Talk to anyone who knows and loves Charleston, and you’re likely to hear about how magical this place is—the dappled light streaming through the live oaks, the pods of dolphins leaping from the river, the succession of pink and white flowers through the seasons. All of these things are alive, because this city owes so much of its beauty to its unique environment. Here, we look at a few ways you can dig a little deeper into the local ecosystem and experience the Lowcountry’s natural wonders.
Kiawah Island’s immaculate beach is sandwiched between the waters of the Atlantic and the golf resort’s Ocean Course.
Photo by Jack Siman/Shutterstock
Head to one of South Carolina’s most beautiful beaches
Downtown Charleston sits at the confluence of two rivers—the Ashley and the Cooper—which then pour into the Atlantic Ocean. The metro area is also home to some of the Lowcountry’s finest beaches, in the towns of Folly Beach, Kiawah Island, Isle of Palms, and Sullivan’s Island (all less than an hour’s drive from downtown). Each has a distinct personality, ranging from quirky and lively (Folly) to pristine and preserved (Kiawah), and they’re all wonderful for swimming, fishing, and lounging on the sand. One in particular is worth the trip: Sullivan’s Island.
With streets marked as “stations”—a nod to the stops trolley cars once made as they carried beachgoers out to the neighboring Isle of Palms—Sullivan’s Island is an idyllic, old-school beach town unblemished by hotels and high rises. Instead, the community is dotted with boutiques, restaurants, cottage-style homes, and swoon-worthy yards. Every station provides an entryway to the shore, but Station 16 is the one to aim for, as it leads to the Sullivan’s Island Nature Trail. This 0.6-mile out-and-back route has 650 feet of boardwalk and a number of observation decks that offer opportunities to take in dunes and wetlands populated by various bird species, including ruddy turnstones, oystercatchers, and red knots. With the open sky above, greenery all around, and the sound of waves crashing in the distance, this spot is a slice of heaven that’s easily accessible for people of all ages and abilities.
Hunt for fossils around Charleston Harbor
Charleston is a historic city full of colonial artifacts, but it’s also home to signs of life going back a whopping 33 million years. If you’ve dreamt of being an archaeologist, Charleston’s got a surprise activity in store.
Naturalist Cade Kaufman grew up kayaking in Charleston Harbor, searching for fossils and shark teeth along riverbanks, sand bars, and beaches. These childhood journeys sparked a lifelong interest for the Charleston Outdoor Adventures guide, who created the company’s Shark Tooth & Fossil Hunting Tour. The four-hour itinerary begins with a boat ride from Folly Beach to Morris Island, where Kaufman teaches guests how to find and identify an incredible range of fossils during a hike of four to six miles.
“Charleston lies on top of soft, sedimentary fossil layers that suggest that the area was a shallow, warm bay,” Kaufman explains. “These were not only ideal living conditions for prehistoric sharks, fish, sea turtles, dolphins, whales, manatees, and birds, but also ideal for the preservation of their remains. Over the years I’ve found teeth from mammoths and mastodon, giant shark teeth, huge whale vertebrae, Native American pottery and projectiles, and Civil War relics. Each find tells its own unique story of Charleston’s past.”
Looking to hunt for fossils on your own? Kaufman advises going at low tide. “Try to find an area with deposits of rocks and shells, and start looking for fossilized teeth and bones,” he says. “And look for the most remote areas to avoid unwanted competition.”
Explore the Lowcountry’s marvelous marshland
Seasonal shifts are subtle along the balmy South Carolina coast, and locals know that the best place to spot the coming of fall is in the marshes, where the dazzling summer green of the tall spartina grass fades to an autumnal golden brown. The colorful flora is among the delights in the marshland surrounding Charleston, which both protects the Lowcountry from the worst impact of storms and also provides a welcoming environment for aquatic creatures, including dolphins, herons, and blue crabs.
The best way to explore this wondrous ecosystem is with the help of a professional outfitter. Coastal Expeditions offers a variety of guided tours, from kayaking and paddleboarding expeditions on Shem Creek (just across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge from downtown) to sunset eco-tours and stargazing in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. (The company also rents kayaks and paddleboards.) For its part, Charleston Outdoor Adventures leads the memorable Full Moon Kayak Tour, a two-hour adventure that departs from Bowens Island, traveling through the estuary as day gives way to moonlit night. If you’re more of an early riser, embark on Flipper Finders’ 9:30 a.m. Morning Kayak Tour to enjoy a two-hour paddle through the Folly River as the natural world wakes up around you.
North Charleston’s Wannamaker Park has seven acres of meadows and 2.5 miles of nature trails, as well as two miles of paved trails, a waterpark, and two playgrounds.
Photo courtesy of Charleston Parks
Take a walk in the woods—and see a historic site
For a longer hike, there are plenty of parks within a 30-minute drive of downtown. To the west, along a scenic stretch of U.S. Route 17, is the Ravenel Caw Caw Interpretive Center. The land, which enslaved Africans once transformed from a cypress swamp into an intricate system of rice plantations, is now a wildlife preserve managed by Charleston County Parks & Recreation. It features more than six miles of trails, with elevated boardwalks and a bounty of wildlife: alligators, otters, swallow-tailed kites, bald eagles, and elusive birding bucket-list targets, such as the painted bunting and roseate spoonbill. In addition, the park is a historic site: It’s where the 1739 Stono Rebellion, the largest uprising of enslaved people in the British colonies before the American Revolution, began.
Aside from its historical significance, Caw Caw Interpretive Center park manager Dennis Burgart explains that what makes the site special is its mix of ecosystems. “We have upland forest, salt marsh, swamp, freshwater impoundments from former rice fields, and naturalized tea bushes mixed in,” he says. “Wildlife are drawn to these transition zones and thrive here. When people get past our front gate, they forget how close they are to civilization and are carried away into adventure.”
Another nearby option for adventure is Stono River County Park, an 85.5-acre green space at the foot of the Limehouse Bridge with a variety of highland and marshy landscapes, with 1.5 miles of wooded trails and boardwalks. North Charleston, meanwhile, is home to Wannamaker County Park, which sprawls across 1,015 acres of woodlands and wetlands, with 2.5 miles of nature trails, in addition to a disc golf course, a dog park, and picnic sites.
