Palmetto Trail: Swamp Fox Passage & Awendaw Passage

Palmetto Trail: Swamp Fox Passage & Awendaw Passage – 4/3/21 – 12.7 Miles

How do you feel when you’ve got a loose end hanging out there on a hiking map? It may not bother you one bit, but for me it’s always just at the corner of my eye, pulling my attention away from whatever else I’m trying to do. Carol and I both wanted to finish up the Swamp Fox Passage of the Palmetto Trail and add on the Awendaw Passage to get us to the South Carolina coast. We were on a mission. The first chance we both had was early April…and away we go!

You will remember, dear reader, that our prior progress ended at Halfway Creek Road back in January. We had about 13 miles remaining, so we planned to camp at Halfway Creek the night before and get an early start on hike day.

We met at Buck Hall Recreation Area on the Intracoastal Waterway, about 32 miles north of Charleston. It’s part of Francis Marion National Forest and is also the eastern terminus of the Palmetto Trail. I moved my gear to Carol’s car and left mine patiently waiting our triumphant return.

We’d planned to eat dinner somewhere instead of cooking at camp, but the few restaurants that were open made us a little COVID-cautious. Ultimately we got takeout meals at McClellanville Diner on Highway 17, drove back to Buck Hall’s picnic area, and sat at a picnic table to eat and finalize our hike plans.

At the Halfway Creek camping area…is this really a camping area? No toilets of any kind, no running water, no electric outlets, and no fee station, just a gravel parking lot and tents set up at random. A couple of campers looked like they had been there a while.

So we walked in a little ways from the parking lot and set up, too, with one eye on a lone guy with a big bonfire and his cranked up car stereo. (He played his favorite song a few times throughout the night but I’m sure I slept some.) If you’re planning a trip, consider spending a few bucks and reserving a campsite at Buck Hall Rec Area.

In the morning we debated about leaving our tents up to dry but decided to pack everything up for a quick departure after our hike. We ate breakfast in the car, locked it up, and found our starting point. It looked a lot like the previous ones.

Another chilly start, but it warmed up a lot during the day

Frosty foliage

What’s different is more green, fewer puddles

Flame azalea

Cinnamon fern

Our final miles of Swamp Fox Passage were underwhelming compared to our previous hikes but we found glimpses of interest along the way. Carol used a flower ID app for foliage and emerging flowers. At this time she was taking a Master Naturalist certification course and I enjoyed hearing about what she was learning.

Bridge over Steed Creek – this creek flows south to join Bell Creek, and together they form
 Awendaw Lake (a very skinny 125-acre body of water) and Awendaw Creek

Fern growing on a cypress stump

Shortly after the bridge, the Swamp Fox takes a right turn towards its eastern terminus at Highway 17 and the Awendaw Passage continues straight (the trailhead parking to begin both sections is at Highway 17.) Carol and I continued straight to hike 6.5 miles on the Awendaw Passage.

After two miles of “business travel” getting across Highway 17 and down to the water's edge, we were introduced to magnificent Awendaw Creek and, across the way, the Intracoastal Waterway and Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge. As the trail undulated alongside the creek, I felt a shift in mindset along with the change in scenery: anticipation and curiosity about what’s around the next bend.

Ugh – Can we get a bridge over Highway 17?

But then Carol would miss this chance to ID another flower in the middle of a divided highway

Dewberry

Wisteria – native or invasive? Hard for us to tell

Our first look at Awendaw Creek (looks more like a river to me)

Most of the trail between Mile 4 and Mile 2 follows the creek and the transition from pine forest  through coastal grasses to maritime forest of live oaks, shrubs and saw palmettos. Just scroll on through.

Taking a break on the boardwalk

Resurrection fern

As Awendaw Creek flows into the Intracoastal Waterway, the trail turns inland and passes through a pine forest to go around private land, then crosses Buck Hall Landing Road to a boardwalk for the last quarter mile to its terminus at the Recreation Area. 

Trail’s End

The timing was right for Carol and me to hike the Swamp Fox Passage in the wintertime, but finishing the section today gave us a taste of spring, especially the Awendaw Passage and especially with a Master Naturalist! As always, we have much appreciation for those who create, protect, preserve and conserve these lands.

“I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits unless
 I spend four hours a day at least - and it is commonly more than that - sauntering through the woods
and over the hills and fields,
 absolutely free from all worldly engagements.”
~Henry David Thoreau