Beidler Forest (4-13-14) - dwhike

Climbing the tower we got a good view of the boardwalk below...

Francis Beidler Forest is a 16,000 acre nature sanctuary, managed by the National Audubon Society, located about 45 minutes north of Charleston. Within this impressive chunk of land is over 1,800 acres of virgin forest dominated by Tupelo Gum and Bald Cypress. Some of the trees in this ancient forest date back 1,500 years or more! The preserve is named for the lands original owner, Francis Beidler, whose family sold the land to the Audubon Society in the 1970's. Since then a visitor center and 1.75-mile boardwalk has been constructed to take you into the heart of the old swamp.

The stellar reputation of this forest preceded it so when my two sons and I were looking for a quick stop on the way back from Charleston there was no decision to make. Our expectations were quite high and, as you'll see if you look through the album, we weren't disappointed...

Trailhead GPS Coordinates: 33.220457, -80.353969

Hike Length: 3.0 miles

Hike Duration: 2:00

Trailhead Temp: 80'F

Elevation: 35'

Beidler Forest (4-13-14)

Arriving at the visitor center. Though small it contains a wealth of information regarding the ecology of the forest. They also have guidebooks and binoculars that can be borrowed for a small fee...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Exiting the back of the visitor center we immediately emerged onto the 1.75 mile boardwalk which would take us through the forest...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Where the ground was higher and drier the understory was covered in clumps of Dwarf palmetto. Despite their small size these miniature palm are extremely long-lived, the oldest on record surviving 500-700 years!...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
A busy sapsucker has left its tell-tale marks on this pine...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
It wasn't long before the understory became much wetter...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Every so often we passed small shelters like this one which no doubt are handy escapes from the hot summer sun or in the case of a surprise storm...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Our first swamp resident of the day...an Eastern Mud Turtle catching some rays...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
By nature, this swamp is an ever-changing place...this means that frequent repairs of the boardwalk are needed as you can see here...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Bald cypress and Tupelo gum are the dominant tree species in the forest. Of the preserve's 16,000 acres some 1,800 consist of virgin forest, part of which we'd be passing through on this hike...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Cypress knees, above water extensions of the Bald cypress root system, are a common sight in the swamp. Scientists to this day haven't nailed down their exact purpose, though one thing is for certain...the bigger the knee the older the tree it belongs to...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Running along the boardwalk rail ahead of us was this Green Anole...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Getting into the virgin stand of cypress we started passing some seriously large trees. Some of the cypress in the forest measure 10' in diameter and are over 1,500-years old...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
We had been anxiously awaiting a glimpse of one of the forests most popular residents, the Prothonotary Warbler. It didn't take long before we spotted one, darting in and out of his home in a nearby hollow cypress knee...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Wandering through the Four Hole Swamp...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
We spotted this Brown Watersnake lounging on a log next to the trail. It looked a bit like he had just had a big dinner...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
At the eastern end of the loop the main trail heads right while a spur boardwalk heads left to an overlook at Goodson Lake...we'd head right first...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Making the turn right at the east end of the loop the boardwalk immediately became a bit more aged than the one we had been using to this point...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Our booklet stated that the preserve also offers guided canoe tours, I'd love to be able to do that someday...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
A look at our lush surroundings as we began the south half of the loop...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
The trees were starting to get big...real big...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
The highlight of the whole hike was being able to sit and watch this Barred Owl, not 100' off the trail, for a good 20 minutes. He seemed completely indifferent to us snapping pictures as he patiently waited for a tasty snack to pass by beneath him...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
As you can see the terrain had elevated a bit and we were now crossing dry ground. Though we could hardly tell this was the 'high point' of the hike...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Winding our way between two immense old cypress...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Looking into the canopy, well over 100' above...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
There were a number of these huge cypress stumps marking the locations of long-gone giants. Due to the rot resistant nature of the cypress these stumps persist for a very long time, on the order of hundreds and hundreds of years...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
The dark waters of the swamps in this region are known as 'blackwater'...it gets its dark coloring from tannins, a chemical which leaches from the bark and leaves of the trees in the swamp...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Nearing the closed portion of the loop we passed what was likely the biggest cypress we saw on the hike...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Unfortunately the last half mile of the boardwalk loop was closed for much-needed repairs so we would have to backtrack from here...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
A panorama of the surrounding swamp near where we turned back...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Four Hole Swamp...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Backtracking to the T-intersection, we next headed over on the spur towards Goodson Lake...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
After a short time we arrived at the wooden overlook above Goodson Lake...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
A swamp panorama near Goodson Lake...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Climbing the tower we got a good view of the boardwalk below...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Goodson Lake isn't so much a stand-alone body of water but rather a somewhat deeper section of swamp, too deep to allow trees to grow in it. As it is permanently covered in water, this is a popular place to see wildlife in the summer when the rest of the swamp sometimes dries up...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
A panorama of Goodson Lake...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Another good sized water snake sunning itself along the dock at Goodson Lake...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Goodson Lake...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Goodson Lake...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Time to head back...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Where earlier we had found the Green Anole, now a Five-lined Skink greeted us along the railing...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
Straining our necks to look at another huge cypress...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion
I don't know that I've ever been on a hike quite like this one...the virgin forest, the plethora of visible animal life, and just the overall quality of the experience left us with quite a sense of wonder as we departed...
audubon society Four Hole Swamp Charleston cypress tupelo swamp virgin forest National Natural Landmark wildlife bird blackwater Francis Marion