About Us

Oconee County is known as the “Mountain Lakes Region” because of the climate, beautiful lakes, and the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

VISIT OCONEE SC is a destination marketing organization focused on bringing visitors into Oconee County to stay overnight, dine at our restaurants, shop at our retail stores, and visit our tourism destinations.

We highlight the spectacular assets and natural wonders that are unique to our area. We offer resources so people from other places will come and stay in one of our picturesque mountain towns and enjoy all that Oconee County has to offer!

Outdoor recreation and adventure is our calling card. Oconee is truly blessed with pristine, protected forests (over 90,000 acres!), primitive lakes surrounded by the Blue Ridge mountains with waterfalls that you can pull your boat up to and swim under, other lakes that are perfect for your favorite water sports, trails to 29 waterfalls, world class white water rafting and paddling on the infamous nationally designated Wild and Scenic Chattooga River, renown trophy fishing with one world record and five state records for Trout and Bass, lake front State and County Parks with cabins, camping and RV sites, great bicycling through canopied mountain back roads and, generally, just a great place to hang out, dip your feet in cold mountain stream and relax in the great outdoors!

Come visit and see for yourself why National Geographic calls this area one of the “World’s Last Great Places – A Destination of a Lifetime”!

Area Information

Video Overview

Online Guidebook

Our Team

Ken Sloan

Ken is the President & CEO of VISIT OCONEE SC where he leads Oconee County’s marketing and tourism efforts.

Ken lives in on Lake Keowee and has a passion for the outdoors. He spends most of his spare time hiking to waterfalls with his son, daughter and pet wolves (“Possum” and “Cherokee”). He loves boating on Lake Jocassee, paddling on the Chattooga River and fly fishing the Chattooga and Chauga Rivers.

Charlotte Waters

Charlotte is the Sales Manager for VISIT OCONEE SC, and also serves as the Event Planner. While she spends a large majority of her time managing the bi-annual publication of the Visitors Guide and contributing to Social Media.

Charlotte lives in Westminster and enjoys working with event organizations and participants that visit the area including Road Titans 300, a three-day cycling challenge.

Chanda Morrison

Chanda produces the VISIT OCONEE SC monthly newsletter, which highlights area happenings and showcases recreational opportunities in Oconee County. She handles newsletter subscriptions and Visitors Guide requests, and maintains this website.

Chanda lives in Mountain Rest with her husband and three daughters. Her interests include: hiking, swimming, rafting the nearby Chattooga River, promoting the Long Creek community, sewing, and turning “trash into treasure”.

The Southeast Tourism Society (STS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of tourism representing 12 states in the Southeast United States. Each year, STS honors “Tourism’s Best & Brightest in the Southeast” with the prestigious Shining Example Award. The award recognizes outstanding contributions in professional tourism across member states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia & West Virginia.

“Shining Example Awards highlight some of the best work in travel and tourism, and winners truly set examples that others in the industry can follow,” said STS President and CEO Bill Hardman.

In 2011, after just three years of operation, the Mountain Lakes CVB was honored to receive the award. Ken Sloan, President & CEO of Mountain Lakes CVB, accepted the unique lantern that symbolizes this coveted acknowledgement.