The Upstate is home for us, so we have more sites listed here than on other regional pages. With so many, we've broken them down by county, starting with Greenville.
For many of the sites below, more detail can be found in books cited on our Literature page or in the site descriptions on the Carolina Bird Club website. Where applicable, we've provided links to the CBC website description and to eBird hotspots.
Conestee Nature Preserve is the club's de facto home base. We hold monthly outings at the preserve and maintain a detailed bird checklist. More information can be found on our Conestee page and at the Conestee Nature Preserve website.
Cedar Falls County Park is situated on the Reedy River in southern Greenville County. The park offers a variety of habitats and is a great place for birding in migration. In spring and early summer, birders may be able to find Swainson's and Kentucky Warblers, Yellow-throated Vireos, and other species found in riparian habitats.
Caesars Head State Park is part of the Mountain Bridge Wilderness, which includes about 13,000 acres of forested mountains and foothills. It is named for a rocky outcropping that gives a spectacular view of the mountains and the Blue Ridge Escarpment and also serves as the location for an organized hawk watch every fall. There are numerous trails through the oak-hickory forest, which hosts a nice variety of passerines in the breeding season, and a truly great variety during spring and fall migration. Caesars Head is also one of only a handful of spots in SC where Dark-eyed Junco and Common Raven can be found year-round.
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve is a diverse tract with both brushy fields and riparian forest where Yellow-breasted Chats, Indigo Buntings, and Blue Grosbeaks can be found during breeding season. The widely varied habitat and easy walking (1.25-mile level trail) make this location a very productive stop during both spring and fall migration as well. During the winter, this can be a great location to study a variety of sparrows. This is also a reasonably reliable location for American Woodcock, and as good a shot at Bobwhite as can be had in the Upstate.
Ashmore Heritage Preserve and Eva Russell Chandler Heritage Preserve are located along Perimmon Ridge Road in northern Greenville County, not far from Caesars Head State Park. Birding along Persimmon Ridge Road and in both Heritage Preserves can produce a nice variety of passerines during migration. Breeding species include Hooded, Black-and-White, Worm-eating, Swainson's, and Black-throated Green Warblers, Louisiana Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Red-eyed and Blue-headed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, Raven, and Broad-winged Hawk.
This is really a collection of sites in northern Greenville County. The club regularly makes a circuit of these locations each January to find winter residents, including ducks, sparrows, etc., but they make for good birding in all seasons.
The Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area was acquired by SC DNR and made open to the public in early 2019, and has become popular with local birders. The nearly 1700-acre propery in northern Greenville County boasts a variety of habitats, including forested trails, a pond, brushy edges, and some open field.
Gunter Road hit the birding scene in the summer of 2010, when a pair of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers was found to be breeding there. The species has returned to this area most summers since then. The agricultural fields along the road host Grasshopper Sparrows, Meadowlarks, occasional Loggerhead Shrikes, and other open-country birds. A small pond sometimes brings ducks and shorebirds.
The Nature Conservancy's Blue Wall Preserve is 575 acres of varied forest along the Blue Ridge Escarpment, and is part of a much larger swath of protected land. It offers access to the Palmetto Trail. Species found here are typical of the South Carolina mountains and include a nice variety of warblers, vireos, and tanagers, particularly during migration.
Townville is a collection of several locations in Anderson County near Lake Hartwell. Collectively, they make up one of the very best birding locations in the SC Upstate. It's a mix of open-country agricultural lands, some overlooks onto Lake Hartwell, and the wooded and swampy Beaverdam Creek Wildlife Management area.
The ponds at Dobbins Farm host a variety of waterfowl in the cooler months, and shorebirds along their edges. The adjacent fields are excellent for sparrows, Horned Larks, American Pipit, and occasionally Lapland Longspurs (winter) or Dickcissel (spring and summer). Birders must respect private property and bird only from the road: DO NOT WALK INTO THE FIELDS. Additionally, please be careful not to park directly in front of the cattle feeding areas.
Beaverdam Creek WMA has impoundments and wooded and swampy areas along the creek on its way to Lake Hartwell. The area beyond the gate is closed from Nov. 1 to Feb. 15, except to hunters (by lottery). Impoundments beyond the gate are good for ducks, herons, night-herons (warmer months), Swamp Sparrow, Yellowthroat, and sometimes Winter Wren. The area around the entrance is productive year-round. It's good for Red-headed Woodpecker year-round, Prothonotary Warbler in spring and summer, and Rusty Blackbird and Brown Creeper in winter.
The Fork School Bridge crosses over Beaverdam Creek just downstream and provides an overlook into the WMA a bit further east. The woods, brush, and marsh near the bridge turn up good birds year round. A gated road to the southeast goes into another section of Beaverdam Creek WMA and is also closed from Nov. 1 to Feb. 15. At other times, it can be walked all the way to an arm of Lake Hartwell that is a good place to find Osprey and sometimes Cliff Swallow.
The Prater Farm, like Dobbins, has owners accommodating to birders but, also like Dobbins, do not venture into the fields. The farm has been a good place to find many species of sparrow, including Vesper, Savannah, Grasshopper, and White-crowned. In some years it has also been home to Loggerhead Shrikes. Fields should be checked for Horned Larks and, in spring, Bobolinks. Harrier and Kestrel are also fairly likely.
Rocky River Nature Park includes marsh, riparian forest, and some upland woods, all along the Rocky River in Anderson. There is a nice collection of trails that start at the main parking area. In addition, visitors can overlook the marsh from the other side of the river at the parking area along Business Highway 29. From this location in early spring, birders can hear the unusual call American Bitterns just before dawn.
Also known as Fant's Grove Wildlife Management Area, this collection of over 8,000 acres of forests, fields, and creeks along the shore of Lake Hartwell is owned primarily by Clemson University. The forest is partially in Pickens County and partially in Anderson County.
The Nature Conservancy's Nine Times Preserve is a 560-acre preserve protecting one of the most biologically significant properties in the southern Appalachian foothills. This beautiful preserve holds several different forest types and a great variety of wildflowers, and a varied bird life to match.
The Nine Times Forest, protected by Naturaland Trust in 2013, is across Preston McDaniel Road from the Nine Times Preserve, and includes 1648 acres and several miles of trails exploring a variety of habitats among the mountains, rocky outcroppings, and streams.
There are three primary parking areas along Preston McDaniel Road.
This collection of locations at the edge of the mountains and adjacent to Lake Jocassee provides a nice assortment of birding habitats. SC DNR has made this great map available for download. Printed copies can be found at Table Rock and Keowee Toxaway State Parks.
The Eastatoe Valley is a scenic, pastoral valley offering a variety of habitats and with a reputation for turning up rarities each year during migration. Refer to the Google birding map linked above for stops through the valley.
Sassafras Mountain, the highest point in SC, now has a large observation tower at its summit, which is also now an official Hawk Count site during fall migration. The woods and trails around the summit can produce some good birding, as can Chimneytop Gap, on the way up to Sassafras.
There are numerous trails and roads giving access to the rugged and beautiful terrain of the Jocassee Gorges. Refer to the DNR map linked above for details. Sections of Horse Pasture Road and Shooting Ridge Road are seasonally closed, but walking the roads and trails is always allowed.
Part of Fant's Grove Wildlife Management Area and the Clemson Experimental Forest, Lake Issaqueena and its many miles of trails offers some very rewarding birding, particularly in migration.
The Cherry Farm (so named for the Cherry family, former landowners) is a complex of Clemson University facilities and the SC Dept. of Natural Resources regional office, which sit along Lake Hartwell. Think of the whole thing as a glorified yard with a great position on Lake Hartwell and lots of good "edge" habitat.)
The main and best parking area is at the SCDNR office. Although the DNR office itself is open from 8:30-5:00 on weekdays, the parking area is open all the time and is often used for parking by anglers fishing from the shore. From there, you can walk around the grounds. Note that the western portion of the property contains the historic Hopewell House, formerly the residence of Andrew Pickens (for whom the county is named). The house is part of the SC Heritage Corridor, but that portion of the property is currently restricted due to covid. I will let you know when it opens back up for normal visits during weekdays.
This Google Map details many of the points of interest at the Cherry Farm. Click on the points for some notes on particular habitats and birds that can be seen from each spot. The yellow points are inside the Hopewell House portion of the property and currently closed to the public, but note that there is a pulloff on W Cherry Road from which you can still walk south across the railroad tracks for a view of the main lake (best in morning; sun glare is bad in afternoon).
The SC Botanical Garden at Clemson University is 295 acres of diverse gardens, streams, and nature trails with a penchant for attracting a great variety of migrant songbirds. Most birders park at the Geology Museum, where the adjacent Cherokee Garden offers some of the site's best birding.
With over 3000 acres of land, Table Rock State Park has many miles of trails through its extensive oak-hickory forests, including the steep trails that lead to the tops of Pinnacle Mountain and Table Rock. The trail to Pinnacle Mountain is less traveled, and therefore makes for more secluded birding. In addition to these trails, the area around the Visitor Center, on the south side of Highway 11 has a nice mix of edge habitat, forest, and brushy tangles next to Lake Oolenoy. Birding around the Visitor Center can be very productive during migration.
The Edwin M. Griffin Nature Preserve, better known as Cottonwood Trail, is a very good birding location at any time of year, but is remarkably good in migration, particularly in the fall. Lots of different habitats are packed into this small park, including hardwood forest, brushy edges, open field, and a marsh with a boardwalk.
At over 7000 acres, Croft State Park is a large and mostly wooded park with many miles of trails. Lake Craig and Lake Johnson can hold ducks in the winter, and the wooded trails near the lakes and streams can be good for songbirds in migration. The parking for Lake Johnson is accessed via a different entrance than the rest of the park, although the two parts are connected by trails.
This park, marking the location of a significant Revolutionary War battle, has a road loop around the battlefield and nature trails providing good birding year-round, but very good birding in spring and fall migration.
Lake Jocassee is a large, beautiful, and mostly undeveloped lake nestled into the edge of the Blue Ridge Escarpment and Jocassee Gorges. The forested slopes around the lake harbor many birds, particularly in migration and summer, and the lake has a large population of Common Loons in winter, along with a number of ducks, Horned Grebes, and gulls. Next to the lake access parking area is the Oconee Bell Loop Trail (1.5 miles), through a varied patch of forest and along streams that are home to the Oconee Bell, endemic to the Jocassee Gorges.
Access to the lake is the tricky part. Those with a boat can put in at the state park, which is the only public boat access point to the lake. The GCBC (and other birding and naturalist organizations) frequently partner with Jocassee Lake Tours, a private company offering tours of the lake on their fleet of pontoon boats. We go out with JLT late each winter, a trip which offers a closer look at Common Loons than you are likely to find anywhere else. JLT also offers kayak tours, waterfall tours, and a hiker shuttle service. Those wanting to rent a canoe or kayak at the state park can reserve do so via Eclectic Sun, a private rental company based at the park.
Access to other areas around the periphery of the lake is mostly on foot. See our description of the Jocassee Gorges in the Pickens County section of this page, including that great DNR map, or peruse the Foothills Trail website. The Foothills Trail is made up of 77 miles of trails through the SC mountains from Oconee State Park to both Table Rock and Caesars Head State Parks, with several major trailheads along its length.
The Bad Creek Trailhead is an access point to the Foothills Trail and to Lower and Upper Whitewater Falls. Songbird activity up here among SC's highest mountains can be great from spring to fall, and the trail is very well maintained. A bit farther down the road from the trailhead is an overlook to Lake Jocasee from well above.
The birding sites along Highway 107 are among the most remote in SC. These out-of-the-way spots in the SC mountains offer great birding in the spring, summer, and fall, and a chance to see breeding populations of Brown Creeper, Blackburnian Warbler, and other species tough to find in SC in summer. The steep slopes near streams are also reliable locations for Swainson's Warbler. These locations are all within the Sumter National Forest's Andrew Pickens district. Printed maps can be purchased online or at district offices, but the Forest Service also has this really cool interactive online map available. Just don't count on cell service up in the mountains.
Within the first quarter mile of the entrance road to the fish hatchery is a parking area where it crosses the Foothills Trail. Stopping there and at the various pull-outs along the entrance road can make for good birding, but be careful to leave room for cars to pass, and watch for traffic. From the parking area at the end, the trail leading west from the parking lot can be very productive. The trail eventually connects with the Chattooga River and its parallel trail.
Birding is good along the entire length of Burrell's Ford Road. The road crosses the Chattooga River into Georgia. Just before that, it intersects with the Foothills Trail and the Chattooga Hiking Trail. There is also a primitive campground.