Hunting Island State Park

4 May 2012

Whew, it is hot, hot, hot here in NC all of a sudden! The soaring temps outside make me even happier to revisit about our last destination in Beaufort, SC: Hunting Island!

Hunting Island is one of the most popular state parks in South Carolina, attracting more than one million visitors a year. Thankfully, it didn’t seem that crowded at all when we visited! Our first stop was at the Marshwalk, a boardwalk that extends across the tidal flats, through a few tiny islands, and out onto a platform perfect for viewing marsh wildlife. We saw egrets, some sort of gecko, and tons of fiddler crabs on our walk, but alas, no dolphins!

The Marshwalk is less than a mile long, so it was a quick out and back. Our second and final destination on Hunting Island was the beach and lighthouse area. There is a $5 per person fee to enter this part of the park, but both John and I would say it was well worth the price. As we drove past the gate house, we both agreed it felt like we were entering Jurassic Park – so lush, green, and tropical!

This might sound strange, but we were both a little bit obsessed with the parking lot! It’s hard to describe, but instead of being one large area, it twisted and turned between the trees, and each spot felt like it was tucked away.

Once we finished oohing over our parking space, we took another boardwalk out to the beach.

Turning left, we walked along the water’s edge until we got to an entirely new section of beach, which looked like this:

Children’s book lover that I am, my immediate thought was that it reminded me of the post-hurricane illustrations in Robert McCloskey’s Time of Wonder. Anyone else?? Here’s a visual aid for those who aren’t familiar with this masterpiece:

I’m not sure what causes all of the downed trees and driftwood, but we had fun exploring.

Next up: the Beaufort shop with which I completely fell in love. Sigh…

All photos personal

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May 5, 2012 8:35 pm

Absolutely beautiful! Looks like you had an amazing trip…all the personal photos are fun!

Marget
May 7, 2012 9:17 am

Posts like this make me wonder if the South may indeed be for me! Absolutely gorgeous.

[…] and ocean inlets. Hunting Island’s natural settings are filled with a wide array of animals and marine wildlife, which all add to the park’s natural allure.Hunting Island (not to be confused with Huntington […]

Amy
June 15, 2012 1:02 pm

I’m glad I found your Beaufort posts… my husband & I are headed there for a much-needed mini-vacation next week, so I look forward to visiting some of the places you did. Your photos are really good. I love the one of your hand over the children’s book… You had to get that gorgeous engagement ring in the shot, didn’t you??? I remember when I was newly engaged & would have done the same thing. :)