Highpointers wanting to get a new view from the highest point of South Carolina will have to wait just a bit longer as reports out of the Palmetto State indicate that construction on a 15-foot observation tower on Sassafras Mountain will be delayed until Spring 2017.
Sassafras Mountain has undergone extensive changes during this decade. An observation deck adjacent to a parking lot near the summit was completed in 2013. While it is not located on the highest point of the state, the deck does allow for views into North Carolina.
2014 saw a radical change to the summit as the forest surrounding the area was cleared to prepare for the construction of an observation tower and to open up a view that had been previously unavailable. On days without many clouds and low humidity, it is estimated that one can see 50 miles from the summit of the mountain, a view that encompasses four states.
Sassafras Mountain F. Van Clayton Highway or from the Foothills Trail.
The tower wasn’t started in the Spring of 2017 and no ETA on when/if it will be completed. The deck is nice and there is a summit block on the actual summit. Since the trees have cleared the view it okay from the top. A good video from the summit can be viewed here: https://www.hdcarolina.com/episode/sassafras-mountain