Most People Don’t Know About Tumbling Shoals, A Kayak Park Hiding In South Carolina

South Carolina has some fantastic places for kayaking, from Lake Russell in Calhoun Falls State Park to the Little River Blueway in western South Carolina to kayaking through marsh mazes in North Myrtle Beach. But most people don’t know there’s also a kayak park in South Carolina, too!

Tumbling Shoals is a kayak park in a section of the Reedy River located within Charles Lollis Memorial Park in the small town of Honea Path.

Charles Lollis Memorial Park is just downstream from the West Main Street/Highway 76 bridge.

It features a 0.25-mile paved and handicapped-accessible nature trail, a kayak/canoe launch, and a small place to park by the boat ramp to make loading/unloading canoes or kayaks easier. The water may be very shallow during summer months when there have been periods of drought.

The trail is easy and a good place to walk dogs, enjoy some fresh air, and get glimpses of the area's natural beauty.

Most of this part of the Reedy River is calm.

But the Tumbling Shoals section has been deemed a Class II whitewater rapid by American Whitewater.

Classes of whitewater rapids range from Class I up to Class VI, increasing with the degree of difficulty of paddling the rapids in the river.

Class II rapids such as these at Tumbling Shoals may contain rocks below or protruding from the surface. The rapids have waves high enough that they will need to be navigated around, usually ranging from one to two feet tall, with an occasional higher wave.

Even with these obstacles, the rapids remain visible to the observer at the surface level. Those with any training in paddling rapids should be able to identify and avoid them without much trouble. This level of rapids is excellent for beginners who are somewhat tentative about rapids, including children. Swimmers are rarely injured in these types of rapids, and it’s usually possible to enter and exit as a swimmer without outside assistance.

Have you ever been to the Tumbling Shoals kayak park in South Carolina? What was your experience like? Share about it with us in the comment section below!