Hunting Island State Park

Climbing 170 steps of the lighthouse at Hunting Island State Park is not for everyone, but the historic structure dating to 1874 is admired by many. Lighthouse tours are given from March through November. Every year more than one million visitors come to South Carolina's most popular park to enjoy its 5,000 acres of wild, natural beauty, uncrowded beaches, marshlands, tidal creeks, maritime forests, and saltwater lagoon. The park offers individual and group camping, plus 12 vacation cottages with all the modern conveniences. Tent and RV sites feature water and hookups, with hot showers and restrooms close by. In addition to camping, there's ...

Climbing 170 steps of the lighthouse at Hunting Island State Park is not for everyone, but the historic structure dating to 1874 is admired by many. Lighthouse tours are given from March through November. Every year more than one million visitors come to South Carolina's most popular park to enjoy its 5,000 acres of wild, natural beauty, uncrowded beaches, marshlands, tidal creeks, maritime forests, and saltwater lagoon. The park offers individual and group camping, plus 12 vacation cottages with all the modern conveniences. Tent and RV sites feature water and hookups, with hot showers and restrooms close by. In addition to camping, there's a plethora of things to do - picnicking, fishing, boating, walking, hiking, swimming, shell collecting, and other activities. Visitors may fish in the creek, the lagoon, and the surf or from the fishing pier. The park has three short hiking/walking trails and an eight-mile biking/hiking trail. Horses are allowed on the beach from December through February, with a permit. The nature center features live reptiles and nature exhibits and gives programs on seashells, sharks, salt marsh kayaking, and other subjects relating to barrier islands (March-November). Lucky are those who get to meet the park's permanent residents - loggerhead turtles, alligators, Eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, coral snakes, deer, raccoons, barracudas, dolphins, sea horses, pelicans, wood storks, painted buntings, egrets, and other birds. Created by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s, the park is located at the eastern terminus of highway 21, between Charleston and Savannah.

About the Expert

Carol Timblin has contributed to numerous guidebooks and authored four editions of Houghton Mifflin's Best Places to Stay in the South.