Parksville

Parksville Recreation Area is a rural park in McCormick County, South Carolina, on J. Strom Thurmond Lake. It is located along South Carolina State Highway 28/221 and features 70,000 surface-acres of water and more than 1,000 miles of shoreline. Parksville is a wooded day-use area with two group picnic shelters. Shelter 1 (Beach Shelter) has electrical hookups and can accommodate up to 90 people; Shelter 2 (Hillside Shelter) can accommodate up to 36 people but has no electrical hookups. Other amenities include flush toilets, drinking water, a boat ramp, dock, playground and a grassy field. Thurmond Lake provides some of the best fishing, hunting and water sports in the southeastern United States. Anglers fish for largemouth bass, bream, crappie, catfish and striped bass, and the large lake offers endless boating, water skiing, jet skiing, canoeing, swimming, hiking and picnicking opportunities. Hot, humid summers and mild, pleasant winters characterize this heavily wooded area on the shore of Thurmond Lake. A mixed pine and hardwood forest covers the site, providing summer shade and fall color, and elevation is 335 feet above sea level. Visitors regularly see southern bald eagles, osprey, migratory waterfowl, wild turkeys and whitetail deer. Numerous parks and recreation areas lie around Thurmond Lake. Nearby cities house museums, art galleries, zoos, restaurants and shopping areas, and the Augusta National Golf Club hosts the Masters Golf Tournament annually the first week of April.