Devils Fork State Park
The only public access to Lake Jocassee — deep, cold, startlingly clear water below the escarpment.
- Oconee County, SC
- Nearest town: Salem
- 1,247 ft
Coordinates
- Lat
- 34.95869
- Lng
- -82.95442
Van camping
You can drive in and sleep in your van here.
At a glance
The basics
What to expect
State park
Reservable sites, paved or well-graded roads, bathhouses in season.
- County
- Oconee County
- State
- South Carolina
- Nearest town
- Salem
- Elevation
- 1,247 ft
- Max vehicle length
- Not verified
The place
About Devils Fork State Park
Lake Jocassee is fed by mountain rivers dropping off the Blue Ridge Escarpment, and the result is water far colder and clearer than any other reservoir in the state, held in steep forested walls with no development on the shoreline. Waterfalls pour directly into the lake in several places, reachable only by boat, and divers and paddlers come specifically for the visibility. The park is the single public entrance. In early spring the Oconee bell blooms here, a rare wildflower with a tiny natural range centred on these gorges. Sunset over the water with the escarpment behind it is the reason people keep coming back.
For van drivers
Getting a van in and out
Paved access off SC 11 and a developed campground with drive-in sites. Boat ramps mean trailer traffic at the access areas on summer weekends. Salem and Walhalla handle basic supplies, Seneca is larger. The lake is cold enough year round to matter — it is not a casual swim in April. Cell signal is patchy in the gorges.
Written for a high-roof van, not a pickup. Surfaces and clearances change with the weather and with the season’s roadwork — the official page below is the last word.
On the ground
Facilities & fees
Not verified means nobody has confirmed it — treat it as unknown, never as a no. 8 of the 8 below are still unconfirmed.
- Restrooms
- Not verified
- Drinking water
- Not verified
- Showers
- Not verified
- Dump station
- Not verified
- Hookups
- Not verified
- Campfires
- Not verified
- Dogs allowed
- Not verified
- Reservations
- Not verified
- Max vehicle length
- Not verified — check with the park
- Season
- Not verified — check with the park
- Fees
- Not verified — check with the park
The last word on all of this is southcarolinaparks.com(opens in a new tab).
Where it is
Coordinates & directions
Decimal degrees
- Latitude
- 34.958687
- Longitude
- -82.954416
34.9587° N · 82.9544° W
No map tiles here on purpose. Half of these places have no signal at the gate, so coordinates you can save offline beat a map that needs one. Drop them into your phone before you turn off the pavement.
Nearest gas and groceries: Salem
Before you go
Official sources
Fees, site counts, length limits and closures change season to season. Everything we have not confirmed ourselves is marked Not verified above rather than guessed at — and where we do have a number, the operator’s own page still wins.
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