for our pups.

And a family-friendly note, too:  Our two-bedroom cabin could actually sleep up to six! Each bedroom only had one double bed, but there was actually a loft. It’s accessed via a ladder, and it has two twin beds. This might not be a dog-friendly feature, but I’m guessing most kids would love this space.

Dog-Friendly Side Quests!

So where did we spend our time when staying at Oconee State Park?  Well, mostly North Carolina!

Stumphouse Tunnel (SC)

The Stumphouse Tunnel is a neat stop, just 6 miles south of Oconee State Park. The tunnel was started prior to the Civil War but was never completed. About a quarter mile of the tunnel is accessible to people (and this is also dog-friendly).

It’s dark and damp, and the ground is a little uneven… but it’s neat to experience, and the temperature is cool inside even when the rest of the Southeast is miserably hot and humid.

There’s a $5 fee (per vehicle) to access the Stumphouse Tunnel.  There are a few other little hikes and a view of waterfalls, as well.

Panthertown Valley (NC)

A part of the Nantahala National Forest near Cashiers, NC, the Panthertown Valley provides tons of outdoor recreation opportunities.

Our route took us down to Frolictown Falls, up Little Green Mountain, and back around to Panthertown Valley Trail to exit, which was about 6 miles in total. We saw a number of waterfalls, took in some nice mountain views, and ate a few blueberries along the way.  And our dogs swam like they might never see a stream again (don’t tell Aussies they’re not water dogs, they won’t believe you).

Despite being here on a Saturday over the Independence Day weekend, the crowds were not too bad.  There are tons of falls and swimming holes, which were certainly the most popular spots for people to gather.  Even so, the actual trail experience was generally quiet and pleasant*.

The Panthertown Valley has a few access roads. We made it to the Salt Rock Gap trailhead easily without AWD, although it’s a slow approach at the end. There’s no day use fee.  Volunteers were greeting visitors in the morning and were able to answer questions about trails.

We also picked up a map of the area, which is recommended instead of reliance on AllTrails. The recommended map can be purchased in Cashiers, NC at the Highland Hiker.

*Note for Reactive Dogs: There’s not a firm leash law here – dogs should always be under control of their owner, but this may be vocal command if the dog is well-trained. We only ran into a couple dogs that were unleashed, but most folks were very quick to bring their dogs to heel (or leash them) once we indicated our need to maintain space.

Gorges State Park (NC)

A small State Park in North Carolina, Gorges has a remarkably large visitor center that probably speaks to how busy the place can be on a bad day.  However, we drove down to the main parking lot and found plenty of space, so we headed down the main trail to the star attraction here: Rainbow Falls.

The waterfalls here are pretty, but if you have dogs that love to swim, they might be disappointed.  It’s terribly difficult to find easily accessible swimming holes for the pups due to all the boulders. That’s true of the entire trail – you’re near water most of the time, but rarely can you access it easily for a leashed swim. If you dogs are good on a leash and not reactive*, this will be a great stroll.

Gorges State Park is near Sapphire, NC and access to the park is free.

*Note for Reactive Dogs: Our experience was that this trail could be a bit narrow approaching the falls, with quite a bit of foot traffic later in the day. This is a popular trail for leashed dogs, so be prepared to see many other dogs along the way. Given our particular dog parameters (i.e., excitement reactivity for one; excited leash pulling from both), this hike was a bit more stressful than anticipated.

Final Note

We really enjoyed our stay at Oconee State Park.  The cabin was quiet, comfortable, and provided all the amenities we needed.

Plus, Panthertown Valley is a great hiking area and would warrant a return visit on its own.

We’d be happy to go back or check out other cabin options in South Carolina State Parks. I’m hoping to check out Devil’s Fork sometime soon, as many folks from South Carolina recommend it first as a pet-friendly option (with nicely updated cabins).