Sea Pines Forest Preserve, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

The Sea Pines Forest Preserve is located in Sea Pines which is on the southern end of Hilton Head.  It's quite large and absolutely wonderful with biking trails throughout the 605 acres.  It is reminiscent of Northern Saskatchewan for me with the pine trees and numerous lakes.  The Preserve is a very beautiful and well-kept oasis for anyone who wants to walk, bike or drive into. 

There are picnic areas and sitting areas set up throughout the preserve.  There are Oak trees that are hundreds of years old that stretch out their branches in the most peculiar ways. 

There are viewing platforms and boardwalks throughout the property for picture taking and watching the wildlife go about their daily lives.

It is absolutely free to enter and you can spend the whole day there if you want.  We spent almost 3 hours in the preserve biking around stopping and taking pictures and checking out the sites.  The second time we went, it was more for the purpose of taking photos of birds for my son.  We did see many different birds but due to his competitive nature (not sure where he got that from) he wanted to capture a perfect photo of a Cardinal and we happened to also see a Blue Scrub Jay couple.

There is tons of wildlife at the forest preserve some of which are really nice to watch like big Heron birds Ibises etc. 

The wildlife that freaks me out is the Gators because they're everywhere.  There's water everywhere and wherever there's water in Hilton Head there's a strong chance that there's a gator.  We came across several gators that are just chilling on the side of the road or the side of the lake and you are biking right past them. 

To the right is Ethan my son's friend and if you look closely toward the water you can see a gator there.

If you choose to stop and take a picture that's on you.  They say that gators aren't interested in humans.  Who are THEY?  I am always on guard while walking or biking in gator-prone areas.  I think this is the common sense thing to do.  Gators are and will go for your dog though.

The preserve is beautiful and peaceful and has lots to see and do.  There is a 4000-year-old Indigenous Shell Ring which we did not see because there was a controlled burn the second day that we went to the Preserve, it was off-limits to us.

There is the Old Lawton Rice Field which has a boardwalk running over the top of it and this was very interesting to see.  The slaves use to pick rice here and I could not imagine what hell they went through in this swampy area with the odd gator.  There are still traces of rice plants if you look hard enough but the swamp has more or less taken over and grown in.  There was also cotton and indigo grown on these lands back in the 1700 and 1800s.  Then in the 1950s it was harvested for timber.

I called this the Gator Ambush Alley when we were biking down it.  The path is sandwiched by a swamp on both sides and it has turtles and gators in it.  It was a bit nerve-wracking for me but the boys thought that it was fun.  However, it was a beautiful path, lush with various palms, oak and endemic flora.