Beat it to Brookgreen

Brookgreen Gardens is a 70-minute drive north on Highway 17 (if you don’t stop in McClellanville, which you should). It’s perfect for a day trip with picnic, and don’t make the mistake of leaving your camera at home because you’ve got 9,200 acres at your disposal and more than 1,200 sculptures to see.

The unusual melding of natural landscape, formal gardens, and outdoor sculpture is magnificent. According to the website, this is the largest collection of American figurative sculpture in the United States. You just want to walk and walk and look and look—which gets you very tired, hence the picnic.

There are also boat and trolley tours that cover a wider area than many people may want to on foot.

Also according to the website, the mammoth oak trees you will see are 250 years old, planted in the early 1700s when Brookgreen Gardens was a thriving rice plantation. It was in 1931 that Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington developed the gardens, and it is her unique sculptures that comprised the original collection. “Designed around the walkways laid out by Mrs. Huntington, the gardens have long been regarded as one of the nation’s most beautiful botanical displays.”

Although these pictures cannot fully convey it, the light on the marble against the background of marsh and ponds is breathtaking. Each garden and every view is distinct. This place is more than just beautiful. It is a meditative wonder.

There is also a pleasant zoo said to be the only one on the coast of North and South Carolina accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). You can get almost within arm’s reach of some of the animals, except for the alligators of course. But have you ever seen a barred owl or bald eagle up really close? Wow.

At left is a snapshot of a gorgeous red fox that we saw nestling in for a nap on a tree limb.

Need some inspiration to get up the road? Take a few minutes and watch this slideshow of the sculpture and gardens set to music.

Brookgreen Gardens
1931 Brookgreen Drive
Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
(south of Myrtle Beach)
Get directions