Popular ‘mountain man’ dies after a lifetime of study and education in SC’s Blue Ridge
Dennis Chastain, an outdoors writer, naturalist and storyteller known in South Carolina for his vast knowledge of the southern Blue Ridge mountains, died last week at his home after a brief illness.
The 73-year-old Chastain spent much of his life in the mountains of Pickens County, studying nature and recounting in newspaper and magazine stories what he’d found. He had extensive knowledge of Appalachian history, in addition to the environment surrounding his home near Table Rock State Park.
His familiarity with the rugged mountain landscape was so deep he was once called a modern-day Daniel Boone. Friends say he knew more about the terrain of Pickens County’s mountains than almost anyone.
Grizzled and often carrying a hiking stick, Chastain was a fixture in the mountains, sometimes leading tours for state officials and journalists.
During one tour in 1997 for The State, Chastain spent hours highlighting the plants and animals in and around Sassafras Mountain and Laurel Fork Creek. During the tour he pointed out sprouts of American chestnut trees and wild-growing sassafras, as well as cherry trees that had been trampled by black bears.
He was well known in state government for his stances on environmental protection, hunting and the history of the mountains where he lived. In 2019, the state House of Representatives honored him with a resolution for his “commitment and leadership to conservation in the Upstate and to the preservation of the rich history of that region.’’
One of Chastain’s endearing qualities was his ability to talk with people, even those he disagreed with, like they were good friends, said Frank Holleman, an Upstate conservationist who knew Chastain for 40 years.
“Dennis was very approachable, very much understood the culture and personalities of the place where he lived in Pickens County and surrounding areas,’’ Holleman said. “He had a great ability to communicate to all kinds of people — everybody from the old man who lived in a holler to the Ph.d. researcher from a major university.’’
Chastain, a Winthrop University graduate, had a hand in saving some of the most biologically and historically important land in the South Carolina mountains.
He was a vocal supporter of the Jocassee Gorges protection effort in 1997 that saved some 33,000 acres from development. He also helped locate ancient Indian carvings in the rock faces of Pickens County.
One of his biggest achievements was helping to protect the top of 3,500-foot Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina’s highest peak, from development.
When the Jocassee Gorges deal closed, the top of Sassafras was not included. Chastain and Eastatoee Valley resident Wes Cooler took steps to make the public aware, talking with media outlets and interest groups about the need for protection.
The land was eventually saved by the state Department of Natural Resources, and today, a viewing stand sits atop Sassafras Mountain, a place many school children learn about in South Carolina as its highest peak.
Cooler, who described Chastain as a college-educated mountain man, remembers one of the ways he and Chastain helped draw attention to Sassafras. The top of the mountain was a tangle of trees and brush. So they took it upon themselves one day to clear out the overgrowth so that state officials could see the expansive view from the top.
In a 2019 interview, Chastain told The State that protecting Sassafras from developers meant a lot to him.
“If this plan had not played out the way it did, because of the nature of where this property was situated, this would be the site of somebody’s million dollar home with this unique view,’’ he said. “And it just thrills me to no end that it belongs to the people of South Carolina and everybody has access.’’
Chastain also almost single-handedly persuaded the state to protect an area of the mountains near S.C. 11 called Poe Creek as a state forest, Cooler said. Chastain and Cooler drove to Columbia, showed the state Forestry Commission all of the hills and natural features at Poe Creek, and soon thereafter, the land was preserved.
He is credited with discovering wildflowers never before recorded in Pickens County, according to an obituary posted this week.
Mark Hall, a former manager of the Jocassee Gorges for the DNR, said Chastain was invaluable in helping him map out the terrain when the state of South Carolina took control of the property after its acquisition in the late 1990s. Pat Robertson, a former outdoors writer with The State, said Chastain knew the area so well he could find the best spots to hunt and fish -- including a place where he pulled in a massive brown trout one summer, at a time when trout weren’t biting.
Chastain was a native of Slater in rural Greenville County, but his ancestors lived in Pickens County near where he established a home along S.C. 11, the scenic highway that runs along the Blue Ridge mountains.
He died peacefully, said his wife, Jane Fields Chastain. He had been suffering from a cold but it did not seem serious, she said.
On Friday (Nov. 21), as usual, he brought her a cup of coffee about 5 a.m., which was a daily ritual.
“Love you lots,’’’ he told Jane after giving her the coffee, she said. Then he went back to bed. When she went upstairs hours later, she found him unresponsive.
Jane Chastain, who met Dennis while in college at Winthrop University, said she was proud of the things her husband accomplished in his life. And she isn’t alone, she said. He was well recognized for his knowledge and work ethic, she said.
“I feel like I married a rock star,’’ she said. “Everybody seems to have heard and known about Dennis.’’
Dennis Chastain is survived by his wife, Jane; his sister, Dorothy Chastain Cantrell; his brother and sister-in-law David and Patricia DuBose Chastain; and his niece Laurie Chastain. An informal gathering will be held to celebrate Chastain’s life Dec. 6 in the Heritage Pavilion in Pickens. Mountain View Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
