Walhalla is a gateway to the scenic delights of the state’s northwest corner, which is dominated by the beautiful forest-clad Blue Ridge Mountains and dotted with attractive lakes and waterfalls. The town of Walhalla, just north of US-76, is located on the Cherokee Foothills Scenic Highway (SC-11) which offers a gorgeous scenic drive through the area. There are several parks in the area, most of which have excellent picnic areas, walking trails, and camping areas.

The lakeside parks offer fishing, swimming, boating, and canoeing. Some of these have a park store and canoe rentals.

Five miles north of Walhalla is the sublime 200-foot cascade of Issaqueena Falls, which is connected to Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel Park by a nature trail.

Further north, beyond Salem, are Devils Fork State Park on the shores of bracing Lake Jocassee, and the two whitewater falls that straddle the border and drop 400 feet over rocky terrain.

To the northwest of Walhalla, near the settlement of Mountain Park, is Oconee State Park. The lakes and stonework were created by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

To the west of Walhalla is the tumultuous Chattooga River which constitutes 40 miles of the Georgia state border. It drops in altitude an average of 49 feet per mile as it makes its way through Sumter National Forest. Its rapids, which make it ideal for rafting, canoeing, and kayaking, were made famous in the award-winning movie \”Deliverance,\” starring Jon Voight, which was based on the novel of the same name by James Dickey.

To the southeast of Walhalla is Lake Hartwell State Park, at the intersection of I-85 and SC-11.

To the east of Walhalla, on the shores of Lake Keowee, is Toxaway State Park, a forest-clad oasis that features some of nature’s most beautiful lakes and rivers.

It was just to the south of this site that European explorers found Keowee, the capital of the lower Cherokee nation, and the Keowee River. The Cherokee people are remembered through artifacts and exhibits in the park’s interpretive center.