Hiking Ernest F. Hollings Ace Basin Plantation + NWR | South Carolina

 

I had a good week to stay in Charleston on this visit. While we had a wedding to photograph on the weekend, we did really want to see more of this beautiful city. Every other time we’ve gone, we’ve only been to the downtown area. We love the charm of the town, but we also love the historic old homesteads surrounded by oak trees and Spanish moss.

Looking up hikes in the Charleston area proved to be a bit challenging, so we just searched for big green spots on the map. This is how I found the Ernest F. Hollings Ace Basin National Wildlife Refuge. There really wasn’t a whole lot of information online, but its only located about an hour south of Charleston. It proved to be one of my favorite stops!

The Ernest f. Hollings Ace Basin NWR had a beautiful old plantation house, pastoral grounds full of giant oaks and swinging Spanish moss. You can go inside the house, but unfortunately we found out about that just before it closed. There was a beautiful little outdoor amphitheater here right amongst the trees. I couldn’t help but think that it would make a breathtaking site for an intimate ceremony. Seriously, this place would make an excellent venue for the outdoor loving bride and groom!

The plantation house and ground were some of the best we’d seen. It was kept so naturally that it felt like we were really seeing it as it was in the old days. Out back, there were marshes with baby alligators and eagles nesting. We didn’t pack a zoom lens this day, but it was fun to enjoy their presence.

Thank you so much for reading! Plenty more plantation photos around Charleston to come :)

Shelley, Charleston + Asheville Wedding Photographer

p.s. In case you’re wondering about my outfit, I got it at Franchescas. They were having a major sale so I tore it up and got a whole bunch of cute new outfits for the spring and summer.  :)