Lake Hartwell or Lake Keowee good for skiing?

[trueblue41]

Looking to move to the SC upstate area and inquiring about their lakes around Greenville. Hoping to plan a trip to go to a few to check them out in person, but would love any advice on which lakes are good/bad for skiing.

Note, we are amateurs, no salom skiing for us. But we do a little bit of everything as a family but do need some smoother waters for our SN to suffice in. rough crowded areas where its tough to get any space to pull anyone is what we want to avoid.

Lake Hartwell and Keowee seem to be the two popular lakes while Jocassee up north is more distant and colder.

[Interjon]

Just for your information, if you are ever interested in slalom (course) skiing, hit up ballofspray forum. The folks there would be pleased to tell you about private ski lakes and clubs in your area.

[Miljack]

We have friends on Keowee and have been out with them more than a few times. The lake is very busy on the weekends, it's a fairly large lake. That said, if you're out early, you can find very nice water to ski/watersports. During the week, it's pretty quiet. Hartwell is a huge lake and is very busy on the weekends, but again, many coves to find good water early.

[trueblue41]

Miljack, we do lots of skiing after work around 4-5pm during the week. But we also like to go out most saturdays and sundays.

for the weekend, we like to get out around 10am... you think we'd be able to get out early, cruise a bit further away from the busy docks and still find some fingers and coves on Keowee where its not super rough waters and away from bad crowds?

Our 84 CC just cannot handle big rough waters, so we'd launch our boat at the smallest boat ramp and do as much cruising as we could to get away from roughed up waters

[angrygiraffe]

Lake Keowee is usually the go-to for families — clear water and plenty of good spots for skiing if you go early. Hartwell is bigger, but it can get pretty busy on weekends. Jocassee is beautiful, just a bit colder and more remote, so less crowded.

[Parley]

For amateur family skiing near Greenville, Lake Keowee is often the best choice. It generally has clearer water, quieter coves, and more manageable boat traffic, making it easier to find smooth stretches for skiing or tubing.

Lake Hartwell is much larger and offers plenty of space, but it can get crowded, especially on weekends, leading to choppier water that’s tougher for beginners.

Lake Jocassee is stunning and very clean, but it’s more remote and less convenient for frequent watersports.

Overall, Keowee is your safest bet for calm, family-friendly conditions.

[SkipGundlach]

I dunno if you've already purchased, but our area of Hartwell is ideal.

We live at the top of the keyhole peninsula to the east; ski water for us is to the west (see charts below). Flat water ALWAYS in the AM, and mostly - other than when the camp across the way in SC does their banana boat churn (3 different boats, all towing 8-kid bananas).

That camp might not open this year due to the drought which has the lake down 7' +/- daily variations - but there's plenty of skiing water.
The view out my loft office window, and the satmap view:

Here's my same-area chart:

Building lots and homes for sale in the area; ramp for in/out around the corner of the top and just before the bridge to the west all make it easy.

That keyhole peninsula is the eastern side of Stephens County in NE GA...

I hope to be in it, skiing again, in less than a week (see my "Back at it" post...)

L8R
Skip