Since moving away from the Bay Area and back to our hometown of Calabash, North Carolina, I believe that our biggest loss of self is definitely hiking! As a family of four, we would either be out in the woods or be camping just about every weekend with the pup! While we are grateful for the affordability we have by leaving expensive California, we find ourselves longing for better hiking trails and Vereen Gardens is a slice of heaven for sure! Tucked away right off Hwy 17 in Little River, SC lies some of the best hiking trails in the Horry County Area! The best part about this well kept Historical Gardens is the versatility it offers, depending upon how long you want to be with nature!
As soon as you arrive, you can park at the head of the trails and head off in into the abyss. All the trails are marked fairly well and lead all the way down to the water! I will forewarn you, the hotter it gets the more mosquitos that come so make sure you wear ample bug spray when you are visiting!
As for the trails, they are sandy and weave in and out of gorgeous tall trees that you can get lost in for miles! The park is dog friendly but please make sure you have yours on a leash as all time in accordance with the law. As for us on a sunny Sunday afternoon, my husband and I took our English Mastiff, Rhodesian Ridgeback and kiddos for some exercise that they enjoyed to the max!
This park offers so much to do as well other than hiking folks so don’t fret! There are fishing piers, stunning boardwalks that overlook the marsh and also gorgeous views that overlook the intercoastal waterway. The wildlife is abundant and there are informational billboards all over the park that show you what kind of critters you might run into!
Now I will be honest, sometimes I don’t have all day to explore all of Vereen Gardens and take the shortcut version. If you drive all the way into the park, there is ample parking along some swing sets and right off the beaten path are marsh walks that will take you right down to the water where you can watch the boats pass by for hours. There is the shell tree that is famous for memories that visitors leave to show their mark in this beautiful historical park.
One of the shell trees that you can mark your memories down for future folks to see!
Now if you DO NOT want to hike, there are many ways you can just enjoy some of the the beautiful views that the park has to offer. When you park all the way at the end of the gardens, there are swing sets for adults, a small swing set for the kiddos and there are even wooden cabanas that you can rent out if you want to have a small picnic!
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day to day, we forget to connect the real world and literally TOUCH GRASS. I hope that you get to connect with nature again soon and choose Vereen Gardens as your next visit. I promise you will love ever bit of it!