SCOVG20 digital edition-1 - Flipbook - Page 33
Rainbow Falls,
Jones Gap State Park
by Mark Van Dyke
Roseate spoonbill and baby loggerhead sea turtles, Huntington Beach State Park
Oconee Bells,
Devils Fork
State Park
WHAT A RUSH
FLYING HIGH
IN BLOOM
DO NOT DISTURB
NATURE’S DIVOTS
Plunging 100 feet over
a jagged wall of granite
glittering with mica
schist, Rainbow Falls
ranks among the most
spectacular waterfalls at
Jones Gap State Park in
the Mountain Bridge
Wilderness Area. The
strenuous 2.5-mile
hike to the falls takes
you through lush and
unspoiled forestlands
traversed by the scenic
Middle Saluda River.
Huntington Beach State
Park offers exceptional
year-round birding with
sightings of more than
300 species, including
the ravishing Roseate
Spoonbill and flashy
Painted Bunting. Observe
osprey during their May–
June nesting season at
Santee State Park. During
Caesars Head State Park’s
September Hawk Watch,
see birds of prey winging
it along the Appalachian
Flyway.
For only a few weeks
from mid-March to
early April, the rare
Oconee Bell bursts
into bloom in just a
few remote locations
near wooded mountain
streams in the Southern
Appalachians. Colonies
of the delicate, bellshaped wildflower can
be seen along the onemile Oconee Bell Trail
in Devils Fork State
Park.
Each year from May
to October, South
Carolina’s coastline
becomes a nursery for
loggerhead sea turtles.
Join a guided nighttime
walk at Edisto Beach State
Park for the chance to
witness the meticulous
labor of a nesting
loggerhead. Hatchlings
emerge about two months
later to make the difficult
crawl to the sea.
Many a theory has tried
to explain the origins
of the strange and
mysterious Carolina
Bays, shallow, elliptical
depressions oriented in
a northwest-southeast
direction. You can
explore one of the MidAtlantic Coastal Plain’s
last remaining large bays
along a boardwalk or
one-mile canoe trail in
Woods Bay State Park.
DiscoverSouthCarolina.com
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