Still another Charleston-area diamond in the rough is the State Wildlife Management Area (WMA) property called
Botany Bay Plantation, which became part of the state system in 2008.
It features hiking trails and a driving tour, but the neatest thing about Botany Bay is its barrier island. A half-mile walk on a well-maintained boardwalk is required to reach the shell-filled boneyard beach. That lengthy walk, plus the remoteness of the the wildlife refuge located off Highway 174 approaching Edisto Island, keeps the crowds down. So when you go to Botany Bay you can be assured plenty of room to relax, explore or both, without the influx of people common at the Charleston area's more popular beaches.
From Highway 174, it's still a few miles of dirt road driving to the Botany Bay entrance. Along the way you will be treated to a beautiful avenue of (live) oak trees.
Botany Bay, I should mention, is in coastal South Carolina's
ACE Basin, a vast protected preserve of former rice plantations, rivers, islands and waterways.
Earlier this month I posted pictures from another ACE Basin wildlife area,
Bear Island.
