Get Out the Map
Upstate South Carolina Recreation Map is the ultimate guide to outdoor adventure and activity on and around Lake Keowee
There’s something you should probably know about cartographer Paul Galbreath: He’s secretly hoping you’ll make a mess of the work he devoted years to creating.
That’s right. Scribble on it. Circle it. Jot down notes in the margins. Because his Upstate South Carolina Recreation Map was meant to be used and mangled and then used again.
When you find that campsite with the million-dollar view of Table Rock, highlight it so you don’t forget how unforgettable it was. Write down the month and day you found your first Oconee Bell just off the trail path. And for heaven’s sake, write down the name of the restaurant where you had that unforgettable cheeseburger—you know, the one you devoured on your way home from hiking to waterfalls all day.
Chock full of hundreds of points of interest from north Georgia to the North Carolina highlands and all the Upstate spots between, Lake Keowee included, Galbreath’s guide to outdoor enjoyment offers as much entertainment (check out the quotes from Popeye to Einstein hidden in the margins) as it does utilitarian information about how to get from Point A to Point B.
“It’s a planning map. It shows road networks, but it also shows what’s along the way and what’s close at hand,” Galbreath offers. “You can look at it and figure out where to go to pick berries for an afternoon, or you can plan a weekend camping trip.” Not to mention where to stop for boiled peanuts and barbecue along the way.
Unlike specialized maps and guides that might focus on a single area of interest (think rock climbing, kayaking, or waterfall hunting), Galbreath’s Upstate Recreation Map is geared toward the overall geography of the region and provides additional information about spots of interest—from where to hire a fishing guide to Web sites that offer information about seasonal festivals. It includes orchards, scenic highways, overlooks, and historical points of interest, in addition to dozens of campsites, country kitchens and kitschy restaurants, landmarks, and entertainment venues.
Anyone who’s lived in Greenville awhile likely remembers the downtown Map Shop, which is one of the first places Galbreath started making specialty maps for local folks. (That big map on the back wall of downtown’s Mast General Store? It’s his.) Now, Galbreath, a native of Maryland’s Eastern Shore and a 1996 Clemson graphic communications graduate, creates custom maps at Goldie & Associates in Seneca. He recently completed a Lake Keowee map called a contour map and has plans in the works to design another outdoor-oriented guide that focuses on the Chattooga River.
What he’ll map out after that is anyone’s guess. But in the meantime, it’s worth picking up a copy of the Upstate Recreation Map this summer—perhaps to figure out how to get somewhere, or better yet, to help decide where in the world (or at least the Upstate) you’re headed.
Track down the closest retailer near you to get your copy of the Upstate South Carolina Recreation Map by visiting www.upstatemaps.com.
Photo Credit: Paul Galbreath, www.upstatemaps.com.
Author:
Heidi Coryell Williams is a freelance writer based in Clemson, South Carolina, specializing in luxury resort real estate. Her writing has taken her to locales from Grand Bahama Island and Key West, Florida, to Pebble Beach, California, and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Her articles about luxury lifestyle and residences have appeared in publications including Resort Living, Club Living, and The Affluent Page, among others. She enjoys boating on Lake Keowee with her husband and two young daughters in their Toyota Epic inboard.