Waccamaw Heritage Preserve

Eastern Regional Director: Todd Johnston
Meet at: 33.90998, -78.73543

Bring your orange due to hunting season

Waccamaw River Heritage Preserve has been established to protect and provide access to the Waccamaw River. Twenty-eight miles of the river have been preserved with a growing number of intermittent parcels of land on both sides of the river set aside for protection now totaling nearly 5,400 acres. Starting at the North Carolina border and meandering towards Hwy 31 before you get to Conway there are 7 access points for boating from the NC line. They are: Wortham’s Ferry, Chris Anderson Memorial Ramp, Horry’s Restaurant, Starr Bluff, Big Savannah Bluff, Little Savannah Bluff, and Red Bluff. One of the larger tracts of protected land for exploration without water transportation is near Longs, SC and that is where we will be meeting for our November outing. Historically the area was used by the Waccamaw Nation people traveling from the lake in NC to Winyah Bay. Today they have some land near Aynor at Dog Bluff and host an annual pauwau that is open to the public to share their traditional culture. Historically they cultivated corn, pumpkins, lima and kidney beans, and squash.

To learn more about the Waccamaw people:
https://www.waccamaw.org/

The black water river is an example of a riverine bottomland hardwood ecosystem. The river originates from Lake Waccamaw in North Carolina and is sandy coastal river instead of clay like many piedmont rivers. The floodplain of the Waccamaw River is broad and results in the formation of riverine features including swales levees, channel bars, and oxbows. There are also numerous portions of adjacent uplands and old fields where we will be exploring while reaching the riparian zones.

Trees that dominate the landscape are bald cypress, willow oak, water oak and water tupelo with some stands of Atlantic white cedar within the preserve boundaries. DNR notes that there are rare plant species within the preserve including Harper’s fimbry, Plymouth gentian, pink tickseed, dwarf burhead, Sarvis holly, and dwarf bullrush. Migration in both spring and fall bring an abundance of birds to the area and Audubon notes that the white Ibis feeds here when water levels are low after nesting season. Many waterfowl including wood ducks make appearances along the Waccamaw River. Bears, turtles, otters, raccoons etc. use the area for safe passage and foraging.

An interesting although older vegetation report of the coastal rivers of SC and NC including sampling at Waccamaw River Heritage Preserve can be found here:
http://cvs.bio.unc.edu/pulse/Report_88.pdf

For those interested in paddling here is a link to the Waccamaw River:
http://www.bluetrailsguide.org/…/Waccamaw-River-Blue…

There are no restrooms and no parking lot at the heritage preserve. There is a Food Lion in Longs near the intersection of 9 and 905 with a clean restroom. They do allow camping along the river, just beware there are numerous sections of private property still along the 28 miles of river within the preserve. There are no developed trails but there are old dirt roads to explore. The turnoff to the preserve is along Hwy 9 East heading out of Longs, SC at 33.9211683, -78.7251554. In the previous outing for SCAN, we met at a gas station. However, I believe there is sufficient room along the road on the left as you are nearing the curve at marker C in the picture at 33.90998, -78.73543.

During the recon trip I used AllTrails to map the area and listed the waypoints for where there were possible trails and these can be found in the picture above. There is hunting on the property so bring your orange! See you there at 10:30 am.

Todd Johnston