Wi-fi access becoming prevalent at campgrounds

FLORENCE — The way people enjoy the outdoors in South Carolina is taking a turn in a different direction as wireless Internet access is becoming more prevalent at campsites and inside parks.

Wanda Griffis lives inside KOA Campgrounds in Florence. She said she uses Internet for just about everything.

“I depend on it,” she said. “I work with stocks and real estate, and I use the Internet for work.”

Griffis said her husband and she moved to Florence from Louisiana and said the KOA campground is one of the first that has properly working Wi-Fi.

“The signal here is high, and it is very quick,” she said. “We don’t really have a stationary house because we travel a lot, and in our 13 years doing so, this is the best place we’ve been to.”

Stephen Anderson, operations manager at the campground, said the whole site has a Wi-Fi cloud hovering above it and added that people have really responded to the service.

“We have a lot of folks who will ask if we have Internet access,” he said. “If it’s down, people definitely come and let us know.”

Across the state, free wireless Internet access is available in and around the ranger station at Myrtle Beach State Park and in and around the park store at Devils Fork State Park on Lake Jocassee.

S.C. Park Director Phil Gaines said the service also is available in and around the visitor’s center on S.C. 11 at Table Rock State Park, in and around the office at Santee State Park on Lake Marion, and at the Drummond Conference Center at Lake Greenwood State Recreation Area.

“We have started the process, and we’ve got seven parks now that are wireless,” he said. “Our goal is to add more and more and it’s been very successful.“

Gaines said the world is a computer-aided one and said nature has had to adapt to the change, as well.

“Our society is so connected to the Internet now,” he said. “What we’re trying to say is, come on over to one of our parks and you’ll be able to connect to the wireless world, but also at the same time walk away from the computer and get reconnected to the natural world.“

There are no state parks in the Pee Dee that have wireless service, but Gaines said Cheraw State Park in Chesterfield County could be in the next wave of parks to get Wi-Fi.

“It’s part of the way this generation is geared, and the computer is one of the things people bring with them everywhere,” he said.

Teresa Young, supervisor of the Environmental Discovery Center at Lynches River County Park in Florence County, said the center’s had wireless capability since it opened Feb. 22, although she said not too many people know about it or use it.

“We have computers here so people come in to use them when they want to know more information about the park,” she said. “We rarely see people using the service, but when people use the center for large meetings or when we had a large class from out of state stay overnight, they all brought their own computers and used the wireless Internet.”

Young said the park hoped to spread the signal but was unable to do so because of the density of the trees.

“We aren’t sure if we will ever be able to expand the service,” she said. “We thought it would be good for parents and visitors over at the other end of the park near the splash pad to work while their children play.”

All four agree on one thing: whether visiting a state park, a county park or a local campground, people don’t go very far these days without being able to use their cell phones and communication devices.
According to the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, natural, cultural and recreational resources attract more than 7 million visitors a year.