Who Knew?

September 2008

Shell Middens, Straight Lines and Cool Trails
by Phil Gaines, State Parks Director

If I told you I wanted to talk about a park that has an extensive trail system that takes you to some very cool vistas, parks like Table Rock, Caesars Head and Jones Gap probably come to mind.  Those parks do indeed have some great trails, but Edisto Beach State Park has a great trail system, too.  Edisto Beach State Park offers the state’s longest system of handicapped-friendly hiking and biking trails, including one leading to a mysterious 4,000-year-old shell midden alongside a secluded bend on a tidal creek. Then there’s the quick hike down the trail that wanders beside Big Bay Creek to a mysterious monument in the middle of nowhere. The park also has an environmental education center, a “green” building full of exhibits that highlight the natural history of Edisto Island and the surrounding ACE Basin, one of the nation’s largest preserved estuaries. After the visit to the Interpretative Center it’s time to hit the trail!

As you leave the Center take a quick trip to see the mysterious Bache monument. There’s Big Bay Creek on the left and the beauty of a maritime forest filled with Spanish moss-draped trees that define the Lowcountry. Interpretative waysides tell the story of the trail and take you on a quick journey through time. Your destination is the historic Bache Monument that was placed in 1850 to mark the western end of the Edisto baseline.  Its mate stands 6.68 miles east of this spot. They are among the few surviving end point monuments of seven baselines the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey measured in the mid-1800’s.  The monument was used to calculate and survey the coastline the old fashioned way. Think about how daunting this task would have been over 150 years ago.   So just how accurate was Professor Bache’s old measurement? Well, in the 1990’s it was resurveyed, this time using the sophisticated Global Positioning System (GPS).  The new survey took hours, not even a day, where it took the Bache team weeks.  While the time difference is significant the results are not.  The Bache measurement is only off by 2.5 inches! Not bad for a nearly seven-mile line.

Now, take a walk back in time down the trail to the Native American shell midden, an ancient, mysterious “monument” of sorts.  The shell midden is a 2,000-4,000 year old shell refuse heap that contains some of the earliest Native American pottery in North America.  The midden has recently been protected from the waves and erosion of Scott’s Creek by a retaining wall and also has a boardwalk and observation deck.  Here you can stand with your feet in the same place that Native Americans stood 4,000 years ago and get an up-close view of the thousands of fish bones, crab claws and oyster shells that make up the mound giving you a glimpse of life long ago. 

Look across Scotts Creek and see kayakers enjoying the day as they paddle by this remarkable preserved piece of our history. With the time you have left, take yet another trail through the marsh, smell the pluff mud, and spend some time standing on a bridge that overlooks all the activity of an ecosystem alive with wonder.

Suddenly calmness overcomes you - trails, shell middens, straight lines and serenity all in one place …who knew!

Read past Who Knew? articles