Lake Keowee vs Lake Hartwell

[Airboss]

I live exactly equidistant (timewise) from Marinas on Hartwell and Keowee. In the process of purchasing a 390 EC.

Mainly I will be using the boat for entertaiing, weekending and some fishing.

Are thre ay advanages or disadvantags of one lake over the other?

 

[OldSkool]

Keowee is the lake we usually boat on when we are down south. The water level stay pretty much within 6-8 feet as it's the power generation lake. Hartwell is a good lake too and it is much bigger in area. Hartwells water level is regulated by what Keowee gives it. It can get very shallow in the dry season as we seen some years ago when it went -50 feet or more.

Keowee can get pretty crowded in the main channel but there are many places to get away from the traffic. Check the map of Keowee and see Crow Creek. It's a great place to beach on any of the little islands and will keep you out of the main channel.

The lower end of Keowee south of the power plant and bridge is pretty big and there are many areas and coves to swim and not be beat up to bad with wake traffic. The TIKI BAR and marina are also on the south end.

A few pictures of a few coves and the waterfalls on the north end of Keowee.

 

[Airboss]

Thanks,
esp the pcs

 

[GJarrett]

The advantage of Lake Hartwell is that it is huge; plenty of places to go. For us, that's it. We always cruise Keowee. It is a drop dead gorgeous beautiful lake: and like Bill stated, you can always depend on the lake level to be fairly consistent - they are not going to let the nuclear powerplant lose its cooling water. Hartwell can have HUGE lake level swings that seem to occur every couple of years or so.

The water is much cleaner and clearer - when we boat on Hartwell for a three day weekend and pull it out, I always had to spend a lot of time and elbow grease in the attempt to remove the red clay dye that stains the gelcoat. Note that I said "attempt" - I can still tell it's been in Hartwell from the stain. None of that in Lake Keowee's emerald green clear waters. It is a big enough lake to enjoy a 390 on and you will have access to a large part of it before being stopped by low bridges far up some of the inlets. The marina is nice and if you are the social type there's a few CSR members that keep their boats there.

Just my two pesos opinion. There's much to recommend Hartwell, but we love Keowee.

 

[OldSkool]

The advantage of Lake Hartwell is that it is huge; plenty of places to go. For us, that's it. We always cruise Keowee. It is a drop dead gorgeous beautiful lake: and like Bill stated, you can always depend on the lake level to be fairly consistent - they are not going to let the nuclear powerplant lose its cooling water. Hartwell can have HUGE lake level swings that seem to occur every couple of years or so.

The water is much cleaner and clearer - when we boat on Hartwell for a three day weekend and pull it out, I always had to spend a lot of time and elbow grease in the attempt to remove the red clay dye that stains the gelcoat. Note that I said "attempt" - I can still tell it's been in Hartwell from the stain. None of that in Lake Keowee's emerald green clear waters. It is a big enough lake to enjoy a 390 on and you will have access to a large part of it before being stopped by low bridges far up some of the inlets. The marina is nice and if you are the social type there's a few CSR members that keep their boats there.

Just my two pesos opinion. There's much to recommend Hartwell, but we love Keowee.

:thumbsup:
I have always been able to clean the hull after Keowee. See the waterfall pic. The water is that clear all the time.

 

[Airboss]

Well just obtained a slip at Keowee Marina, waiting for a response to my offer on a 390.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Ringy Dinghy]

Welcome to Lake Keowee, we are D-Dock, Slip 10, Ringy Dinghy on the Boat and Dock Box.

Gary

 

[Airboss]

Thanks,
I'll be at E17. Now all I need is a boat.
Milt

 

[H2ONUT]

I am looking at moving down here from CT in a few months. What are slip fees here? What about other marinas? How far are you from Anderson, and Williamston?

 

[GJarrett]

The marinas have websites that should have their rates. The main marina at Keowee is appropriately named Keowee Marina. Hartwell has a few marinas; Portman is the main one. There's a new one on the north side of the lake by Clemson University called Clemson Marina. Portions of Harwell are in Anderson and Clemson city limits; Keowee is upriver northward from Anderson and Clemson a few miles. Williamston is a small town northeast of Anderson toward Greenville and on the other side of Anderson from Lake Hartwell.

 

[H2ONUT]

I have only see 2 marinas on Keowee, is that correct?


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[GJarrett]

I believe - but may be wrong - that Keowee Marina is the only public marina with slips available to rent. All others are marinas for the property owners of the neighborhood the marina is at. I think.

Renting a slip at Lake Keowee Marina is going to be a lot less expensive than buying one of these typical Lake Keowee homes just to get a slip at their marina.

 

[OldSkool]

Yep, been there seen that. Finding areas to beach up on other than an Island will be difficult but the lake is beautiful and plenty of coves to explore. Sure do miss it.

 

[GJarrett]

There are places to beach if you know where to go. We've got a few favorite places. I do confess that we are people watchers and sometimes enjoy watching the insanity at the waterfall beach on a summer Saturday. Everyone leaves at sundown and then we have the waterfall to ourselves at night. Sometimes there may be another boat or two anchoring out there too, but that's it. Nothing like anchoring out at a waterfall.

 

[OldSkool]

I hear you about the falls. The last pic of my post is the falls. The others are a small cove we found just off Crowe Creek ramp. Come from the ramp and instead of going to the right out to the big channel, make the first left. The building sites are not as sought after so there were good places to anchor at the shore. First and second pics. Someone built a spec house on the small channel and it sat empty for three years. The dock was covered and we would take refuge under it when rain was an issue.

Probably sold or repossessed by now. We never used the dock, just sat under it until the rain would past.

 

[H2ONUT]

I just visited Portman Marina. They allowed me to walk down dock #6. Does anyone here have their boat there? I did see a few Rays.


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