Hunting Island State Park and Lighthouse

Hunting Island State Park is the beach the Lowcountry looked like before anyone built on it, and it is the best reason to drive past Beaufort. The park covers about 5,000 acres of beach, salt marsh, maritime forest, a saltwater lagoon and an ocean inlet at the far end of the Sea Islands, with about five miles of undeveloped Atlantic shoreline where palmettos and pines lean over the sand and wind-bleached tree trunks lie where the eroding shore has claimed them. The centerpiece is the black-and-white Hunting Island Lighthouse, which reopened to climbers on May 26, 2026 after a restoration project that began in 2022. It is 167 steps to the observation deck, and the view runs over an unbroken canopy of forest to the Atlantic and the marshes behind. Climbs are first-come, first-served between the first climb at 9:30am and the last at 4:30pm, in groups of up to twelve with thirty minutes to go up and down, and the lighthouse fee, a few dollars per person paid at the oil house across from the tower, is separate from park admission. There are rules worth knowing before you arrive: climbers must be at least 44 inches tall, children 13 and under need an adult, no one may be carried, shoes are required, and bags, coolers and umbrellas stay in the car. The rest of the park rewards a whole day. A fishing pier reaches out over the inlet on the south end, the nature center has live animals and exhibits on the barrier island, the lagoon is a calm spot for paddling and birding, and the oceanside campground, with about a hundred sites, is one of the most popular in the state. Admission is a modest per-person fee (children five and under are free), and the park opens daily at 6am.

The lighthouse has its own story. It dates from the 1870s and was built in cast-iron sections, a design that allowed it to be taken apart and moved inland in the late nineteenth century as the shoreline retreated, which tells you everything about this restless coast. The recent restoration fortified the tower and its stairs, and its reopening in May 2026 was one of the big Lowcountry news stories of the year. Climb in the morning for the clearest light and the shortest wait; the deck is breezy, so bring a layer in the cooler months. The park notes that the tower can close at any time in unsafe weather, so check the park page on the day.

The beach changes character from end to end. The north beach, near the lighthouse, is the classic scene of driftwood and toppled trees; the tip of North Beach is closed to dogs to protect shorebirds. The famous Boneyard Beach on Little Hunting Island is reached by a bridge that was temporarily closed for hazardous high tides at the start of November 2026, so check before you plan around it. The south end has the fishing pier, the lagoon and the marsh trails, and it is the calmer place for young children. Swimming is possible in summer, but the currents near the inlet and the eroding shoreline call for caution, and there are no lifeguards along most of the beach.

Timing and logistics: Hunting Island is about thirty minutes beyond downtown Beaufort, so from Hilton Head it is roughly an hour and a half each way. Pair it with Beaufort, the Penn Center or Fort Fremont on St. Helena Island, all on the same road, for a full day. The park closes at 6pm outside Daylight Saving Time, which in November means an early finish, and the nature center and campground store have occasional inventory closures in early December. A track chair can be reserved at least 48 hours ahead for visitors with limited mobility. For anyone who has seen Hilton Head's manicured beaches and wants the opposite, this is the place.