For nature and wildlife lovers traveling near Beaufort, South Carolina, I recommend Cypress Wetlands, Crystal Lake Park, and Widgeon Point Preserve. We visited all three in January and they were wonderful!
Crystal Lake Park
Crystal Lake Park is on Lady’s Island, a Sea Island, just across the bridge from Beaufort. An easy 0.7-mile trail loops around Crystal Lake and through forests and salt marshes. Most of Crystal Lake Trail is a wooden boardwalk; dirt paths make up the rest of the loop.
Songbirds, wading birds, and birds of prey are regular sights in the park. During our visit we found cedar waxwings, double-crested cormorants, eastern bluebirds, great blue herons, northern cardinals, ospreys, snowy egrets, swamp sparrows, white-throated sparrows, winter wrens, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, and yellow-rumped warblers.
I was especially excited by the double-crested cormorant because in the past I had only seen them by boat. Here I was able to get much closer and really enjoy all the beautiful details.
We saw turtles and squirrels too.
A dock for catch-and-release fishing is also available.
Widgeon Point Preserve
Widgeon Point Preserve, on Lemon Island, has over 160 acres of maritime forest, pine-hardwood forest, and salt marsh along the Broad River in Port Royal Sound.
A paved sidewalk connects the parking lot to picnic tables, an event barn, and an accessible bird blind. The blind overlooks a brackish pond where we saw egrets.
The Nature Trail is an easy 0.7-mile hiking loop on a wide dirt path. Multiple openings through the trees offer scenic views of the river. Smooth cordgrass, or spartina grass, dominates the landscape because it has evolved to withstand saltwater.
On our hike we noticed barn swallows, hermit thrushes, house finches, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, and yellow-rumped warblers.
Looking for more wildlife viewing? Check out nearby Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge and Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.