Lawson's Fork Creek: Goldmine Road (Lawson's Fork Creek) to Upper Pacolet Shoals

Skill Level: Easy

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Rapids: Class I

Length: 4.00 miles

Duration: 2 hours

Portaging: No

What to Expect

This trip begins on Lawson's Fork Creek and ends at Pacolet Mills along the Pacolet River. The majority of this stretch of the Pacolet River includes lazy waters with occasional Class I rapids as the river approaches the town of Pacolet Mills. The downstream Upper and Lower Pacolet Shoals Dams create lake-like paddling conditions as the river gets closer to Pacolet Mills. This stretch is primarily rural in scenery.

Access

Put in:

Goldmine Road River Access and Roadside Parking

2201 Goldmine Road, Spartanburg, SC 29307

Access Details

Located downstream of the Goldmine Road bridge, river-right. Paddlers can access the river by following the steep path along the bank down to the water, about 5 yards.

Take out:

Upper Pacolet Shoals Take Out

1461 Sunny Acres Road, Pacolet, SC 29372

Access Details

After the confluence of Lawson's Fork Creek and the Pacolet River, there are no rapids. Approaching the Town of Pacolet, take-out at the first dam on river-right. Restrooms are available adjacent to the water tower by the bridge on Sunny Acres Drive. This is a take-out only.

Trip Details

Waterway:

Lawson's Fork Creek

Upstream Trips (2)

Pacolet River: Clifton Beach to Goldmine Road (Lawson's Fork Creek)

Lawson's Fork Creek: Goldmine Road (Lawson's Fork Creek) to Upper Pacolet Shoals

Downstream Trip (1)

Pacolet River: Lower Pacolet Shoals to Skull Shoals

Comments (4)

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Christine Le Clair

May 31, 2023 9:44 am EDT

We are a new Outfitter in the area and we run trips and shuttle service (for people with their own boats) from Clifton Beach to Pacolet and from Goldmine Rd to Pacolet. Check us out at www.vintageviewvacay.com for dates, times and prices.

Carla Beals

Aug 01, 2021 9:39 am EDT

Tried to paddle to here a couple of days ago from Clifton Beach but Clifton Beach was closed and then the park at Pacolet Shoals dam and the area around the dam was closed.

Krzysztof Zaryczny

Aug 10, 2020 11:31 am EDT

Paddled 9/19/20 @ 350CFS. Flow was slow, however we didnt have any issues. Couple fun little ledges. Mostly flat water. Took us 2 hours to paddle the section. Most of the river is nice. One part had barrels and old equipment in the river. Take out was easy and it was at a park which was nice.

Danny Bright

Jun 29, 2019 11:07 pm EDT

Lawson's Fork Creek: Goldmine Road (Lawson's Fork Creek) to Upper Pacolet Shoals Took this trip today 06/29/2019. This is a great trip with no obstacles. The trip took us about 2.5 hours from put in to take out. This section of the river is very clean and pretty ride. Although there is a lot of trash at put in on Goldmine Rd. I would love to see someone get a group together to clean that area. I would be glad to help.