Edisto Beach State Park

Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Spanish Mount
Distance: 3.4 miles
Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Rating: 3 out of 5

A day after doing a short hike with the kids, I was back at Edisto Beach State Park by myself, for a longer hike. I headed out in the early afternoon, and I was on the trail at 1:30. My plan was to do just the Spanish Mount trail all the way to the end and come back the same way. It is 1.7 miles one-way.

The trail is a nice, wide, flat, sandy path. It is mostly under thick tree cover. But in one spot it crosses marsh land. The picture at the top of this post shows the boardwalk here. There were lots of little crabs scurrying across the mud and through the grass, making a 'tick, tick' sound. Besides the crabs, I also saw a few lizards on this trail, and a couple of cardinals. And, I had a run-in with some (biting) black ants when I stopped to read one of the posted trail maps.

Past the boardwalk, the trail goes more into palmetto trees (our state tree!). There are several junctions with other short trails along the way. There are nice posted maps at each junction, and there are benches along the way. At the end of the trail, you have reached Scott Creek. There is an interpretive sign here, and a nice new platform that offers great views of the creek and surrounding marsh land, as well as a 4,000 year old shell mound.

I took some pictures, had a snack, and returned the way I came. It was pretty hot, but here it can be much worse. I know it is very buggy on this trail, but I used some Deepwoods OFF and had no trouble. The sand did get in my shoes, which ended up giving me a blister, but I would not have had that problem with my usual hiking boots. A very nice trail and a good hike!

Edisto Beach State Park

Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Map: Link
Trails: Spanish Mount, Forest Loop
Distance: 0.5 miles
Time: about 1 hour
Rating: 2 out of 5

We were at Edisto Beach for the week with the cousins; 5 kids under 5 years old! After a couple of days of beach time, we decided to take the kids out for a different activity. Kerri and I had hiked the trails at Edisto Beach State Park years ago. We settled on a short hike and drove back up Hwy 174 to the park entrance on Tuesday afternoon.

There is a $5 per person fee, but at least the kids were free. The Spanish Mount trail leaves from the tree-covered parking lot. It is a wide, flat, sandy path, lined with oak trees at the start. Very soon the Forest Loop trail splits off to the right. This path looks much the same, except maybe there are more pine trees here. After completing the Forest Loop trail, we turned left at the intersection with the Spanish Mount trail and headed back to the car.

The kids really enjoyed looking for trail markers (blazes on the trees) and reading the posted maps. They raced for awhile, but James and Andy soon were riding on shoulders. There are some benches along the way; a good opportunity to take a water / snack break. Despite a little crying, it was a pretty successful outing!