This 4-mile drive was closed for 3 years, due to renovation work on the dikes and water control structures in the Refuge. We are delighted that it re-opened in summer 2023, and is, if possible, better than ever.
Your leaders will be Master Birders Karen Seminary and Rachel Green. Both have intimate knowledge of the Laurel Hill Drive, know all the best birding spots, and are excellent spotters of the hard-to-see birds. Meet them at the Laurel Hill Drive entrance on Rte. 170, for car-pooling (more eyes in the car = more birds spotted). Expected high points may be watching harriers fly over the marsh looking for prey, spotting black-crowned night herons or American bitterns in among the marsh grasses, trying to separate song, savannah, and swamp sparrows. An early April trip might even yield a few migrating songbirds on the hammocks.
The group will drive very slowly, looking for birds, pulling over to the side of the road so we don’t block other visitors, stopping in several locations to get out of the cars and seek the birds, etc. Walking will be in short spurts not totaling as much as a mile. There is a port-o-john at about mile 1 of the drive; but it may take an hour or more of birding before you get that far. So plan for that. Bring binoculars, water, snacks and lunch, bug spray, and dress for the weather.
Registration is necessary.
Directions: Take Rte. 170 (Okatie Hwy) west from Bluffton toward Savannah (about 6 miles or so). Rte. 170 curves and turns and changes the road names, but just follow the signs for 170!
(Watch for turns — Go past Plantation Rd then go right on Freedom Parkway, still on Rte. 170. It curves oddly at the intersection with Lime House Rd, turn left to continue on 170 to Speedway Blvd where Rtes. 170 and 17 combine.
Then keep right to stay on Rte. 170 (where the routes split). About 2 miles, you will see the entrance to SAV NWR, on your left. Signal your turn well ahead of time and be CAREFUL. Rte. 170 can be dangerous with large logging and other large trucks, especially on weekdays.
Note that the Visitor Center is on Rte. 17, so do not use that in your GPS.
Photo: American Bittern by Robert Shupak