The Palmetto Trail, a signature project of the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, crosses the state from the mountains to the sea with the Awendaw Passage its coastal terminus. The 7 mile Awendaw Passage passes through maritime forests of pine and palmetto and is arguably the northernmost...
Edisto Beach State Park (Edisto Island): Perhaps S.C.’s finest coastal state park, trails at Edisto include a 1.7 mile walk to Spanish Mount, a Native American shell mound dated to 2,000 B.C. Half-mile loops circle the maritime forest and marshland, where deer, osprey, and bobcat abound...
I’on Swamp Trail (Francis Marion National Forest): This easy, 2 mile loop follows the abandoned rice-field dykes along the remnants of Witheywood Plantation. The narrow causeways pass through bald cypress wetlands and swamp, providing close sightings of alligators and a multitude of...
Caw Caw County Park (Ravenel): Once the site of several working rice plantations carved into a cypress swamp, Caw Caw now boasts 6 miles of raised trails through the watery landscape. Alligators, deer, and otters abound, and bald eagles, kites, and a host of waterfowl are commonly present...