Huntington Beach State Park - East Coast Greenway

The East Coast Greenway is an ambitious project to link Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida with a nearly 3,000 mile path for non-motorized human transportation. Nearly 300 miles of the greenway pass through coastal South Carolina. One section already complete passes through Murrells Inlet as a bike lane on US 17 Business. At the southern end of town, the bike lane transitions into a separate path through Huntington Beach State Park. At the southern boundary of the park, the route continues on residential streets through North Litchfield before returning to a designated path east of US 17 to Litchfield Beach Resort. This section of the trail is designated the Waccamaw Neck Bikeway. The trail crosses to the west side of US 17 at the resort, but currently ends less than ½ miles south of the resort at Providence Drive. We biked the 7.7 miles from the south end of Murrells Inlet to Providence Drive and back (15.4 miles round trip) during our late September visit to the Myrtle Beach area. Only 2.4 miles of the route is through the state park, but the forest does attenuate the road noise from the adjacent US 17. The route is relatively flat, but there are numerous residential and commercial driveways that cross the trail and require constant vigilance. Parking is available at a roadside gravel pullout at the southern end of Murrells Inlet as well as at shopping areas near the Litchfield Resort. Parking in the state park requires paying the park entrance fee.

Bike trail at the northern end of the Litchfield Resort parking lot

Waccamaw Neck Bikeway adjacent to US 17

Bridge over Flagg Pond in North Litchfield

Canoe in Flagg Pond

Another view of Flagg Pond

Street riding in North Litchfield

One of the more modest homes in North Litchfield

One of the more upscale homes in North Litchfield

Bike trail through Huntington Beach State Park

One of three bridges in the park

Wildlife at Allston Creek in Murrells Inlet

View across Allston Creek toward the inlet

There is no fee to bike or walk this section of the East Coast Greenway.

The East Coast Greenway website is http://www.greenway.org/
The Huntington Beach State Park website is http://southcarolinaparks.com/huntingtonbeach/introduction.aspx