Edisto Island Travel Guide

45 miles SW of Downtown Charleston

Isolated, and offering a kind of melancholy beauty, Edisto Island is named after the Edisto tribe of Native Americans, now long gone. Paul Grimball was the first English settler, arriving here in 1683 (the tabby ruins of the Grimball House are still visible). By the late 18th century, Sea Island cotton had made the slave-holding plantation owners wealthy, and some houses from that era still stand. Today the island primarily attracts families from Charleston and the Lowcountry to its white sandy beaches. Popular activities include shrimping, surf-casting, deep-sea fishing, and sailing.

Edisto Beach State Park (www.southcarolinaparks.com/edistobeach), 8377 State Cabin Rd., sprawls across 1,255 acres, opening onto 2 miles of beach. There are also signposted nature trails through forests of live oak, hanging Spanish moss, and palmetto trees, and an ancient shell midden (Spanish Mount Point), created by the Edisto Indians around 2,000 B.C., made up mostly of oyster shells. Enjoy a picnic lunch under one of the shelters or visit the Interpretive Center (Tues–Sat 9am–4pm; tel. 843/869-4430) featuring interactive displays on the ACE Basin estuarine reserve, the largest such natural reserve on the East Coast.

Admission to the park is $5 for adults, $3 for ages 6 to 15, and free for ages 5 and under. The park is open daily 8am to 6pm.