Low Country and Resort Islands

Low Country and Resort Islands covers the southern coastal corner of South Carolina, the salt-marsh and barrier-island country running from the Charleston-area edge south to the Savannah River. The terrain is flat tidal coastal plain — the Sea Islands string along the Atlantic shore, broad salt marshes inland, and the cypress-and-tupelo swamps of the ACE Basin (the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto river estuaries — one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the East Coast). Four counties cover the region. Beaufort holds Beaufort (a historic colonial town), Hilton Head Island (the largest of the Sea Islands), Bluffton, and Parris Island (the Marine Corps Recruit Depot); Colleton holds Walterboro; Hampton holds Hampton; Jasper holds Ridgeland. Hunting Island State Park, the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge, the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, and the Penn Center on St. Helena Island (the first school in the country for freed slaves) anchor the major public lands. Most trips here split between Hilton Head and Beaufort. Hilton Head Island runs the upscale resort-and-golf itinerary — Sea Pines, Harbour Town, the Heritage RBC golf tournament; Beaufort handles the antebellum-and-Gullah-history side — the Beaufort Historic District, Penn Center, and the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park; the ACE Basin draws birders and kayakers to one of the country’s most pristine estuaries.