Fishing Spots Near North Charleston Open in Winter
Inside North Charleston, the easiest winter cast is at North Charleston Riverfront Park, a fishing pier on the Cooper River that the city lists as open year-round. To fish after dark in January, go to Mount Pleasant Pier under the Ravenel Bridge, which keeps 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. hours from January through March.
What winter changes on this list is closing time. The gated county parks shorten their days, down to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at James Island County Park in November and December, while the ungated boat landings such as W.O. Thomas Jr. on the Ashley and Remley's Point on the Wando post no closing time at all. The other choice is how you reach the water: seven of the twelve are piers you walk out on, and the rest are docks, landings or open bank.
Our picks
- Fishing after dark in midwinter: Mount Pleasant Pier. Fishing runs 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. from January to March on a 1,250-foot pier, with a cafe and heated restrooms on shore.
- A year-round pier in North Charleston: North Charleston Riverfront Park. A pier on the Cooper River at Park Circle, listed by the city as open year-round with no seasonal shutdown.
- Free, with no gate to wait on: W.O. Thomas Jr. Boat Landing. A courtesy dock on the Ashley River with no charge and no gate, plus a pavilion and picnic tables.
- Open-ocean fishing without a boat: Edwin S. Taylor Folly Beach Fishing Pier. More than a thousand feet out into the Atlantic, $7 a day for adults, with parking cut to $5 in January and February.
- A freshwater river trip: Givhans Ferry State Park. Catfish, striped and largemouth bass and red breast on the blackwater Edisto, with gates open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in winter.
At a glance
| Option | Address | Access Type | Setting | Water | Winter Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1010 Tidewater Rd, North Charleston, SC 29405source | Fishing piersource | Riversource | Cooper Riversource | ||
| 4398 Bridge View Dr, North Charleston, SC 29405source | Boat landingsource | Riversource | Ashley Riversource | ||
| 1061 Everglades Ave, North Charleston, SC 29405source | Fishing piersource | Riversource | Cooper Riversource | Open year-roundsource | |
| Sam Rittenberg Blvd, Charleston, SC 29407source | Fishing piersource | Riversource | Ashley Riversource | Sunrise to Sunsetsource | |
| 80 5th Ave, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464source | Boat landingsource | Riversource | Wando Riversource | ||
| 71 Harry Hallman Jr Blvd, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464source | Fishing piersource | Harborsource | Charleston Harborsource | January-March: 7 a.m. - 10 p.m.source | |
| 972 Pitt Street, Mount Pleasant, SCsource | Fishing piersource | Harborsource | Cove Inletsource | ||
| 444 Needlerush Pkwy, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464source | Fishing docksource | Creeksource | Horlbeck Creeksource | September - December: 8 a.m. - Sunsetsource | |
| 1251 Park West Blvd, Mount Pleasant, SC 29466source | Boardwalk & banksource | Lakesource | Open daily from sunrise to sunsetsource | ||
| 871 Riverland Dr, Charleston, SC 29412source | Fishing piersource | Riversource | Stono Riversource | November-December: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.source | |
| 101 East Arctic Ave, Folly Beach, SC 29439source | Fishing piersource | Oceansource | Atlantic Oceansource | January – February: 8 a.m. - Sunsetsource | |
| 746 Givhans Ferry RD, Ridgeville, SC 29472source | Boardwalk & banksource | Riversource | Edisto Riversource | 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., dailysource |
Winter closing times, park by park
The county's day-use parks all close by dusk in the cold months. James Island is the tightest at 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through November and December, when the Holiday Festival of Lights takes over its evenings. Palmetto Islands runs 8 a.m. to sunset from September to December, and the Folly Beach pier 8 a.m. to sunset in January and February, with no fishing allowed after dark. Northbridge Park and Laurel Hill both go sunrise to sunset, and Givhans Ferry keeps 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Mount Pleasant Pier is the exception, open until 10 p.m. through March. The landings and the Pitt Street Bridge pier publish no hours because nothing is gated, and Cooper River County Park & Marina has no published seasonal closure. Mount Pleasant Pier closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day, so check before a holiday trip.
Pier, dock, landing or bank
Piers do most of the work here. At Cooper River County Park & Marina, fishing is limited to a marked stretch of the concrete north pier, since the rest of the dock belongs to boaters. Northbridge Park's 200-foot pier on the Ashley was built because people were already fishing that stretch with nowhere safe to stand. At the Pitt Street Bridge, the pier sits where Cove Inlet meets Charleston Harbor, and the current through that gap keeps fish moving all winter.
The two county landings have courtesy docks you can fish from, but their parking is only for people using the landing, and the county has flagged damaged concrete at the end of W.O. Thomas Jr.'s middle ramp. Palmetto Islands puts you on a dock over Horlbeck Creek, while Laurel Hill and Givhans Ferry are bank fishing, on a small lake and along the Edisto.
Fees and fishing licenses
The two big piers charge a daily fishing fee of $7 for adults, and Folly Beach adds parking. The gated parks charge admission per person instead: $1 at Laurel Hill, $2 at James Island and Palmetto Islands, and $6 at Givhans Ferry. The landings, Riverfront Park and Pitt Street post no fee at all.
Licenses catch people out. A saltwater license is required to fish the tidal creeks at Palmetto Islands and James Island, and Givhans Ferry requires a valid South Carolina fishing license for the river.
The options in detail
Cooper River County Park & Marina
The closest thing North Charleston has to a dedicated public fishing pier, sitting on the Cooper River a few minutes off Spruill Avenue at the county's full-service marina. Fishing and crabbing are confined to a marked stretch of the concrete north pier, so read the signs before you set up; the rest of the dock system belongs to boaters. Because it is a working marina rather than a gated park, there is no admission booth and no published seasonal closure, which is why it stays a reliable cold-weather option when the county's day-use parks cut their hours. Bring your own bait and expect a bare, breezy pier with restrooms and a ship's store on shore.
W.O. Thomas Jr. Boat Landing
A county boat landing on the Ashley River inside North Charleston, and one of the few places in the city limits where you can fish from a courtesy dock without paying anything or waiting for a gate to open. The landing has a pavilion and picnic tables, so it doubles as a place to spend an afternoon rather than just a launch ramp. Charleston County currently warns that the concrete at the end of the middle ramp is damaged and asks boaters to use caution at low and mid tide, though the landing itself remains open. Parking is limited and reserved for people actively using the landing.
North Charleston Riverfront Park
Built on the old Navy base at Park Circle, this is the easiest winter cast in North Charleston: a wide lawn on the Cooper River with a fishing pier, grand oaks and a view straight down the harbor. The city describes it as open year-round, and because it is a passive park rather than a gated attraction there is no seasonal shutdown to work around. Noisette Creek borders the north side and a pedestrian bridge added in 2022 opened up more shoreline to walk. It doubles as an event lawn, so a concert or festival weekend is the one thing likely to crowd you off the water.
Northbridge Park
A small City of Charleston park tucked under the Northbridge on the West Ashley side, about fifteen minutes from North Charleston. It was built in 2014 around a dock and a 200-foot pier specifically because people had been fishing and crabbing that stretch of the Ashley River for years without anywhere safe to stand. There is a canoe and kayak launch beside the pier, a picnic area and a handful of parking spaces, and the park runs sunrise to sunset all year, so short winter days are the only real constraint. It is compact and gets busy on mild afternoons.
Remley's Point Boat Landing
A county landing on the Wando River just across the Cooper from North Charleston, with a courtesy dock, bench seating and accessible paved parking that make it usable whether or not you own a boat. Charleston County calls it a welcoming spot for boaters and anglers of all abilities, and the paved routes to the launch area are unusually good for a public landing. There is no gate and no published seasonal closure, which is what earns it a place on a winter list. Parking is designated for active landing users only, so it is not somewhere to leave a car for the day.
Mount Pleasant Pier
The 1,250-foot pier under the Ravenel Bridge is the local pick for cold-weather fishing, largely because sheepshead stack up on the old bridge pilings it was built from once the water drops. It keeps 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. hours through January to March, so unlike the county's day-use parks you can still fish it after dark in midwinter. There is a daily fishing fee of $7 for adults, rod rentals, and a cafe and heated restrooms at the landward end, which matters more than it sounds in February wind. It closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
Pitt Street Bridge
The causeway of the old Pitt Street bridge in Mount Pleasant's Old Village dead-ends at a fishing pier where Cove Inlet opens into Charleston Harbor, and the current running through that gap is what keeps fish moving past all winter. Local write-ups list blue crabs, flounder, bass and trout off the pier, and paddlers use the same spot to launch into the surrounding creeks. It is an unstaffed town park with no booth and no posted fee, so the practical limits are daylight and the small roadside parking area. The view of the Ravenel Bridge and Fort Sumter is the reason people linger.
Palmetto Islands County Park
A 943-acre county park in Mount Pleasant whose fishing is done from a dock built out over a tidal creek, with boardwalks through maritime forest and marsh leading to it. Winter is arguably the best time to walk it: the waterpark and the crowds are gone, the park runs 8 a.m. to sunset from September through December, and admission is only $2 a person. The Department of Natural Resources requires a saltwater license to fish the tidal creeks here, which catches out visitors who assume a park pond. Personal kayaks are barred from the pond but allowed on Horlbeck Creek from the park's kayak dock.
Laurel Hill County Park
The quiet freshwater option on this list: 745 acres of trails, meadows and oak allee in north Mount Pleasant, with a small lake you fish from the bank rather than a built dock. It is the cheapest gated park in the county system at $1 a person and runs sunrise to sunset every day, so winter simply means a shorter window rather than a closure. Expect bream and bass water rather than anything you would drive an hour for. Come for a walk with a rod along, not for a dedicated fishing trip.
James Island County Park
A big, well-run county park on the Stono River with fishing and crabbing spots along the marsh edge and a pier that regional fishing directories list by name. Winter hours are the shortest of any park here at 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through November and December, and the Holiday Festival of Lights takes over the park in the evenings, so plan on a daytime trip. Admission is $2 per person. A saltwater license is required for the tidal creeks, and the park rents pedal boats and kayaks if you would rather get off the bank.
Edwin S. Taylor Folly Beach Fishing Pier
The only true ocean pier in the group, rebuilt and reopened in 2023 and reaching more than a thousand feet into the Atlantic off Folly Beach. It is the longest drive on this list at roughly forty minutes from North Charleston, but it is also the only place near the city where you can fish open surf without a boat. Winter hours run 8 a.m. to sunset in January and February, fishing after sunset is not allowed, and daily fishing is $7 for adults with rod rentals and frozen bait sold on the pier. Parking drops to $5 in January and February, and walk-ins and cyclists pay nothing to park.
Givhans Ferry State Park
The freshwater trip worth making from North Charleston, about forty minutes out on the Edisto, the longest free-flowing blackwater river in North America. State park staff list flathead, channel and blue catfish, red breast, largemouth and striped bass, shellcrackers and eels in the river here, and a valid South Carolina fishing license is required. Winter narrows the day rather than closing the park: gates run 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and only stretch to 9 p.m. during daylight saving. Admission is $6 for adults, and high bluffs over the river make it a genuinely pretty place to spend a cold morning.
How we researched this
The list starts in North Charleston and widens outward: three spots in the city, six within about 15 to 25 minutes, and three longer drives kept on purpose, since without Folly Beach, Laurel Hill and Givhans Ferry every row would be a tidal river or creek, with no ocean, lake or freshwater river. Winter Hours are copied as each operator publishes them, so the month ranges differ from row to row. Where that column is empty, no hours are posted: Charleston County lists none for its ungated boat landings, the Cooper River marina publishes only its office hours (which say nothing about when you can fish), and the town posts none for Pitt Street.
Brittlebank Park's pier on the Ashley would have been a strong close-in choice, but the city lists it as closed for repair. Four Poles Park on Noisette Creek has a newly rebuilt pier in North Charleston, but it has no posted hours, no photo and only an intersection for an address, so it stays off for now. Wannamaker County Park never describes its fishing access, and Old Santee Canal Park never says fishing is allowed. Northbridge Park publishes only a road name, so its map pin sits about a mile from the pier. Before a trip, check the county's landing notices and current license rules.