Huntington Beach State Park
Coast
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.