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Huntington Beach

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PARK ADVISORY

Due to increasing demand and limited parking, temporary park closures have become frequent on weekends and holidays from March through September. Parking is first-come, first-serve and is limited. Visitors are strongly encouraged to arrive outside peak hours (10 am- 2 pm). Park visitors are also encouraged to check with park staff on current parking availability prior to departing if they plan to return, as they could be turned away due to a park closure. For more information on park closures call 843-237-4440.


To protect the park and our neighbors, Brookgreen Gardens, which leases the property to South Carolina State Parks, and the South Carolina Forestry Commission are actively working on a critical forest management and hazard mitigation project in the park. With more trees than the land can sustain and layers of natural debris, the park’s thick pine forest and dense understory are a high risk for dangerous wildfires. Professional crews are working to reduce fuel loads in the forest through resource management strategies like installing fire breaks and completing timber thins. Learn more about this critical project and how it could impact your visit here.

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HOURS

6 a.m. - 6 p.m., daily (extended to 10 p.m. during Daylight Saving Time)

Atalaya Hours: 9 a.m.-4 p.m., daily (extended to 5 p.m. during Daylight Saving Time) PLEASE NOTE: Atalaya is the venue for many large events throughout the year and may be closed in correspondence to these events. For current information, please contact the park office.

OFFICE

9 a.m.-5 p.m., daily (extended to 8 p.m. during Daylight Saving Time)

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ADMISSION

$8/adult; $5/ S.C. Senior; $4/youth age 6-15; Free for children 5 and younger.

Atalaya admission: $2/person ages 6 and up. Children 5 and under admitted free.

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PETS

Huntington Beach State Park is a dog friendly park year round. Please keep in mind that all dogs must remain on a leash no longer than six feet at all times. Please clean up after your pet. Dogs are allowed on the south end of the beach. Dogs are prohibited in buildings, including Atalaya and on the north end of the beach. The north end extends from the beach access at the north parking lot to the jetty.

Huntington Beach State Park  Has Wifi

Wifi Available

Huntington Beach State Park  Has EV Charging Station

EV Charging Station

Huntington Beach State Park

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Trails

Kerrigan Nature Trail

Length: 0.3 miles

Type: Hiking Trail

Difficulty: Easy 

Description: From the parking area, it is an easy .2 mile walk to an observation deck over the brackish water impoundment of Mullet Pond, where you may see a variety of shorebirds and wading birds. For a longer hike, this trail intersects the historic driveway of Atalaya Castle. Turn right to see the causeway that divides the freshwater Mallard Pond from Mullet Pond. Turn left to return to the parking lot along the park roads. Spring and summer offer great views of nesting anhingas, green and tricolor herons and common gallinules; wood storks, roseate spoonbills, and swallow-tailed kites may also be seen. Ducks are prominent in the winter. Other wildlife to be seen includes alligators, turtles, bullfrogs and deer.

Sandpiper Pond Nature Trail

Length: 2.0 miles

Type: Hiking Trail

Difficulty: Easy

Description:  This easy 2-mile out and back trail meanders through a maritime forest of ancient dunes covered in oaks, pines and cedars. The Maxwell Observation Deck offers viewing of a wide array of wading birds and alligators, ducks in winter, and shorebirds on migrations.

For a longer hike (+ round trip of 2.5 miles), continue north on the beach to the jetty. One of a pair that holds Murrells Inlet in place, it also serves as a rocky coastline where one would not normally exist. Visitors can walk out across the ocean to view a variety of rare seabirds and sea ducks in the winter, swimming juvenile sea turtles during the summer, and mink and dolphins year-round.

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