BASIN BASICS

One of our favorite areas to visit on our SINHG Trip schedule is the ACE Basin, the 350,000-acre estuary less than an hour's drive south on Savannah Highway. Named for the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers which flow through the area on their way to combine and form St. Helena Sound near Beaufort, the scores of secondary tidal creeks and tributaries that thread through this critical environment are popular kayaking sites for SINHG members, thanks to the 23 boat landings that dot this largely undeveloped area.

Known for its pristine marshes, wetlands, hardwood forests and riverine flora and fauna, the Basin's protected status is thanks to the efforts of combined public and private entities that, during the 1970's and 1980's, worked to secure funding, including more than $50 million in federal support for conservation efforts to maintain a healthy ecosystem under the guidance of the ACE Basin Task Force. The Ernest F. Hollings National Wildlife Refuge is one of many great locations for wildlife viewing, hiking and fishing. Learn more here, and join one of our kayaking trips for a unique Lowcountry perspective.

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU

One of the pleasures of Lowcountry life is the abundant flora and fauna of a semi-tropical ecology, and there's nowhere better to experience it than on the four walking trails that SINHG manages in cooperation with SIPOA. The two longest trails - Hidden Oaks and Six Ladies - offer between them tranquil lagoons, tidal creeks and inlets, and views over marshes toward the sea.

The shortest trail is Old Drake, a short stroll under majestic, moss-draped live oaks along a quiet marsh; while the Bobcat trail is along a newly-refurbished boardwalk across marsh and maritime forest parallel to North Beach. (And, yes, if you're lucky you might just glimpse a reclusive bobcat, or at least come across its scat.) You can lengthen your walk by combining the Bobcat walk with the Six Ladies trail, whose entry points face each other across Oyster Catcher Court. Check out our trails brochure and view a short video tour of all the trails here. Then get outdoors, and enjoy!

ON THE BEACH

We're looking a little differently at our three-and-a-half miles of beach after visiting with marine geologist Dr Leslie Sautter, from the College of Charleston. During a pre-walk presentation at the Oyster Catcher Community Center and, later, walking along North Beach with Dr Sautter, we came to appreciate how the beaches of the Seabrook/Kiawah formation dynamically change and re-shape themselves from year-to-year, and the importance of remodeling the cut at Cap'n Sam's Spit once a decade to maintain the ecological integrity of such an important habitat for migrating birds like the red knots that will be arriving soon on their annual northward migration. And those black streaks we always notice in the sand? It's titanium, an abundant metal widespread in the Earth's crust, commonly found dispersed in sand, and noted for its resistance to corrosion from elements like seawater.