Santee Cooper Diversion Canal Access Road

This maintenance road follows the historic Santee-Cooper Diversion Canal, one of the largest New Deal public works projects in the South. Built between 1939-1942, the canal diverted the Santee River into Lake Moultrie, creating a navigation route to Charleston and flooding thousands of acres of rice plantations. The access road parallels the canal for miles through ancient bald cypress swamps, past concrete spillway structures and abandoned rice field trunk gates that still regulate water flow into the Francis Marion National Forest.

Easy driving on gravel maintenance roads, but high clearance helps with occasional muddy sections during winter floods. The route is accessible year-round, though summer brings oppressive humidity and mosquitoes. Spring and fall offer the best wildlife viewing when migratory waterfowl use the canal. No permits required, and primitive camping is allowed at designated spots along the canal. It’s living history where you can still see the massive scale of 1940s American engineering carved through primeval swampland.