Planning a day hike? There are a lot of beach hikes in Sunset Beach and Bird Island to explore and most of them are pretty tame, at no more than about 3 miles.

The Waccamaw Neck Bikeway

This 18-mile off-road trail is perfect for hiking, walking, or biking and it’s handicap accessible. It parallels the Ocean Highway and Kings River Road and is considered easy. On the trail, hikers can access the Huntington Beach State Park and the Brookgreen Gardens. Parking is available at the Morse Park Landing and Murrells Inlet as well as the Huntington Beach State Park. However, if you park at the state park there is an admission fee.

Grissom Parkway Trail

This park is located in Myrtle Beach and is a 5.2 mile, asphalt trail perfect for hikers, walkers, and bicyclists. It’s actually part of the 3000 mile East Coast Greenway system and because there’s no designated trailhead, you can park in any of the commercial areas along the Parkway.

Bird Island

Park at 40th St. and W. Main St. in downtown Sunset Beach and you’re right at the park entrance. This is a beautiful bird reserve with beautiful sandy beaches, high natural dunes, and more than 1200 acres of beautiful salt marsh and title creeks. You can wander around or take a bike on some of the paths or even sign up for one of the guided educational walk’s at 8:30 AM every Wednesday from June through August. The further you walk down you might even run into the mailbox labeled “Kindred Spirit”. This unique landmark has been used by visitors to express their hopes and dreams or just to share a positive note.

Green Swamp Preserve

This open ecological, 15,000-acre treasure has beautiful trails where visitors can enjoy rare plant specimens, endangered wildlife, and unique extensive populations of carnivorous plants including the Venus flytrap and the pitcher plant. To access, visit the Southeast Coastal Conservancy at 2807 Market St. in Wilmington.

Ev-Henwood Nature Preserve

This unique nature preserve is open to the public and available to individuals or groups for guided tours or just open trail systems. The David Sieren learning trail and the Troy Henry learning trail are several trails with plant identification labels throughout and learning stations. Each trail takes about two hours and there is a manual at the Arboretum or can be downloaded from their website

Boiling Springs Lakes Preserve

This large wetland makes up over 6000 acres of landscape to explore. There’s a lot of recreational activities and the trails are perfect for biking, or just taking in the wildlife and the rare wildflowers.

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