Huntington Beach State Park is located on the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina just to the south of Myrtle Beach. I found myself here on a rather hot summer day looking to spend some time soaking up the sun and taking advantage of the cool ocean waters and breezes. Being who I am, however, I couldn't leave it at that. I decided soon after arriving I'd have to spend at least a short time on some kind of trail as well as visiting the park's unique historic home known as Atalaya.

First off, the trail...the Sandpiper Nature Trail leads from a parking area beside the park nature center about 2.5 miles out to the beach boardwalk. It was a nice walk, as you'll see, but the heat was amazingly oppressive and so I found myself jumping from shade tree to shade tree most of the way. It was quite nice to have an ocean to cool off in at the end of my walk. After the hike I headed over to perhaps the park's most unique feature, the historic home of artist Archer Huntington known as Atalaya. Huntington lived here from about 1930 through the mid-1940's and is perhaps best known for designing the neighboring Brookgreen Gardens. Deeded to the state in 1960, the historic home and the estate grounds became today's state park...

Trailhead GPS Coordinates: 33.509559, -79.062936

Route Type: Point-to-point

Difficulty: EASY

Mileage Hiked: 3.0 miles

Hike Duration: 1:00

Trailhead Temp: 90'F

Min. Elevation: 0 ft.

Max. Elevation: 10'

Trails Used (blaze color): Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail (unblazed)

Huntington Beach State Park (7-1-14)

Visitor Center
First stop was at the ranger station which looked more like a beach-front condominium than a visitor center...
Park Road
Driving into the park the wildlife was out to greet us...Egrets, Herons, and even these two Anhinga's were easily seen from the roadway...
Nature Center Trailhead
The start of my short hike would begin at the park nature center which is a nice place to get familiar with the ecology of the park...
Salt Marsh Boardwalk
Adjacent to the nature center a huge boardwalk leads out onto the salt marsh...
Salt Marsh Boardwalk
Each tiny bump in the sand is a Fiddler Crab...there were thousands of these little guys scurrying all over the mud flats...
Salt Marsh Boardwalk
A Great Egret could be seen spearing fish not too far off between the reeds...
Salt Marsh Boardwalk
Looking north across the salt water marsh the high rises of Myrtle Beach can be seen in the distance reminding us what might have become of this beautiful environment without preservation...
Salt Marsh Boardwalk
Making our way farther out into the salt water marsh...
Salt Marsh Boardwalk
At the end of the boardwalk was a nice observation platform along the waterway which bisects the marsh...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
The main hike today would be along the 2-mile Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail...a short hike, but with temps pushing above 90-degrees I figured it'd be about enough...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
Heading out on the Sandpiper Pond Trail I was immediately surrounded by numerous oaks, cedar, and pine which would be my companions for most of the hike...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
A rather tall oak for this area spreads its branches high above the canopy...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
Maybe a quarter mile or so in I passed this strange raised platform...not sure the purpose aside from providing a place for folks to stand and get a bit closer to the canopy...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
It may be from my time up in the North Woods, but I've always had a soft spot for cedars. Here, I pass an attractive little Atlantic Red Cedar...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
A common wildflower of the southern Atlantic shore, the Sea Daisy was a common sight where the trail got a bit closer to the water...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
A break in the trees provided my first view of the trails namesake, Sandpiper Pond...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
Atop a nearby dune was a wooden platform to give a bit higher view over Sandpiper Pond...
Sandpiper Pond
Sandpiper Pond as seen from the first side path down to its shore that I came to. Once an inlet from the ocean, the pond still occasionally gets flooded during storm making the water brackish (meaning a mix of salt and fresh)...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
These coastal plant communities always impress me with how dense the foliage is...an all but unbroken blanket of green from the ground to the sky...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
On a hot, muggy day such as this one, I found it nice that the trail wasn't afraid to stay out of the sun most of the time...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
This intricately painted little beauty is known as Saltmarsh Sabatia...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
The trail as it winds around and under the branches of a particularly wide, overhanging oak...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
The name of this flowering shrub escapes me but it was a quite common sight in the more open areas along the trail...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
A brief passage through a small grove of Atlantic Red Cedar...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
A second opening gave more views of the wetlands the trail was following alongside of...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
These sandy openings were incredibly hot...thankfully on this 90+ degree day they were exception not the rule...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
Just over halfway along it, the trail gets close enough to the road to allow some broken views to the west of the salt marsh we explored earlier...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
A small stream (or possibly just a close edge of the marsh) provided a nice chorus of frogs and what I hoped to be a glimpse of an alligator (to my disappointment I didn't see any)...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
Another large, sandy opening...another beat down by the heat...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
An opening in the trees gave me a look at the pond I had just passed. Coincidentally, as I wandered a bit off the trail for this shot, this is probably where I picked up the hitchhiker that I discovered later in the day...an overly friendly tick...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
I never tired of walking through these beautiful kaleidoscopic oak groves...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
The transition from hardwood to softwood forest was often quite abrupt...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
A natural jungle gym...low-country style...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
Nearing the end of the trail another platform offered a chance to see more of my surroundings...
Sandpiper Pond
The northernmost of the two ponds I passed on this hike is the Sandpiper Pond...from which the trail gets its name...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
Enjoying the last few minutes of the hike...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
A boardwalk tunnel...
Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail
Suddenly this kiosk and walkway appeared through the trees, marking the end of my hike...
Sandpiper Pond
The large platform in the last shot gives a wonderful view south across Sandpiper Pond. Like the previous pond, it is brackish (half salt, half fresh) as it originally was an inlet from the ocean and still can be inundated by the sea during strong storms...
Sandpiper Pond
Sandpiper Pond panorama...
North Beach Access Trailhead
Finis...the north end of the Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail...
North Beach
Conveniently the trail ends at a boardwalk out to the beach. After a hot 2.5 miles it was time for a refreshing dip...
Atalaya
Built in 1931 by one Archer Huntington, Atalaya was built in concert with the neighboring Brookgreen Gardens over about a 3-year period. The estate home is surrounded by walls measuring 200-feet in length on all four sides and contains some 30 rooms. The Huntington's lived here until 1947 and, in 1960, the estate and land surrounding it was transferred to the State of South Carolina as a state park. In 1984 Atalaya was designated a National Historic Landmark..
Atalaya
Inside the covered walkway which bisects the inner courtyard...
Atalaya
Inner Courtyard
Atalaya
Outdoor Studio
Atalaya
Inner Studio
Atalaya
Inner Courtyard

dwhike

Huntington Beach State Park (7-1-14)

Huntington Beach State Park (7-1-14)