Outdoor & Nature
A 263,904-acre national forest with four designated wilderness areas, a wildlife refuge holding the largest loggerhead sea turtle nesting concentration north of Florida, and a live oak that predates Charleston's own 1670 founding.
Francis Marion National Forest
Francis Marion National Forest covers 263,904 acres contained entirely within Charleston and Berkeley counties, with a longleaf pine ecosystem and temporarily flooded wetlands. It holds four federally designated wilderness areas within the National Wilderness Preservation System: Hell Hole Bay, Little Wambaw Swamp, Wambaw Creek, and Wambaw Swamp.
Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge
Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge spans 66,287 acres in Charleston County, with 29,000 acres designated as wilderness. The refuge supports an estimated 23% of the northern loggerhead sea turtle subpopulation — the largest concentration north of Florida — and Bulls Island, reached by ferry from Garris Landing, served as the first breeding site for the federal red wolf reintroduction program from 1987 to 2005.
Angel Oak
The Angel Oak on Johns Island is a Southern live oak estimated by arborists at 400 to 500 years old, predating Charleston's own founding as an English settlement in 1670.