Nature Adventures Outfitters

The following Eco-Friendly activities are some spectacular ways to enjoy the Summerville/Charleston area!: Kayaking, Surfing, Bicycling, hiking, Horse Back Riding, bird watching, canoeing, or just walking through Cypress Gardens or one of the beautiful Plantations.

Parks and Gardens

Audubon Center at Francis Beidler Forest
336 Sanctuary Road
Harleyville, SC 29448
(843) 462-2150
E-mail: beidler@infoave.net

Open Tues.- Sun. 9-5
The Lowcountry's premier natural experience. Tour the 1.75 mile boardwalk trail through an ancient virgin cypress swamp forest with 1,000+ year-old trees. Native wildlife abounds. Nature Center and gift shop.  $7/Adult, $6/Audubon Member, $3.50/Child (6-18), FREE/Under 6.

Audubon Swamp Garden at Magnolia Plantation
3550 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414
(843) 571-1266

Open 365 days a year
Rising from sixty acres of blackwater cypress and tupelo swamp, this beautiful and unique preserve abounds with water-loving wildlife, especially alligators and birds. Visitors experience the diverse flora and fauna firsthand via boardwalks, bridges and dikes.

Azalea Park
Main St. at W. 5th South St.
Summerville, SC 29483
(843) 871-6000
Click here to view Azalea Park web page.

Open daily 5am-10pm.
Beautiful Azalea Park is a 12-acre oasis in the heart of Summerville. Peaceful paths, statuary, ponds, fountains and tennis courts are just a stroll away. Site of the annual YMCA Flowertown Festival and Sculpture in the South events.

Cypress Gardens
3030 Cypress Gardens Rd.
Moncks Corner, SC 29461
(843) 553-0515
www.cypressgardens.info

Open Sun-Sat
Admission Adults $10, Seniors $9, Children (6-12) $5, M, V.
Cypress Gardens is a 170-acre swamp-garden rich in natural beauty and fascinating history. There are trails, boat rides, a butterfly house, aquarium and reptile house and much more.

Gahagan Playground & Ball Fields
West Boundary St.
Summerville, SC 29483
(843) 851-5211

Click here to view Gahagan web page. A great softball tournament site, Summerville’s 37-acre sports complex features four large softball fields, football, soccer field, restrooms, concessions, press box. Walk/bike trail is complemented by picnic area and enormous public playground for kids of all ages.

Givhans Ferry State Park
746 Givhans Ferry Road
Ridgeville SC 29472
(843) 873-0692
www.southcarolinaparks.com

Open 9am-9pm (Daylight Savings Time), 9am-6pm (Standard Time).
Park sits on bluffs above the scenic Edisto River near a ferry crossing used in 18th and 19th centuries. Camping, cabins, hiking, fishing, picnic area and river access.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
3550 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414
(843) 571-1266
www.magnoliaplantation.com

Open 365 days a year
Hours: 8-5:30 from Feb. to Nov., 9 to 5 from Nov. to Feb. Visitors can stay until dusk all year.
Seventeenth-century estate featuring year-round bloom of America’s oldest gardens, pre-revolutionary war plantation house, biblical garden, antebellum cabin, nature train, nature boat, wildlife observation tower, snack shop, canoe & bike rentals.

Middleton Place
4300 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414
(843) 556-6020 or 1-800-782-3608
info@middletonplace.org
www.middletonplace.org

Open Every Day from 9:00 to 5:00.

Old Santee Canal Park
Stony Landing Rd.
Moncks Corner, SC 29461
(843) 899-5200
www.oldsanteecanalpark.org

On historic Stony Landing Plantation, the park marks the last mile of America’s first “true” canal. Four miles of boardwalks. Canoe rentals, outdoor and indoor meeting facilities for up to 200 people.

Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site
300 State Park Rd.
Summerville, SC 29485
(843) 873-1740

Open 7 days a week, 9am-6pm
E-Mail: old_Dorchester_sp@prt.state.sc.us
www.southcarolinaparks.com

Open daily 9am-6pm. Colonial Dorchester is a nationally significant archaeological site on the Ashley River containing the remains of a colonial era village. Interpretive kiosk and trail are available as are scheduled tours and excavations

Drayton Hall
3380 Ashley River Road
Charleston, SC 29414
(843) 769-2600
Fax: 766-0878
www.draytonhall.org

Open daily except major holidays.
Encounter America's heritage in a house that survived the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. Drayton Hall is the oldest preserved plantation house (circa 1738) in America that is open to the public. It is a historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and a National Historic Landmark. Scenic marsh and river walks, African-American programs, picnic areas, and a museum gift shop are just some of the many offerings.

Summerville Town Square
Along Main Street between 2nd St. and Doty Ave.
(843) 871-6000

Also known as Hutchinson Square, this historic oak-canopied park was originally created as a “breathing space for women and children.” It still provides a beautiful spot to rest while shopping or strolling.

Art Central Ltd. Fine Art Gallery

102 Central Ave., Summerville, SC 29483
871-0297
Hours: Mon-Sat 10-5

Co-owned by thirteen local artists, the gallery contains an eclectic mix of original paintings, drawings, hand-pulled prints and decorative clay works, along with notecards and reproductions of originals.