Francis Marion National Forest

Francis Marion National Forest, located near South Carolina's coast, is a new forest. It was reborn through a catastrophic event—Hurricane Hugo. On September 21, 1989, the storm's 135-mile-per-hour winds destroyed in five hours many old, large trees, effectively ending for a considerable time the Forest's commercial timber production. Younger trees survived the storm, however, and visitors today can get a fascinating look at nature's rebuilding process.

This verdant 250,000-acre parcel of land has a wide variety of wildlife habitats and provides excellent opportunities for bird watching, nature study, photography, fishing, and hunting. It is home to otters, beavers, coyotes, bobcats, black bears and possibly panthers, according to Anne Kiser, a Francis Marion forester and environmental coordinator.

Francis Marion is also home to the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker, the population of which suffered devastating losses from Hugo. With Forest personnel's help, however, the birds' numbers have returned nearly to pre-Hugo levels.

Hiking and mountain biking trails offer excellent means to enjoy the backcountry. The Swamp Fox National Recreation Trail's 20 miles lead hikers and bikers to a wide variety of plantlife such as pine, tupelo and cypress trees. There are also trails for motorcycles and horses.

For the fishing and boating enthusiast, Huger ("Hew-gee") Recreation Area has one of the Forest's six boat ramps. Guilliard Lake Recreation Area, on the bluff of an oxbow on the Santee River, offers a primitive boat landing and access to the 5-acre Guilliard Lake.

A popular place on the Forest is Buck Hall Recreation Area, located on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Buck Hall has campsites, picnic sites, and boat ramps. Located on the grounds of an old plantation, it also attracts nature viewers, anglers, and crabbers. Canal Recreation Area provides the Forest's only swimming area and Honey Hill Recreation Area offers primitive camping.

There are four wilderness areas on the Forest: Hell Hole Bay, Wambaw Swamp, Little Wambaw Swamp and Wambaw Creek. Other than a short trail in Hell Hole Bay, they have no developed facilities and no restoration work on them has been conducted since Hurricane Hugo. This is to allow natural forest recovery to occur without human influence. Travel in the wilderness areas is very difficult, but it can be very rewarding. Visitors might see alligators, bald eagles, swallow-tailed kites and about 250 other species of birds. The best way to see the wilderness is by canoe, armed with a good compass and a snake-bite kit.

Naturalists find the "Carolina Bays" an excellent reason to spend time on the Forest. They are fragile and unique ecosystems, wetland habitats that exhibit a variety of plant life.

Francis Marion National Forest is across the Intracoastal Waterway from the 64,000-acre Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, which is composed of salt marshes and islands. Cape Romain is a superb bird-watching site, rated one of the top 100 birding sites in North America by the American Birding Association. The Sewee Visitor & Environmental Education Center serves both the Cape Romain refuge and Francis Marion National Forest as a visitor center.

Other points of interest on or near the Forest include Hampton Plantation State Park and McClellanville, S.C. Hampton Plantation features a 250-year-old mansion once owned by South Carolina poet laureate Archibald Rutledge. Giant old live oak trees line the streets of the nearby fishing village of McClellanville.

Getting There
Francis Marion National Forest lies between Myrtle Beach, to the north, and Mt. Pleasant and Charleston, to the south. U.S. Highway 17 provides access to the Forest's visitor center in Awendaw.

Weather
The forest is open all year. The best time to visit the park for bird and wildlife viewing and most other activities is fall, winter or spring. Summers are very hot and humid, and biting insects can be a problem. Winters are mild and much less humid than summers. Be sure to call ahead and ask about hunting season and prescribed burning on the Forest.