Swan Lake Iris Gardens - Sumter, South Carolina

caitlin F.

We really enjoyed our visit to Swan Lake! We drove 2 hours and had a lovely time walking around and watching all the beautiful swans. The kids, ages 8-15, all enjoyed both seeing the animals and the plants. The playground was also pretty fun with the old fire truck that they could climb on.

Josh M.

Lovely scenic walk around the lake. I was expecting to see one or two swans, but there had to be about 100. There are supposed to be 8 different varieties and i saw 5, very impressed. The Irises weren't in bloom, but the cypress trees were beautiful and there are some winter-flowering bushes on the small island (connected to by a covered bridge).

Rivkah F.

I come here so often and I never get bored (which tells a lot about a place)
Not pet friendly but I love it that way as it protects all the bird species here. Theres signs up telling you all about the different types of swans. Theres a walking loop around the lake and they have a little area for birds that need some extra care🫶🏼
there’s bathrooms, picnic tables, picnic shelters, a playground and every December they have the lights and they also do an annual iris festival. They have many different types of plants, trees + gardens. I could go on and on but I recommend you seeing this place for yourself 🤩🌿

Dolores B.

Beautiful place to walk or picnic. We went in February and I’m sure this place will become even more beautiful in the spring and summer when all of the flowers start blooming. We will most certainly be back.

kimberly M.

We are locals from Sumter and have grown up with Swan Lake. Tonight i'm just reviewing the festival of lights, christmas lights.

Every year the light display gets bigger. We also still see a lot of the lights that have been up there since my children were small and they're in their thirties now.

Kids and families can walk around the lights, the park gates close at dusk. After you drive around the inside of the park, you can just take a ride out of the park, and there's a whole different area of lights that's been up and running about 25 years.

It's always a joy to see what they add new each year.

Meredith

It lived up to what it said it is, the animals where friendly as long as you didn't get to close which is what the park recommends, it's very beautiful here.

Teamtav

What a nice leisurly stroll we had through here waiting to go to lunch. The swans and geese were out in large numbers. This was very nice to see as I live in a part of the country where the bird flu is wiping out our swans in large numbers. The black swans were so interesting and we got to see a pair making a nest. The area is very clean and there are many spots to stop and just watch nature.

Linda B.

LOVE ❤️ the serenity and the peaceful setting with natural beauty, taste of wildlife, and the majesty of Swans and various birds.