Francis Marion National Forest / Hell Hole Swamp

Francis Marion National Forest
Berkeley County, SC
May 23, 2020 10:30am (Day Trip)
May 21 – 24/25, 2020 (Car Camping)
Southern Regional Director Marcus Sizemore
Secondary contact Kim Frampton McManus

On Saturday, May 23, SCAN will visit the Francis Marion National Forest. We’ll gather at the Hell Hole Road campground at 10:30 am. From there, we’ll break out into smaller groups for exploration. Options include road cruising for snakes and herps, visiting pitcher plant bogs, scouting Carolina Bays, bird watching, and seeking out unusual wildflowers. Marcus Sizemore has some leads on a few interesting locations to examine, depending on recent rainfall and river levels.

Potential locations include:

• Hampton Plantation State Historic Site – 2 miles of trails with a variety of upland habitats, old rice fields, and boardwalks.
• Halfway Creek Campground / Palmetto Trail Swamp Fox Passage – a variety of wetland and upland habitats
• Little Wambaw Swamp Wilderness

Here is a writeup Marcus found on the Little Wambaw Wilderness:

Little Wambaw Swamp Wilderness is a 5,179-acre river-bottom land of hardwoods and cypress-tupelo sloughs in Francis Marion National Forest. The area was logged once upon a time and today, most access to the wilderness area is via the old railroad tramways. About 60 acres in the southwestern portion of the swamp are thought to be virgin timber but even the second-growth timber is impressively large. The understory, though, is a dense mat of pickerelweed, bladderwort and wild orchid.

The earthen tramways offer high ground for hiking and perhaps camping but there are many slow-moving cross streams in the area and the bridges over those are long gone: be prepared to go wading in waist-deep water. Most folks do their camping at the Buck Hall Recreation Area to the south and access the earthen tramway system from there. Best time to visit is winter and early spring when water and insect levels are at their lowest.

This will be SCAN’s eighth year taking part in the annual ‘Under a Low Country Moon’ interpretive weekend. Under a Low Country Moon (ULCM) is comprised of a group of naturalists who have met on Memorial Day weekend annually since 2001. The weekend includes lots of road cruising, with stops for on-foot exploration. There are a few ponds and creeks that can be traversed in a kayak or canoe. Evening activities include road cruising, stargazing, s’more eating contests, and if we’re very lucky, musical interludes by several of our talented friends.

ULCM members will start setting up camp on Thursday. The last stragglers don’t leave until lunchtime on Monday. Both hotel and rustic camping options are available. The campground is simply a field (mowed by our own Paul Kalbach and Randy McManus (thanks Paul and Randy!) or a piece of private property with no amenities in the vicinity, so plan to pack in and pack out everything you need. The closest hotels are approximately 30 minutes away in Moncks Corner. Feel free to join in the fun for as long as you like!

Due to efforts ongoing efforts to keep the spread of COVID-19 to a minimum, we encourage everyone to bring everything they need. There will be no communal food or supplies this year. The nearest restroom is ~15 minutes away in Jamestown at the gas station (BP/Kangaroo).