Skip to content

Random Connections

A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Photos
  • Resources
  • Other Voices
  • Post Archives
  • Home
  • Travel
  • ACE Basin

ACE Basin

Posted on April 8, 2006 By Tom No Comments on ACE Basin
Travel

Leaving Beidler Forest, we had a decision to make.  Should we join the madness at Magnolia Garden, or should we seek out more wildlife?  Earlier in the day we had driven through a historic residential section of Summerville and were able to enjoy the beauty of azaleas in that area.  We decided that was enough, and we could skip the madness.

The ranger at Beidler had pointed us toward two areas in the ACE Basin.  Skipping the interstates, we headed on country roads towards the coast.  In St. George, we drove through the "National Grits Festival."  The town of Walterboro was also a thriving community, and both had historic homes.  From Walterboro we continued southward through pine forests and Spanish moss.

We came to Highway 17 and immediately saw a sign for the Donnelly Wildlife Management Area, part of the ACE Basin.  A dirt road was labeled "Main Rd", and we were able to pick up a map at the entrance display.  We were all alone on the road, so we drove slowly, stopping anywhere we wished to watched wildlife from the car.  At one point a raccoon tried to cross in front of us, and moments later a turkey followed.  The road travelled mostly straight with rice impoundments off to the side.  Herons, ibis, and other wading birds wandered along the old rice paddies.

Several roads and trails branched off to the sides.  Eventually we did see parking for a nature trail and pulled off.  The trail begain at an old abandoned farmhouse with Gothic woodwork. I hated to see it in such a state.  The trail itself got us closer to the rice impoundments – close enough to see a large number of alligators.  We saw more birds, but Laura started to get freaked by the gators.

Back in the car, we continued south, stopping briefly at another impoundment.  We hit pavement right outside the WMA proper, but the pavement rand out after a couple of miles, and we hit more dirt.  Our car was getting filthy.  We kept heading south and finally reached lands end at a boat ramp on the Salkahatchie River.

After a wonderful day in the wild, we fought traffic back through and around Charleston to our hotel.

Post navigation

❮ Previous Post: Hand Clapping
Next Post: Gennaro’s Italian Restaurant ❯

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Categories

  • EdTech (199)
  • Entertainment (201)
  • Family (118)
  • Gear (115)
  • General Technology (97)
  • Geocaching and Maps (208)
  • History and Genealogy (253)
  • Internet (144)
  • Local (447)
  • Miscellaneous (539)
  • Music (188)
  • Paddling (239)
  • Photography (777)
  • Podcast (6)
  • Rambling (223)
  • Rants (160)
  • Recipes (34)
  • Religion (48)
  • Restaurants (165)
  • Science (48)
  • Things Overheard (29)
  • Travel (410)
  • Uncategorized (129)
  • Washington Sabbatical (113)
  • Weirdness (59)

Recent Posts

  • Paddling the Saluda River from Cooley’s Bridge
  • Germophobic Paranoia Blues and Other Dream Tunes
  • Orphaned Graveyards – Bakers Chapel AME
  • Orphaned Graveyards – Fellowship Church
  • Website Updates

Recent Comments

  • Elaine Griffith on Paddling the Saluda River from Cooley’s Bridge
  • Ruby on Paddling the Saluda River from Cooley’s Bridge
  • Alan Russell on Paddling the Saluda River from Cooley’s Bridge
  • Johnny on Paddling the Saluda River from Cooley’s Bridge
  • Shelby chambers on The REAL Children’s Cemetery

Tags

blogging cemetery Christmas Columbia Edisto River edtech Entertainment family Flickr Florida Furman Furman University gear geotagging Ghost Town Ghost Towns Google Earth Google Maps GPS Greenville Greenville Chorale hiking history Instructional Technology kayaking Lake Jocassee LCU Lowcountry Unfiltered maps Music North Carolina Paddling Photography rambling restaurant Restaurants review singing social networking South Carolina time-lapse Travel video Washington Washington State
February 2021
S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28  
« Dec    

Copyright © 2021 Random Connections.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown