WHOOPING CRANE POND

The 137-acre Whooping Crane Pond Conservancy is located on Hilton Head Island within Hilton Head Plantation. It consists primarily of freshwater black gum (or tupelo) forested swamp and open “savannah” swamp. A swamp edge transition zone of thick, head-high bushes separates the swamp from the pine dominated uplands and the habitat supports approximately 75 plant species and 100 wildlife species.

This pleasant hike in Hilton Head Plantation has two components. The first is along the Nancy Cathcart Path which winds through a dry pine forest and joins with the second section of “trail” on the Whooping Crane Boardwalk. The boardwalk is an impresive engineering feat in itself and obviously took significant effort to build (and I expect requires significant effort to maintain.) The area formed as a shallow valley between ancient shoreline dunes, and the swamp is fascinating to explore over the course of about 0.5 miles (which includes the nancy Cathcart Path). Views from the platform areas are sure to offer bird sightings among other things.