Sunday, June 6, 2010

Botany Bay Preserve at Edisto Island

We found something new at Edisto this year. Recently, the SC Department of Natural Resources opened Botany Bay, a former plantation on the island, for educational and low impact recreational activities. Botany Bay Road is on the left as you drive toward the beach, 8.5 miles past the bridge onto the island.
At the end of the road, there's a kiosk where you get a hang tag and a map of the 4630 acres of marshes, fields, woods, ponds, beaches, and remains of buildings. A bird list is also available. Only a few of the original buildings are still standing, but this gardener's shed is remarkably intact.

There's a path down to a beautiful beach-- which shows how the sands shift in the absence of human engineering.