Beautiful Places: The Timeless Beauty of South Carolina State Parks

Chad Prosser with Photography by Jon O. Holloway
Greenleaf Book Group Press (2009)
ISBN 9780979875809
Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (8/09)


Chad Prosser and photographer Jon O. Holloway have created a beautiful coffee table book commemorating the 75th anniversary of South Carolina State Parks.  The gorgeous photos of the areas in “Beautiful Places” are first-class and one can easily be mesmerized by the beauty found in each one. However, there is more; the book not only shows off the magnificence but also gives details of history and the progression since the unveiling of South Carolina’s first state park in January 1934 contributed by parks historian Cal Harrison.

We all hear of Myrtle Beach and other coastal areas and could assume that’s the only place in South Carolina that calls on the beauty, however, there is so much more to explore. In fact, there are 47 park locations: The Coast; The Midlands; the Upstate.  Going through each page I was quickly drawn into the exquisiteness of each park.  The landscape, the wildlife, the flora, and the sculptures are well depicted and give a fair representation of the area. I was also enthralled by the reflections the photographer was able to capture.

Personally I’ve only been through some of the parks in the Greenville and Spartanburg areas and was able to find the beauty in the enchanted forests.  After perusing “Beautiful Places,” South Carolina is definitely a state that is on my “must visit” list. 

In “Beautiful Places: The Timeless Beauty of South Carolina State Parks,” Prosser, Holloway and Harrison have given us an arm-chair glimpse into the gorgeousness of South Carolina.  The journey spent reflecting and admiring the splendor in this book is a wonderful way to entice us to get out of our arm-chair and visit the state.  I’m sure we wouldn’t be disappointed!

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