Private expedition with Garden & Gun

You are invited on a special outing on Tuesday, April 30 to explore a hidden ecological wonderland, Four Holes Swamp with South Carolina Nature Conservancy, Audubon South Carolina, and Coastal Expeditions.

Our adventure begins at the Audubon Center and Sanctuary at Beilder Forest. This land was originally protected in partnership between Audubon and The Nature Conservancy fifty years ago and is the portal to one of the great natural landscape treasures in existence, Four Holes Swamp.  Enveloping the largest remaining stand of virgin bald cypress tupelo gum swamp forest remaining on earth, this bottomland hardwood paradise consists of some 1,800 acres and is populated by towering bald cypress trees more than 1000 years old.

After convening at the Beidler Visitor Center (restrooms available) we will have a short drive to the Mallard Lake Throw-in which will serve as our doorway into the realm of the millennial-cypress ecosystem.  

Self-powered vessels are the only way to explore the heart of this old growth blackwater ecosystem.  The routes and passages through the braided creeks of Four Holes at times seem impassible only to open into interior lakes or “holes” that give the swamp its name.  As we paddle, the light filtering through the early spring greens and reflecting off of the black mirror of the water should be spectacular.   

This precious vestige of landscape was all but completely lost to the timber industry throughout the 19th century. Today, this swamp is a beacon and world model of citizen activism and conservation partnership embodied by groups like The Nature Conservancy and National Audubon Society.

Perhaps the most precious and iconic of the diverse creatures of this landscape is the prothonotary warbler. Colloquially called the swamp canary, the vibrant yellow of this planetary beauty is made more striking by the Gothic color patterns of the black water arena.  The appearance of a prothonotary on a near by cypress knee is like a bright yellow light suddenly being switched on.  It is stunning.

These neo-tropical migrants have just returned from northern South America- a 5000 miles journey- to breed where their parents, grandparents and distant ancestors have been breeding for a millennia and more.  

Imagine that this bird, just in from Bogota, Colombia lights in a tree to nest.  Now imagine that this tree is the same bald cypress where this birds’ family line began in the year 1100 AD when the same tree was a young 200 years old…

Now imagine that you are there to witness that moment in the heart of the primordial black water ecosystem as the yellow birds return to the tower.  

Let’s go paddle Four Holes this Tuesday.  The weather looks good from here, the water level is right and the yellow birds are back… The trees have been ready.  

Audubon x The Nature Conservancy x Coastal Expeditions.  Live your best life.