Lake Strom Thurmond or Lake Murray

lope4946

lope4946

Member
Sep 4, 2008
175
Aiken. SC
Boat Info
2005 340 Sundancer
Engines
Twin 8.1
I was just wondering if there are any CSR members on Lake Strom Thurmond (Clarkshill) or Lake Murray. I am moving to Augusta Ga from Cincinnati and tI am trying to figure out which lake I want to keep my boat on. I am looking for a marina with a covered slip for my 280DA. Any suggestions would be appreciated and if you can tell me any pros or cons you have for either lake that would be great.
 
John,

I am on Lake Murray and have been on Strom Thurmond once about eight years ago during a drought.

Murray is about 90 miles from Augsta depending upon which Marina you select. Lake Muray Marina and Lighthouse Marina are generally the preferred marinas on the lake. Lighthouse is the nicer and newer of the two. Lighhouse has more covered slips available in the 25 - 30' range. However, they are shared/double slips. They also have three 40' single slips, which are the largest covered slips on the lake. Other ammenities include two fully enclosed dry stacks, a bar/burger/patio joint called the Quarterdeck and a restaurant. The Quarterdeck is packed during summer weekends.

Lake Murray Marina's ship's store and restauraqnt are both older structures in average condition. Their open docks were all replaced within the last six years. LMM has more total slips than LH. However, their covered dock is older and is still using foam exposed styrofoam flotation. They have about three thirteen/fourteen by twenty-five foot slips and another three or four twelve by twenty-five foot sllps. The rest are smaller. All of the slips at LMM are sngle slips.

Southshore Marina is located on the Lexington side of the lake and would be a bit closer to Augusta.

Lake Murray is a deep, large lake without an obstacle course. The shoals are generally well marlked. It's not uncommon to see depths over 100' in the main body and the coves are generally 20' to 30' deep, some are deeper. I have never run aground. I also bought a lake chart and studied it before my first outing years ago.

LM is subject to occasional droughts. However, SCE&G has done a good job recenlty keeping the levels up even when rainfalls are less than average. Normal summer levels are within three feet of full pool and winter levels are about three to five feel lower.

As I stated earlier, I have only been on Strom Thurmond once. Stom Thurmond's levels fluctuate more so and more often than Murray during times of drought. I suspect the powerplant downstream requires a higher constant min. waterflow as opposed to Murray. That is the biggest drawback to Thurmond as I see it. During my visit, the lake was about tweny feet down and I was told by the marina mgr. not to venture outside of the marked channels, so I did as instructed. FYI, I stayed a Savannah Lakes Marina which also has a hotel on site. This marina had plenty of covered slips up to about 70' as I recall. So the positives of this lake include larger covered slips and convenience. I also believe you will find a bit less traffic on Thurmond vs. Murray.

When you arrive take your 280 to both lakes and see which one you prefer. Both will have plenty of water due to all of the recent rains. If you trailer your 280 to LM, I would recommend using LMM as they have ample parking and a good ramp. LH is fine is well, but their ramp is closed during the summer weekends as parking space is a bit more scarce.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. FYI, I cannot recall seeing any Strom Thurmond members on the board.
 
Last edited:
SeaRide said:
John,

I am on Lake Murray and have been on Strom Thurmond once about eight years ago during a drought.

Murray is about 90 miles from Augsta depending upon which Marina you select. Lake Muray Marina and Lighthouse Marina are generally the preferred marinas on the lake. Lighthouse is the nicer and newer of the two. Lighhouse has more covered slips available in the 25 - 30' range. However, they are shared/double slips. They also have three 40' single slips, which are the largest covered slips on the lake. Other ammenities include two fully enclosed dry stacks, a bar/burger/patio joint called the Quarterdeck and a restaurant. The Quarterdeck is packed during summer weekends.

Lake Murray Marina's ship's store and restauraqnt are both older structures in average condition. Their open docks were all replaced within the last six years. LMM has more total slips than LH. However, their covered dock is older and is still using foam exposed styrofoam flotation. They have about three thirteen/fourteen by twenty-five foot slips and another three or four twelve by twenty-five foot sllps. The rest are smaller. All of the slips at LMM are sngle slips.

South Shore Marina is located on the Lexington side of the lake and would be a bit closer to Augusta.

Lake Murray is a deep, large lake without an obstacle course. The shoals are generally well marlked. It's not uncommon to see depths over 100' in the main body and the coves are generally 20' to 30' deep, some are deeper. I have never run aground. I also bought a lake chart and studied it before my first outing years ago.

LM is subject to occasional droughts. However, SCE&G has done a good job recenlty keeping the levels up even when rainfalls are less than average. Normal summer levels are within three feet of full pool and winger levels are about three to five feel lower.

As I stated earlier, I have only been on Strom Thurmond once. Stom Thurmonds levels fluctuate more so and more often than Murray during times of drought. I suspect the powerplant downstream requires a higher constant min. waterflow as opposed to Murray. That is the biggest drawback to Thurmond as I see it. During my visit, the lake was about tweny feet down and I was told by the marina mgr. not to venture outside of the marked channels, so I did as instructed. FYI, I stayed a Savannah Lakes Marina which also has a hotel on site. This marina had plenty of covered slips up to about 70' as I recall. So the positives of this lake include larger covered slips and convenience. I also believe you will find a bit less traffic on Thurmond vs. Murray.

When you arrive take your 280 to both lakes and see which one you prefer. Both will have plenty of water due to all of the recent rains. If you trailer your 280 to LM, I would recommend using LMM as they have ample parking and a good ramp. LH is fine is well, but their ramp is closed during the summer weekends as parking space is a bit more scarce.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions. FYI, I cannot recall seeing any Strom Thurmond members on the board.
Click to expand...

Searide,

Thanks for all the great information. One concern that I have with Strom Thurmond is that there are very few if any, restuarants or bars on the lake. I currently keep my boat on Norris Lake in TN and we are always traveling to different marinas to go to dinner or just hang out and have a drink. I went to Trade Winds Marina on Strom Thurmond last week and thier dock manager told me there weren't restuarants because there is not enough lake traffic. Another concern is that there weren't very many cruisers in the marina. Mainly houseboats and the dock manager told me that most people just hang out around the dock and never take thier boat out. I am used to tying off in a cove with 5-10 cruisers for the day.

I will check out the marinas you mentioned and then make my decision. I don't have a trailer so I need to decide between one lake or the other when I have it moved from TN this spring.

Thanks again.
 
John,

You will find plenty of socializing at Lighthouse. However, many of their members venture out and actually use their boats. Raft offs are quie common as well, especially at hurrricane hole. Another restaurant/bar/marina is called Spinners on the west end of the lake. Try www.spinnersresort.com. No covered slips though. Southshore Marna has a food shack of some sort.

If you want to check out either lake, rent a canbote for the day and enjoy. I'm happy to help as well on Murray. Just shoot me a PM.
 
I just talked to Lighthouse, Lake Murray and Southshore. I really want a covered slip around lots of restuarants so it looks like Lighthouse is my best option. Right now they do not have any available but they can put me in dry storage and put me on a waiting list for a covered slip. For the type of boating that I like to do, it looks like Lake Murray is the place to be.

I'll shoot you a PM when I get my boat moved and maybe we can hook up for a raft off.

See you in the spring!!
 
As an ex-Ohian (from Cleveland and Columbus), I feel anything is better than Ohio weatherwise and I also like the year round boating as well.

I'll put in another plug for Lake Murray. I was only there once with Charlie (Sea Ride) and some other CSR members but I think it is a great lake based on what I saw. I could still move my boat there too as it is only an hour's drive for me. But right now we are only 10 minutes from Lake Wylie which makes it a lot more convenient so that seems to work best for us.
 
Lake Murray,is a wonderful place to boat.We go there often. Hope to meet you this summer.Welcome. Nicky
 
Thanks Nicky. I'm looking forward to making a whole new set of boating friends in my new southern home. Hopefully I can get my boat moved in the March/April timeframe and I'll see you on the lake.
 
lope4946 said:
Thanks Nicky. I'm looking forward to making a whole new set of boating friends in my new southern home. Hopefully I can get my boat moved in the March/April timeframe and I'll see you on the lake.
Click to expand...

sounds great, we are about 40miles from Murray, so we will be there, stay in touch.
 
John, I keep my boat in a slip at Lighthouse Marina and you will not be disappointed. Great Marina and Lake Murray is incredible. I will start plugging for you with the folks in charge. Not a lot of movement in the covered slips, but enough that I would be surprised if you are not in within 6 months. If you need any help or info just let me know.
Mark
 
Mark,

Any help you can get me on a covered slip would be great. The woman I talked to on Saturday told me I need to get to know Stan (Marina Mgr) and he would be able to help me when one comes available. An old HS friend who lives in Lexington, SC saw on my Facebook that I was relocating to SC. She said Lake Murray is definetly the place to be. I'm really excited and can't wait for spring now. I'll be working at the Savannah River Site near Aiken.

Thanks again and I look forward to meeting all my new CSR friends on the lake.

John
 
If you like Lake Murray (my favorite) you should look into Aiken SC. It is closer to both Lake Murray and the Savannah River Site. It is 45 miles (all country roads) to Spinners Marina on the south side or 70 miles to Lighthouse Marina on the Northeast side.

Lake Murray is ~525 acres with a very populated shoreline. Strom Thurmond Lake (Clark Hill Reservoir to old timers) is ~650,000 acres with few shoreline residences. Both have underwater hazards, depending on varying lake levels over the year, but you can quickly learn them from locals.

Aiken SC is very small ~35,000 population and located 20 to 35 miles north of the Savannah River Site (SRS) and is one of the ten best places to live as listed in several national surveys. If you choose Thurmond, look into the small northwestern suburb of Augusta, Evans Ga. It is located between Augusta and Thurmond. Down side; it is 35 to 70 miles from the Site depending on where on the Site you will be working. The Site is over 300 sq miles in size. Good side; Thurmond is only 15 miles away from the marina (Tradewinds) that you visited.
 
SeaRay210,

I've looked at real estate in Aiken but it is very expensive there. I can get a lot more house for the money by going to Ga. I am meeting with a realtor on Wednesday and we are going to look at houses in Evans and Martinez. Thurmond looks like a nice lake, but I want more entertainment and places to go eat which is why I will probably end up on Murray. To me, driving 1.5 hours to the lake is no big deal. In the summer, I drive four hours every weekend to go from Cincinnati to Norris Lake in TN.

Thanks again for the pros and cons of each lake and suggestions on where to live.
 
Clark Hill Lake (Lake Thurmond) is a wonderful lake. Only problem we have is the Corp of engineers not maintaining the lake level during "boating season". To me this discourages business from locating on the lake.
One good thing about this is during "non holidays" you pretty much have the lake to yourself.
 
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