Charleston Area State Parks

2019 Hiking Week 41

Charles Towne Landing

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It’s been quite the year traveling all over the state and seeing all that South Carolina has to offer. We didn’t anticipate at the beginning of this year that we would visit all of the South Carolina State parks but we finished and received our certificate! We ended our state park visits with Charleston area parks. We stayed in the area and visited Edisto, Colleton, Givhan’s Ferry, and Charles Towne Landing. We had previously visited Colonial Dorchester State Park on a day trip. 

Edisto Beach State Park covers a large part of Edisto Island. There is an inland section with trails, camping, a boat dock, and nature center, as well as a beach section of the park. It was pretty cold when we visited but still beautiful. Edisto is one of the barrier islands that is remote and takes awhile to get there. It’s about an hour’s drive from Charleston. We’ve stayed there a couple times and it’s one of those beach islands where you go to get away from big crowds but be sure to bring your food, there aren’t many restaurants nearby. 

Colleton and Givhan’s Ferry State Parks are along the Edisto River. I mentioned before how the Edisto River is called a black river because of its dark color. The unique park of these two parks, is that they give you access to the Edisto River for paddling. There is a blue trail of over 20 miles that connects the two parks. People will paddle the river and camp along it for a unique adventure. I’ve heard about these tree houses as well that you can stay in along the way. Sounds like an exciting trip and a top thing to do in South Carolina. Givan’s Ferry park was a little larger and had a nice event space on the river. Both had camping and other activities for visitors. 

Map of the Edisto River Blue Trail

Edisto River Access

This area is near the ACE basin, which is an estuary made up of the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto rivers. Walterboro is nearby and there are groups tours that are occasionally organized for this natural area. 

We finished our state park trip at Charles Towne Landing. This is probably one of the most popular state parks. It is near downtown Charleston, in West Ashley. They have a zoo, meeting spaces, an old home, and a ship replica from the time of the early settling of the area. The large loop trail is about a mile and a half, but they have other side trails that you can check out. There’s also a shuttle that will pick you up and drop you off along the way. The park rangers were really nice and excited with us as we told them about all our state park travels. Charles Towne Landing was the first permanent settlement in South Carolina. They are about to celebrate their 350th Anniversary and they told us there are a lot of events planned for the next year. It sounds like 2020 will be a great year to visit the park. 

I’ve posted some before about Charleston and things to do there. But this time, while in West Ashley, we had lunch at a new restaurant, Spanglish. It’s a cuban restaurant and it was really good. They were nice and we tried a few different things on the menu. I highly recommend checking it out. I think I’d like to return and visit some other places in the area. This is the second time we’ve stayed in the North Charleston area, near Park Circle. I really like staying there because they have some good restaurants and a coffee shop, and it’s a convenient location. It’s not too far to drive downtown and you’re close to the interstates. 

Thanks for joining us in our travels this year! I’m hoping to post again soon on our top state park recommendations. It’s hard to choose! But we still plan on traveling in 2020. Some parks we want to return to and there are still many places to explore in South Carolina! I hope you can get out an visit some. What is your favorite SC State Park?