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

Trimmer Springs Road (Fresno County)

Trimmer Springs Road is an approximately forty-mile rural highway located in Fresno County. The corridor begins near in California State Route 180 in Centerville and extends to Blackrock Road at the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada range near the Pacific Gas & Electric Company town of Balch Camp. The roadway is named after the former Trimmer Springs Resort and was originally constructed to facilitate access to the Sanger Log Flume. Trimmer Springs Road was heavily modified and elongated after construction of Pine Flat Dam broke ground in 1947. Part 1; the history of Trimmer Springs Road Much of the original alignment of Trimmer Springs Road was constructed to facilitate access to the Sanger Log Flume. The Kings River Lumber Company had been established in 1888 in the form of a 30,000-acre purchase of forest lands in Converse Basin. This purchase lied immediately west of Grant Grove and came to be known as "Millwood." The co...

When was Ventura Avenue east of downtown Fresno renamed to Kings Canyon Road? (California State Route 180)

California State Route 180 was one of the original Sign State Routes designated in August 1934. The highway east of Fresno originally utilized what was Ventura Avenue and Dunlap Road to reach what was then General Grant National Park. By late year 1939 the highway was extended through the Kings River Canyon to Cedar Grove. In 1940 General Grant National Park would be expanded and rebranded as Kings Canyon National Park. The Kings Canyon Road designation first appeared in publications circa 1941 when the California State Route 180 bypass of Dunlap was completed. Kings Canyon Road ultimately would replace the designation of Dunlap Road from Dunlap to Centerville and Ventura Avenue west to 1st Street in Fresno. The Kings Canyon Road would remain largely intact until March 2023 when the Fresno Council designated Cesar Chavez Boulevard. Cesar Chavez Boulevard was designated over a ten-mile corridor over what was Kings Canyon Road, remaini...

Interstate 99 at 30

When it comes to the entirety of the Interstate Highway System, Interstate 99, when fully completed, is nothing more than 161 miles of a roughly 48,000-mile system (0.3% of total length). Yet, to more than just a handful of people, the number '99' rubs them the wrong way. Interstate 99 follows the path of two US Highway Routes - US 220 from the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Bedford north to Interstate 80 and then to US 15/Interstate 180 in Williamsport. It then follows US 15 from Williamsport north to Interstate 86 in Corning, New York. Interstate 99 runs with US 220 through much of Central Pennsylvania. (Doug Kerr) US 220 from Cumberland, Maryland to Interstate 80 and US 15 north of Williamsport were designated part of the Appalachian Highway System in 1965. Construction to upgrade both corridors progressed steadily but slowly. In 1991, the two corridors were included as a National High Priority Corridor. The route from Cumberland to Corning consisted of High P...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog