Edisto River in South Carolina

Trip Overview

We started at the Boat Ramp, near Canady's Crossroads. This is across the river from Collecton State Park. We had a campsite in Givhans Ferry State Park and the plan was to paddle the from the boat ramp down to the state park. We did not have a GPS, but had a few landmarks to guide our trip.

The first bridge that crosses the river is about a third of the way into the trip. We made the bridge in just under 3 hours. Info we had found online said this was a 7 to 9 hour trip. There were four in the group, all experienced paddlers. We made it in 8 hours, just paddling at a steady pace with three breaks. The river was low. Water level at the Givhans Ferry gauge was 1.1 ft.
waterdata.usgs.gov/sc/nwis/uv?site_no=02175000

I would not recommend paddling anything under 1 foot. River is very interesting, in that it will be narrow then wide, then narrow again. Seems to change around every few bends. This was not my first Edisto River trip and changes in water level definitely changes the river. There are some homes along the river, but they tend to be in groups. Especially as you near Givhans Ferry State Park

On warm Days you will have people that float the lower end of this section of the river. Givhans Ferry is open to day use and has parking just for river floaters. All are nice, but it gets a little crowded the last few miles

Camping at the state park allows you to have camp already set up and all you have to do is go pick up the shuttle vehicles. I did not have concerns about leaving a truck at the ramp all day, but dont have experience with leaving a car or truck overnight.

This is not really a trip for new paddlers, because of the distance. If the water is low, the skill level required is moderate at best. High water can make for fast current in the narrow areas.

The next day we paddled from Givhans Ferry down to Long cane Landing. Basically an easy half day trip. Since it was Labor Day weekend, we had lots of floaters on the river

A really pretty trip. It can be run as a day trip. Columbia, SC is about 1.5 hours from Givhans Ferry Park. Additional information can be found online by searching Edisto River Kayak trail.

Accommodations:

Givhans Ferry State Park, Collecton State Park

Outfitting:

Kayaks: Dagger and Perception

Fees:

no fee at Boat ramp.
Day parking at Givhans Ferry is $5

Resources:

http://www.edistofriends.org/edisto_access.htm