Skip to main content

Hunting Island State Park - South Carolina

One of South Carolina's most popular and also yet unknown beaches is Hunting Island State Park.  Known for the numerous species of wildlife and plant life, Hunting Island is one of the highlights of the South Carolina Low Country.   It is quite the opposite of the built up areas of Myrtle Beach's "Grand Strand" to the north and more rural to the golf paradise known as Hilton Head Island to the south.

Hunting Island has a unique blend of palm, pine and other trees.
The park is well known for its natural beaches, lagoon, wildlife, lighthouse and camping.  Through out the park there are numerous hiking and nature trails.  The marshwalk on the west side of the park is a great place to capture sunsets and wildlife.  Overall, the park consists of over 5,000 acres of beach, forest, and marsh. (1)

The shoreline of Hunting Island is threatened by beach erosion.
Another highlight of the park is the lighthouse.  The Hunting Island Lighthouse is South Carolina's only lighthouse accessible to the public. (2)  The originally structure was built in 1859.  The second and existing structure was built in 1875 and moved due to beach erosion to its present location in 1889.  The lighthouse was decommissioned on June 16, 1933. (1)  Besides the lighthouse and wildlife, the beach maybe the park's number one attraction.  Since the 1930s when the park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the state has done its best to keep the beach in its natural state and preserve it from further erosion.

The Atlantic crashes onto Hunting Island
Some of the little known facts about Hunting Island are: scenes from Forest Gump and G.I Jane were shot on the lagoon side of the island.   The Vietnam War scenes in Forest Gump were shot here. (2)  There are is also a campground and a number of rental cabins available at the park.
 
 
To get to Hunting Island is very simple, from either direction on Interstate 95 to exit 33 and follow US Highway 21 to its end at the entrance of the park.

All photos taken by author - August 2001

  • (1) Hunting Island State Park. Unknown: Hunting Island State Park, 1982.
  • (2) Sorensen, R.J. & IVAP. "Hunting Island Lagoon and Fishing." Hunting Island Beach, Beaufort, SC, USA. http://www.huntingisland.com (Feb. 16, 2003)
  • Hunting Island, SC ---Unknown
  • Hunting Island ---Discoversouthcarolina.com
  •  





    Comments

    Popular posts from this blog

    The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

    The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade.  This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman.  Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga.  The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough.  Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade.  The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding.  From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga.   The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the  1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...

    The Dummy Lights of New York

      A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights  that  were  placed  in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also  originally  positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as  " dummy lights "  and were common until  traffic lights were moved  onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection.  In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights  are found  in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...

    Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

    Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east.  Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista.  Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage.   Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale.  Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley.  Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers.  The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908.  Early agricu...