Long Shoals Roadside Park

Our whole family loves this place. There’s so much room to stretch out, including plenty of shady areas to set your cooler and drinks. It’s just a little hard to find but if you watch for the 1 mile heads up sign, you’ll have an easier time finding it! There are also two entrances, so if you miss the first, no worries.

One entrance is where the port-a-potties are, as well as very well-constructed stairs down to the water! You’ll come out on a huge rock where you can set up in the sun, or if you walk down the rock with the flow of the creek, you’ll find a huge sandy area to set up in the shade or sun!

A couple tips:
1) a beach umbrella makes a perfect addition to the hangout area!
2.) the jumping rock is VERY safe and kids as young as 4 and adults of every size and height have safely jumped off into the water below! Simply take one STEP (no running jumps) into the water below and you’ll land in over 8 feet of water.
3) if you’re on the beach area and you look directly across the water, that’s where the jumping rock is. Look directly to your left and there’s a cute little rock that little kids have so much fun jumping off of!
4) the water feels FREEZING at first but you’ll quickly get used to it!
5) of the dam from Jocasee is open enough, everyone slides down the rock face upstream from the beach area! Just watch what everyone else is doing and give it a shot - it’s very safe and so fun!
6) ALL THE ROCKS ARE SO SLIPPERY WHEN WET. Just walk slowly and you’ll be fine!

We had the best time here! We brought inner tubes and a inflatable boat that could fit me and my three kids. It’s really fun riding it down into the water. There is a lot to do. You can even slide down on your boat. Just be careful because some areas are slippery. There are areas that are a little more like beach there also. Pack a lunch so you can just stay and eat. We ate lunch before we went so we just brought snacks and drinks. There are areas that you can sit in the shade too, if you don’t want to be in the sun the whole time. We highly recommend this place.

Great place to spend the day playing in the river and sliding down the rock. Lots of fun for the hole family. It a little bit of a challenge getting down to the rock however they put steps in going part way down the hill. There is picnic area but it's at the top near the parking area. There are portable restrooms in the parking area but none down at the river so you have to walk back up the hill to use the bathroom. With all that side it still a great place to slide down the rock and play in the river. I've been coming here since I was little and it only gets better each time I come.

Excellent place to take the family. With small rapids of clean water and small natural pools. Take your buoy and have fun.

This was once one of the best kept secrets for the locals. However, it's now a must place to visit! They have built stairs and a picnic areas. It's a wonderful place to come with the family, to experience a natural water slide. The stream is always a cool refreshing jolt, since the water is mostly from the icecaps up further in the Smoky Mountains. A wonderful way to spend a hot day in nature with your family.

Beautiful spot to spend a couple hours taking in the scenery walking up and down the shoal. Nice picnic area is available or plenty of space to set up on the shoal rocks. Weather was nice enough to get our feet wet.

Beautiful and serene atmosphere. Very clear instructions. Exceptionally clean. Thank you everyone who has visited for picking up after yourself. The moment you drive-in you are greeted by a beautiful sign that is easy to read and it describes the history of large Shoals roadside park. You can park your car walk up a few steps to a picnic area or you can walk down the hill to a beautiful stone creek/waterfall area. I cannot wait to go back!
And the drive-through is a simple circle.

Beautiful river.. we went out here around 8:00am just to walk around and check out this place. Is beautiful we should definitely comeback here when the weather is warm enough.

Great place to stop for a bathroom on a long trip down highway 11 because there isn't much out here except trees and mountains. They have little trails and one goes down to a place on the river to fish and swim. It does have up warning advisory signs about switching. Swimming in a river can be dangerous if you're not used to doing it.

It's a Great place to go dip in or go fishing. I just wish we would have had more time to spend there.

Very pretty! But please BE CAREFUL if you come down the stairs from the upper parking lot! They need to be replaced big time! There were several people down below playing in the water. Up top I spotted a cave behind the "turtle/dinosaur head" rock. I didn't hang around to see if anyone was home lol. Very pretty though!

This was well worth the trip. BE AWARE IT IS VERY SLIPPERY NEXT TO THE WATER. Very small area but has short rock sliding, boulders with 2 heights for jumping off of, swimming holes and a little sandy beach. The walk from the parking area to the water is a little rough but there were plenty of families with young children. Pleasantly surprised how clean it was. No broken glass. No trash lying around. Everyone was very respectful of others. Water was cold but as long as you keep moving and stay in the sunny places it was great on a hot day. Perfect for a couple of hours of fun. No restrooms.

Beautiful Free Family Fun! Right on the side of the road. The water flowing through the rocks is an incredible sight. A natural rock water slide & plenty of rock sitting and/or sunbathing areas. A beach area and swimming hole at the bottom of the slide. People were even jumping off the huge boulders into the water.

Things to know:
-DHEC has a sign posted that the bacteria levels in the water exceed healthy amounts and you may get sick swimming in it. (We were fine but it was not fun to see that sign upon arrival.)
-lots of steps to get down followed by a short walk through a trail full of roots
-rock is super slippery
-there’s a nice sandy beach area
-porta potties only
Overall, a great place to spend a day. It’s a bit dangerous and have heard several stories of broken legs from jumping off of the high rocks. We also saw a lady slip on the rock and hit her head hard, which then bled and they had to leave. Also, some snakes to share the water with :)

What a fun stop! We came with 4 kids - ages 2-10, and everyone had fun! We didn't stay for the day, just stopped for an hour or so. The water is cool and clear. Some of the pools had tadpoles and other fun creatures to look for. It was pretty busy - midday on a beautiful Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. However, the parking is so limited that it still wasn't overcrowded.

Fun place to slide down the rocks in the summer. It used to be hid with no access so only the locals knew. Y'all opened another one of our hidden treasures.

We loved the flat rocks that you can walk out onto. Very peaceful! Our kids felt some of the rocks reminded them of the Earth Giants in Frozen.

Great place to cool off. Perfect for kids to slide down the shoals. It's like nature created water park.

A beautiful spot, very interesting rock formations. The stairs to the creek have recently been repaired, and are in excellent condition. The creek is excellent, with lots of items to investigate. Just beautiful spot in nature.

This is beautiful and a quick stop to see rocks that have formed with constant flow of fresh water very easy to get too