8 South Carolina Boat Landings Locals Won’t Use on a Weekend
Charleston County’s 19 public boat landings share about 800 total parking spots for trucks and trailers, a 2019 county count found.
Divide that out, and each landing holds room for roughly 40 trailers, in the county with more registered boats than anywhere else in South Carolina.
The math doesn’t work.
These are the South Carolina boat landings locals won’t use on a weekend.
1. Remley’s Point
Remley’s Point is a boat landing on the Wando River in Mount Pleasant.
Charleston County’s parks department ranks it among the landings with the highest weekend and holiday traffic in the whole county.
By mid-morning on a busy Saturday, trucks and trailers back up along the road leading to the ramp.
Regular boaters call the whole scene rampnastics.
Not a compliment.
Charleston County maintains just 19 public landings today.
A 2019 county boat count already topped 35,360 registered boats, more than any other county in the state at the time.
One ramp can’t fit that many trailers on a Saturday morning.
2. Shem Creek
Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant fills up so fast on weekends that fishing guides say they have to launch before 7:30 a.m. or lose the whole day.
After 8 a.m., there’s rarely a trailer spot left.
Mount Pleasant is now planning to add 15 new spots, a fix that means cutting down several trees along the lot.
Boaters without a trailer still park in the 50-foot trailer spaces some mornings, leaving a loaded boat waiting on the water for a truck to move.
That day is over already.
3. Folly Beach
Folly Beach’s boat landing on Center Street still crowds up on many summer weekends, even with a fix already in place.
Charleston County Parks opened a paddle sports launch there in January 2024, a seven-space dock with two pull-through systems built just for kayaks and canoes.
Motorized boats aren’t allowed anywhere near that dock.
That leaves every trailered boat funneling through the original ramp instead, on a landing Charleston County’s own list still names among the highest-traffic in the county.
Vehicles without a trailer are limited to a handful of short parking spaces, so the lot fills fast whether or not a single kayak is in sight.
Not much room.
4. Wappoo Cut
Wappoo Cut, a boat landing in West Ashley, connects three different waterways: Wappoo Creek, the Stono River, and the Ashley River.
That’s exactly why its four ramps still can’t keep up on weekends.
Charleston County’s landing guide names Wappoo Cut among the handful of ramps with the highest traffic every weekend and holiday.
Boaters heading downtown, out to the harbor, or up the Stono all funnel through the same lot.
Swift currents make the crowd worse, since boats can’t just idle near the dock waiting their turn.
Everybody merges at once.
Psst! Think you know how South Carolina’s boat landings work? Take our myth-or-fact challenge and see how many you get right.
5. W.O. Thomas Jr.
W.O. Thomas Jr. is a boat landing on the Ashley River in North Charleston.
It’s one of only two Charleston County landings that stock loaner life jackets for anyone who forgot one.
Beginners, mostly.
It shows up on Charleston County’s own high-traffic list for weekends and holidays, right alongside Remley’s Point and Shem Creek.
Families and first-time boaters lean on this ramp because it sits close to North Charleston’s fast-growing population.
The crowd shows up every Saturday morning right along with them.
6. Battery Island
Battery Island, also called Sol Legare Landing, sits at the end of Sol Legare Road on James Island.
Weekend and holiday traffic here regularly ranks among the heaviest in the county, per Charleston County’s own landing list.
It’s the only public launch on this stretch of James Island.
Anyone heading out on the Stono River from this side of the island funnels through the same small lot.
Once that lot fills, the next public option sits miles away.
No shortcut.
The Math Behind Charleston’s Ramp Rush
A 2019 count found Charleston County’s 19 public landings sharing roughly 800 total parking spots built for trucks and trailers.
Divide that out, and the average landing holds space for around 40 trailers at once.
That’s a tight number for the county with more registered boats than any other in South Carolina.
That gap is why a handful of ramps hit their limit by mid-morning while boats behind them keep circling for a spot.
7. Devils Fork State Park
Devils Fork State Park controls the only public boat ramp on Lake Jocassee.
Park rules reserve its trailer parking spaces for vehicles towing a trailer, Friday through Monday from May through December.
No trailer, no spot.
Rangers turn cars away once that lot fills on a busy summer weekend or holiday.
Boaters can reserve a space online at least two days ahead, which is the only way to guarantee a spot before driving up the mountain.
Show up without one on a July Saturday, and the drive back down feels a lot longer.
8. Dreher Island State Park
Dreher Island State Park manages three boat ramps on Lake Murray, and the lot still fills up anyway.
Park officials say the ramp area fills to capacity on the Fourth of July, and stays busy through many other summer weekends and holidays.
Three ramps, one afternoon.
Boaters who show up after lunch on those weekends often end up circling the lot instead of circling the lake.
They wait for a truck and trailer to clear out before they can back down a ramp themselves, and by then the best fishing hours are already behind them.
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