Bikes, Harbour & the May River: A Hilton Head Weekend

Within the Sea Pines Resort on the island's south end, the 605-acre Sea Pines Forest Preserve protects the most historically significant land on Hilton Head Island. The preserve contains the Stoney-Baynard Ruins: the tabby foundations and walls of a plantation house complex dating to around 1700, which were part of the first significant English settlement on Hilton Head Island. The foundations are evocative and well-preserved, sheltered by enormous loblolly pines and live oaks, with interpretive signs explaining the cotton and indigo plantation operation that these walls once enclosed. The surrounding preserve is excellent wildlife habitat: great horned owls and barred owls nest in the tall pines, white-tailed deer are common in the morning, and alligators occupy the freshwater ponds scattered through the forest. The preserve's 5.4 miles of paved bike trails provide the quietest and most scenic riding on the island.

The Harbour Town Lighthouse — completed in 1970 as a navigational aid for the new Sea Pines marina and one of the few lighthouses built for aesthetic as well as functional purposes in the late 20th century — has become the iconic image of Hilton Head Island: a distinctive red-and-white striped octagonal tower at the edge of the Calibogue Sound, surrounded by waterfront shops, charter boats, and the pleasant chaos of the marina. The lighthouse can be climbed for views over Calibogue Sound to Daufuskie Island and, on clear days, to the distant barrier islands of Georgia. The marina waterfront at the base is lined with shops and restaurants and is one of the best places on the island to simply sit and watch the boat traffic.

Hilton Head Island's 60-plus miles of paved multi-use bike paths are arguably the finest urban cycling network in the Southeast — wide, well-maintained, shaded by live oaks for most of their length, and connecting the island's beaches, resorts, and nature areas without requiring riders to share road space with cars. An afternoon ride from Harbour Town north along the Sea Pines perimeter trail to Coligny Beach provides 8-10 miles of effortless coastal cycling through a mix of palmetto scrub, live oak canopy, and occasional marsh views.

Burkes Beach, on the island's Atlantic side midway between the resort areas, is one of the least-crowded beaches on Hilton Head — a wide, clean strand with easy parking and relatively few visitors compared to Coligny to the south or the resort beaches to the north. A morning walk at low tide on Burkes Beach, when the sand flat extends far out and shorebirds run the tideline by the hundreds, is the quiet Hilton Head that resort marketing never shows. The beach is also an excellent dolphin-watching spot: the resident bottlenose dolphin population strands mullet on the beach slope at certain tidal conditions — a unique learned behavior called strand feeding in which the dolphins drive fish onto the beach and slide partially onto shore to grab them, a behavior documented on this exact stretch of coast.

Coligny Beach Park, the island's main public beach access point, is backed by a small park with shade pavilions, outdoor showers, and a cluster of casual food vendors and beach shops. The beach itself is wide and well-maintained, with lifeguards in season, consistent moderate surf, and excellent swimming conditions most of the year. A mid-morning arrival avoids the worst of the afternoon crowds.

Bluffton's compact historic district sits above a tidal marsh overlooking the May River. Browse the galleries on Calhoun Street, pick up oysters from Bluffton Oyster Company (seasonal), and watch the shrimp boats from the Church of the Cross waterfront park.

The Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn occupies a 68-acre historic plantation site on Broad Creek, with trails through maritime forest, a native plant garden, a boardwalk over the marsh, and exhibits on the natural and cultural history of Hilton Head Island — from the Yemassee and Escamaçu people who inhabited the island before European contact, through the Spanish and English colonial periods, the Civil War (Union forces took the island in November 1861 in the same engagement that captured Beaufort), and the 20th-century resort transformation. The grounds are beautiful and the trails are short and flat — an ideal quiet afternoon stop before the drive home.