Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina - May 13th to 14th, 2023
Hunting Island State Park is a worthy destination. The day use area with a long, wide beach is popular, but contains a nice lighthouse. Two more secluded beaches provide a more intimate experience with nature. Trails through the woods connect the different areas of the park.
Saturday was a short drive to from Skidaway Island State Park in Georgia to Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina. The only stops we made were to pick up groceries, get gas, and get a couple of needed items. We didn’t need many groceries because we were only staying at Hunting Island for two nights. Along with needed toilet chemicals, we picked up an essential oil diffuser. We’re not big on essential oils, but we’ve heard some of them can repel insects. We’ve been noticing some inside Red Tail, since we’ve haven’t been running the air conditioner much, opting for fresh air from the open windows instead. The bug zappers only help so much and we don’t like to keep the one in the bedroom on at night. So we thought we would try using essential oils in the bedroom at night. We bought the wax type so we wouldn’t have a container of liquid to worry about on travel days. The two fragrances we started out with were eucalyptus and cinnamon. Since we’re not doing a controlled experiment, we don’t know if we’ll know how well it works.
We arrived at Hunting Island State Park by lunch time. This gave us some time to explore the park on the day we arrived. After lunch, we walked the Magnolia Forest Trail from the campground over to the lighthouse. From our campsite, it was about four miles round trip, with an elevation gain of only 7 feet. It took us about an hour and a half.
On the way from our campsite to the Magnolia Forest Trailhead, we stopped by the garbage dumpster to see if they offer recycling. As we approached the dumpster, we startled an animal that was inside the dumpster. In turn, the sudden noise from the animal startled us. From the sound of it, we guessed it was a raccoon or an opossum. It sounded too large to be a squirrel and too small to be a bear. Still, we cautiously peered into the open dumpster to see the raccoon, keeping a good distance in case he decided to climb or jump out of the dumpster. He quickly scurried out the back of the dumpster and back into the woods. Oh, and yes, they had bins for recycling.
Unfortunately, the lighthouse had been closed to visitors since January. It was in need of maintenance and repair and was deemed unsafe. They have been working on it and expect to open it back up in 2025. However, we could view it from the ground on the outside. There were also a couple of other small buildings containing some displays about light keepers and light houses, along with the foundation remains of the light keeper house. The house burnt down in 1938.
The lighthouse was over in the day use area of the park. Being a Saturday, the place was packed full of people. We didn’t stay long as we are not big fans of large crowds. However, we did pop into the lighthouse gift shop. We had forgotten to bring bug spray with us on our walk, again. Of course the mosquitos found Ann on our walk over to the lighthouse. So Ann bought a bottle of bug spray to give her some protection on our walk back to the campground. It seemed to do the trick.
When we returned to the campground, we stopped at the park store for a treat. An ice cream bar and an ice cream sandwich refreshed us. Keith went back to our campsite to relax the rest of the evening while Ann donned her surf shoes and went for a walk along the beach. The beach at the campground was not as crowded as the beach at the day use area. Plus, she headed north along the beach, into the Shorebird Habitat area, where no dogs are allowed. It wasn’t long before she had the beach to herself.
Ann walked about a mile up the beach before turning around. There were a lot of jelly fish lying on the beach. She turned around as she approached the shorebird nesting area which was closed as indicated by the posted signs. It was near low tide. She didn’t see any birds in the nesting area, other than an osprey that was eating something.
However, on the sandy point near the water, there were hundreds of shore birds hanging out. There were pelicans and sea gulls and a bunch of other types. Ann is not well versed at identifying different shore birds. She didn’t get too close, as she did not want to disturb them. That was one of those times when the power zoom camera came in very handy.
On the way back, she noticed a small fenced off area which was posted as a loggerhead turtle nest. It would be neat to see the turtles hatch, but that didn’t start until July.
Our camp site is about the furthest one from the beach, but that was OK because we are not big beach people. The sites closer to the beach have a little less shade, but have more of a breeze. Ours was further back among the trees, with lots of shade and a great view of a little gully behind us, but there was less of a breeze. Overall, it is a nice campground.
Sunday we wanted to explore more of the hiking trails. Most of them were over near the Hunting Island Nature Center, at the other end of the park, about four miles away. We could have hiked from the campground, but that would have made for a long day of hiking, including four miles along Magnolia Forest Trail, which we had already seen. The distance was perfect for getting out the electric bikes, but we weren’t sure about the terrain. The Magnolia Forest Trail was full of large pine cones and tree roots, which would have been a little rough, but doable. However, we had no idea what the other trails were like, plus we weren’t sure whether bikes were allowed on those trails.
Most of the trails were marking as hiking trails, with only one of the trails, the Diamondback Rattlesnake Trail, marked as a bike and hiking trail, for expert bikers and hikers only. We’re not sure what that meant. When we were on the Magnolia Forest Trail the day before, the only other people we saw were a family of four, on bicycles. Another option would be to bike the road over on highway 21. We couldn’t remember how much of a shoulder there was, nor how much traffic there was on the highway.
In the end, we decided to pack up Red Tail (our Winnebago EKKO) and drive over to the Nature Center. There wasn’t much traffic on the highway, but the shoulders were not very wide. You could ride a bike alongside the highway. The speed limit is only 45 mph, but you would need to trust the vehicles to give your bike enough space. As we passed by the main day use area entrance, there was a long line of cars backed up along the highway waiting to get into the park. We’re not sure how long the line was, because we couldn’t see the entrance station from the highway. It was a Sunday and the beach must be a local favorite.
The parking lot at the Nature Center is small in comparison to how much parking is at the day use area; however, there were plenty of open spots when we arrived in the late morning. From the description of the Nature Center, it sounded like it would be nice to check out, but it was closed for renovations until July. Instead, we checked out the long fishing pier behind the Nature Center.
It was low tide, so there were small channels of water through the marshy area. We spotted a couple of raccoons walking gingerly along the channels looking for food. They looked like they were trying to keep their bodies dry as they high-stepped through the water. Normally raccoons are nocturnal animals, but, as we learned from our air boat tour back in Everglades City (Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida - April 8th to 13th, 2023), they can also be active during low tides as that is when food is available to them.
We also noticed an osprey nest nearby. It looked like two large juveniles were in the nest. A pair of adult ospreys were chasing off a bald eagle overhead. We’re assuming the ospreys that were harassing the eagle were the parents of the birds in the nest, and they were trying to protect their young.
We ate our picnic lunch on a picnic table near the Nature Center before starting our hike. It was a little early for lunch, but then we wouldn’t need to carry as much with us in our packs. It looked like most of the people parking at the Nature Center were heading to the beach, loaded down with their beach chairs and wagons full of kids and toys.
The beach is not right next to the Nature Center. The Nature Center Scenic Trail is about 3/4 of a mile from the parking lot over to the beach on Little Hunting Island. The trail crosses a pedestrian bridge to reach the little island. Being low tide, there were little water channels running through the mud under the bridge. On our return trip back across the bridge, the tide had risen so that it was one, wide, solid stretch of water under the full length of the bridge.
Little Hunting Island was the highlight of the park for us. A local, heading to the beach, stopped and took the time to proudly explain that the little island was where most of the Vietnam scenes from the movie Forest Gump was filmed. There used to be a plaque explaining what shots were taken where on the island, but the sign was washed away in 2016 by Hurricane Matthew. The little island was more densely wooded at the time of the filming.
However, the best part of Little Hunting Island for us was the boneyard beach. The maze of bleached, fallen trees that littered the beach was fascinating. We wandered up and down the beach, winding our way through the maze of dead trees, with their twisted array of branches and roots. It was definitely a cool experience and a photographer’s playground. Little fish were swimming in the tidal pools that surrounded some of the trees.
From there, we crossed back over the bridge and took the Lagoon Access Trail over to the day use area. The trail went through the woods, but had good views of the saltwater lagoon. When we reached the roads of the day use area, we continued a little ways down the park road to a restroom. We were running low on water and needed to refill our bottles. There wasn’t a drinking fountain, but we were able to fill up using the bathroom sink.
Then we hiked back to the Nature Center via the Maritime Forest Trail. It was a peaceful trail through the woods. Both the Maritime Forest Trail and the Lagoon Access Trail were wide and flat. They would be perfect to ride a bike on, but, again, we’re not sure what the park’s policy was for bikes on those trails. We didn’t see any signage saying that bikes were not allowed, so we’re guessing it would have been fine.
In total, we hiked seven miles with an elevation gain of 79 feet in just under three hours. We counted it as hike number 18 of our 52 Hike Challenge for 2023.
Our original plan was to stay in Hunting Island State Park for four nights, but our plans changed due to events outside of our control. However, we felt like we made the most of the time we had there. It was a very enjoyable experience, from the campground to the beaches, along with the lighthouse and all of the wildlife.
Check out our related video: Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina
(Ann)