Possible South Carolina county-collecting trip

[hbelkins]

(Crossposted to the Road Trips board...)

I may have the opportunity to take a trip, and the closest and most feasible state in which to finish visiting all the counties is South Carolina.

The counties I need to complete the state are all in the southeastern part and can be seen at

I've developed a plan of attack but want to get some input on my routing and other options.

I intend to start out from Wytheville and finish up all of I-77 in the Carolinas. Unfortunately that puts me going through Charlotte and Columbia, but from there I've tried to minimize Interstate mileage and also to avoid as many congested areas as possible.

My intent is to take I-26 south (yeah, I know it's technically east) to pick up Calhoun and Orangeburg, then US 601 north to US 378 east to US 521. That gets me Sumter, Clarendon, Williamsburg and Georgetown. Then Alt. US 17 south to get Berkeley, and US 52 south to get Charleston County. From there US 78 west to pick up a sliver of Dorchester, then I-26 south (east) to the outer counterclockwise loop of I-526 around to US 17. Then US 17 south netting Colleton, Beaufort and Jasper, then hop on I-95 north to grab Hampton, then west on SC 68 to US 278 west to pick up Allendale. From there US 321 north to visit Bamberg, then U-turn to US 301 south to SC 300 north to finish up with Bamwell, then U-turn back to US 301.

From there, I will probably head south to Georgia, use GA 21 and I-95 to fill in some holes and go to the Brunswick area, and start north on US 1 via GA 32 and get as much as I can on the return trip -- filling in a four-county hole north of Atlanta consisting of Forsyth, Pickens, Dawson and Lumpkin.

Any suggested tweaks on the route to avoid congestion? Sumter, where I will leave US 378 for US 521, may be a pain. The only other good alternative I see to pick up Sumter County is to stay on I-26 to I-95 north, then go north on 521 into Sumter County and then U-turn, but that's more Interstate mileage and I like traveling the surface routes because there's more interesting sights and signage. (But that would get me Dorchester if I went south to the US 15 exit and then U-turned before heading back to I-95 north and keep me from having to go up to Summerville to pick up Dorchester.

Also, any recommended places for lodging? I tend to favor Super 8, Days Inn, Econo Lodge, Quality Inn-type establishments and will be especially looking for Wyndham brands since I have some gift cards I can use to take $25 off each stay. I'm guessing Wytheville to Columbia will take about four hours, so I will have about seven hours of travel time left if I'm on I-26 by noon. (I like to get my room around 7 p.m. so I can get settled in). I'm not sure where my zig-zag route will have me ending up about that time.

Any regional burger chains I should try out? Something on the order of Culver's or Cook Out?

I'd probably do this trip in late July.

[Mapmikey]

This would get you far less interstate and avoid more congested areas:

Leave I-77 at SC 34 E to US 521 S to SC 261 S (Sumter Co) to US 76 W to US 601 S (Calhoun Co) to SC 267 S (Orangeburg Co) to SC 6 E to I-95 N (Clarendon Co) to SC 261 E to US 521 S (Williamsburg, Georgetown Co) to US 17 ALT S to Powell Rd S-22-24 SE to US 17 S (Charleston Co) to SC 45 W (Berkeley Co) to US 17 ALT S to SC 6 W to Cooper Store Rd S-8-16 SW to US 176 W to Cypress Campground Rd S-8-32 (Dorchester Co) which becomes SC 173 to SC 27 S to SC 61 W (Colleton Co) to SC 217 W (Bamberg Co) to SC 64 W then either use this into Barnwell Co and turn around to US 321 S or use US 301 to SC 300 N to Barnwell Co and turnaround; US 321 S (Allendale Co) to US 278 E (Hampton Co) to SC 68 E to US 21 S (Beaufort Co) to US 17 S (Jasper Co).

Then if you want you can go to Georgia at Savannah or if you want to be upstream you can use SC 462 W over to US 321 to SC 119 S into Georgia.

[hbelkins]

^^

Except that would take away a clinch of I-77, which I'd like to accomplish. I already have all of it in Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia, and hardly any of it in either of the Carolinas.

[Mapmikey]

^^

Except that would take away a clinch of I-77, which I'd like to accomplish. I already have all of it in Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia, and hardly any of it in either of the Carolinas.

You can do that, make a brief reversal and just take US 76 into Sumter County and turn around back to SC 263 or US 601 and pick up my suggested route after that...

Note that it is often crowded on your original plan from US 52 from Goose Creek  until you are a few miles south of I-526 along US 17.  Note also that US 78 doesn't reach Dorchester County until just outside Summerville so it would make more sense to use US 17 ALT from Moncks Corner to SC 165 (just south of I-26) and cut over to US 78 to head back east towards I-26, if you still want to do the metro Charleston area path.