Welcome to Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet South Carolina this
is one of our family's most beloved spots to visit come with me as we take you on a little tour
hello friends welcome to gardening with creekside I am Jenny and we are in a slightly different
location today than what we normally are welcome to Huntington Beach State Park this is
our family's probably our top place to visit for vacation and relaxation Huntington Beach
is a South Carolina state park it is technically located in Murrells Inlet South Carolina but really
it's just between south of Murrells Inlet and just north of Pawleys Island it is a fantastic
state park that has over 2,500 acres so it is a nice size park it has three miles of absolutely
gorgeous pristine beaches that are just a fantastic nature preserve and even in
the height of summer Huntington has about 170 campsites so even when it's at full capacity
the beach is still really empty so we love coming here in the summer because it is not crowded it's
very relaxed and you can just see I mean look at this beautiful beach for those of you that are not
from the Southeast United States maybe this is the first time you have seen a beach like this
it is fantastic it has got huge wide beaches with this beautiful sand and it's just a wonderful
place to come and relax so we just thought it would be really fun to kind of take you on a tour
of what Huntington Beach State Park has to offer and why it is so important that we support
both our state parks and our national federal parks because they offer just such a great
escape for us to come and see how nature would be if it was untouched pretty much by man and
to come and just view nature as it is of course we've got the great dunes back here the dunes
play such an important role in the erosion control of the beach and just beyond that are marshes and
maritime forest here at Huntington we get lots of loggerhead sea turtles that will come and lay
their nest create their nests and lay their eggs here in the summertime so it's really fun to come
in the summer and you'll see areas that are fenced off with the signs because the turtle watchers
have known that those are where the nests are and they are protected Huntington which is really neat
there have been over 300 different species of birds spotted in this park it is just massive and
it offers just a great respite for these birds to come whether they're migrating or they're native
that they live here year round to live to breed to raise their young and then move on if they need to
so again we just thought it would be really fun to take you on a tour of what this park has to
offer and to welcome you into the South Carolina state parks the park offers this fantastic nature
center that you can come and explore some of just the natural environments and you know just that
if you have kids to bring it and a little science part and history of this of the center interesting
fact a couple of years ago the original nature center was actually struck by lightning and burned
to the ground so this is the second edition the newest edition of the nature center our family
loves coming here because you can see some of the live animals they have just a couple
I think they're kind of refilling their supply of animals but along with that is a great boardwalk
out to the marsh that you can just go and explore everything from the edge of the water all the
way out into the marsh when you come across the causeway here at Huntington on your right is the
freshwater lake and on the left is the saltwater marsh we are here on the pier of the saltwater
marsh that comes out from the nature center it obviously is low tide and you can see really just
the extensive how much the tide rises and falls because of the banks, you will also notice that
right now behind me is the channel one of the main channels to the estuary and the marsh
so it still has quite a bit of water in it the rest of the marsh is pretty much
waterless right now we're just like an hour so away from the complete low tide
but what is so neat about this area is that you can really see all the oyster beds that they have
been now exposed that the water has gone down and oysters are fantastic one they're delicious to eat
and then two they actually work like kind of the filtration system of the marsh because they just
they're sucking in all that water they cleanse it and then they out it goes so oysters are a little
known fact it's just that kind of the filter of the marsh but there's tons of wildlife here
lots of crabs and the birds just all sorts of neat things not to mention the grasses
all sorts of great things to look at and it's just fun to come and see this area and
once that tide goes down you get to see all the little critters that are lying beneath the water
Huntington Beach State Park provides such a great area for birding and just observing nature as
it is intended to be we if you know anything about this area I mean this is a really populated area
but because it's a state park it is protected land and you have this great reserve and respite for
all these animals this particular area there's tons of different varieties of birds that come
here they come and they breed and they raise their young of course all their migratory birds can stop
here there's always something new to see and you just have this diverse ecosystem between all of
the native plants and the animals and it's just a really neat area to come and to see
what this ecosystem down here in the coastal regions of South Carolina has to offer
one of the best parts of huntington beach in our family's opinion is that it is such a vast
nature preserve and there are lots of um even alligators here so the kids are running around
but there is a baby alligator sunning himself on the little island right there we have gotten
and seen massive alligators here before and it is december so it is some of the coldest weather that
Huntington is going to have and the alligators are not as active as they are when we were here
back at the end of June so there are just tons of things to see of course right here there's a
little bit of an alligator slide but they go back and forth across the sidewalk so there's always
something to be discovered you just have to slow down and look for it emily has spotted something
so we'll figure out what she is looking at it's another alligator so let's just move on down here
so let's see if we can see
if i get down right here you can see his head okay so see this is what we call an alligator slide
is that little slope so this is the path that they walk up and down and that one is just a
little bit of a baby you can just see his little head and nose poking up there are some that get
absolutely massive here there are no barriers between us the humans and nature but everybody
really respects themselves each other and there's not been any kind of issues and that's what
is so fun about coming here because you just get to get up close and personal with nature
perhaps one of the most well-known pieces of Huntington Beach State Park is Atalaya
Atalaya Castle was built by Archer Huntington and his wife Anna between 1931 and 1933.
Archer was a philanthropist from New York City and designed the house to be a winter residence
for him and his wife after she was diagnosed with tuberculosis he designed the plants himself based
on Spanish or Moorish architecture coupled with his own imagination Anna who was an artist and
sculptor did her part as well and designed the wrought iron grills that serve as hurricane
protection on all the windows the castle has 30 rooms laid out around three sides of a courtyard
in the center of the courtyard surrounded by native plants is a water tower that
is 40 feet tall after which the house was named Atalaya means watchtower in Spanish
various other areas included indoor and outdoor studios for Anna to work her on her art
animal enclosures where they kept bears horses monkeys and a leopard archer insisted that the
house be built by local laborers to help boost the economy of the region during the depression years
they employed many local people to work at the house and gardens as well
and were known as very good employers the house was situated on the ocean within an estate that
originally consisted of over 9,000 acres of mixed land they used part of that acreage to
build the first public sculpture garden known as Brookgreen Gardens to showcase Anna's work
during World War II the Huntingtons left Atalaya and let the United States Air Corps use it as
barracks the men patrolled the beach and operated a radar unit from the house other than a crashed
plane on the beach the house was unaffected the Huntingtons returned to Atalaya in 1946 and 1947
after that Anna's studio was moved to another portion of the property in Brookgreen Gardens and
the rest of the furnishings that weren't donated elsewhere were sent to Connecticut after the death
of Archer in 1955. Anna visited the house again only two more times in 1956 and 1958. in 1960 2,500
acres of the former estate including the house and sculpture garden was leased for free to the state
of South Carolina Huntington Beach State Park was formed and now maintains the house and grounds
and offers guided tours during part of the year for the past 37 years an art festival
has been held on the grounds in September every year Atalaya Castle was placed on the
national register of historic places in 1984 to preserve the history of Anna Hyatt Huntington
and her husband Archer Huntington it remains a unique and vital piece of South Carolina history
one of our favorite things to do as a family when we are at Huntington is to ride our bicycles
throughout the park there are fantastic trails and roads that offer just the perfect bike paths for
families to enjoy a leisurely ride throughout the park in the summertime we always enjoy going out
for a nice long bike ride after supper because honestly that is the coolest part of the day
and we don't sweat to death while we ride our bicycles but there is a great path that leads
straight out of Atalaya where on both sides you were surrounded by the beautiful marshes that just
are filled with all sorts of nature both those great alligators and the birds and then perhaps my
absolute favorite part of Huntington Beach is the fantastic forest and woods that are just within
the acreage of the park there are massive old pine trees and my most favorite tree of all
the live oaks live oaks are slow growing trees so when you see a massive live oak covered in
Spanish moss you know that it has withstood the test of time it has survived many hurricanes and
strong summer winds and the heat but yet they still stand strong and majestic
I encourage you if you're ever in the area of Huntington that you really need to stop by if you
have the chance to camp there do it and if you're only there for a day or for a couple of hours I
really encourage you to stop by and see all of the beautiful surroundings that Huntington Beach has
to offer you and if you're not close to South Carolina, then I encourage you to reach out and
go exploring in the neighborhoods and the state parks and just the nature that is surrounding you
I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little sneak peek into one of our favorite places
for our family to go and visit and as we leave I just want you to sit back
relax and enjoy the beautiful scenes of Huntington Beach State Park
y'all have a great day and as always thank you for gardening with creekside