Lowcountry Region

Discover the Treasures of the Lowcountry
Six Self-Guided Tours of Charleston, Colleton, and Dorchester Counties

Photo by Tripp Smith.

Colleton, Dorchester, and Charleston counties contain the sites of the oldest settlements in South Carolina, and the region continues to this day to be under the influence of the Port of Charleston and the sea. Major rivers, like the Ashley, Cooper, Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto, drain the lowcountry on their way to the Atlantic, creating scenes of great natural beauty and wonderful recreational opportunities. Small fishing villages, like McClellanville, complete the region's connection to the sea and provide services for visitors to Cape Romaine National Wildlife Refuge and the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge. The historic city of Charleston has been at the forefront of historic preservation and tourism development. Outside the famous downtown area are plantations and artisans that still illustrate the strong influence of Charleston's African-American heritage.

Whether seeking family-oriented attractions or focusing on a specific field of interest, the trails on this guide can direct you to a wide variety of attractions located in Colleton, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. The lowcountry has much to offer, including sources of antiques, arts and crafts centers, bird-watching areas, canoe/kayak outings, African American history tours, local foods, fortifications from the Revolutionary War to the Cold War, military history trails, historic districts, national forests, and national, state, and local parks.

The history and culture of this area was shaped over the last 300 years by planters, slaves, free people of color, yeoman farmers and their families. Through war and peace, great prosperity, and abject poverty, their lives and folkways are woven into a tapestry which is a microcosm of the American South.

A brief outline of the early years of Carolina, named for King Charles II of England, is necessary in order to understand the base from which our cultural legacy developed. In 1670, a small contingent of English settlers and their enslaved Africans sailed from Barbados and established the first permanent settlement between Spanish Florida and Virginia. They were welcomed by Native Americans with whom they traded successfully in the early years. By the mid-18th century, little evidence remained of these native people who populated the lowcountry; enslavement, as well as smallpox and other diseases, had all but annihilated them.

Carolina's reputation for religious tolerance attracted a wide assortment of ethnic migrants. In a very short time, groups of French Huguenots, Irish, Scots, Germans, French Catholics, and Sephardic Jews were settled in the countryside. Later, Greeks and Italians joined the mix and contributed to the present culture.

The settlers began tending the land, using the slave-based agricultural system that had been brought from Barbados. Early commerce was based on the export of deerskins and naval stores. By the 18th century, indigo, rice, and long staple cotton quickly dominated the economy. This plantation system became the norm from the Atlantic to Texas; West African labor and technology made this system possible.

Rice was the crop that produced enormous wealth in the lowcountry for 200 years. It was the enslaved West Africans who cleared the swamps and built the dikes, canals, and water control devices needed for rice cultivation. They planted, tended, and harvested the crop as well as constructed and manned the boats that transported it to market. As cotton, both long staple and short staple, became king, it was primarily black labor that produced them. The contributions of African Americans were not limited to fieldwork. Many were highly skilled craftsmen: wheelwrights, masons, carpenters, cabinetmakers, and smithies. Free people of color existed -- and in some cases thrived -- in this peculiar environment.

Although wealthy planters dominated commerce and politics, the yeoman farmers outnumbered them five to one. The life of the yeoman farmer and his family was often harsh. Today, many descendants of these hard-working families continue to farm and have become strong community leaders. The cotton, tobacco, and crop-filled fields can be seen on the Best Friend Rail Trail, the African American Folkways and Communities Trail, and the  Rivers and Rice Trail.

Natural beauty found in the lowcountry
The lowcountry's ecosystem provides the visitor with exemplary opportunities to bird-watch, fish, crab, canoe, and kayak. Through dedicated conservation efforts, the ACE Basin river system (Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto) provide breathtaking views of alligator, blue heron, egret, anhinga, baled eagle, and more on the Sea Islands Trail. Various trails throughout the region offer hiking and bicycling experiences, while glimpsing otter, fox, and migratory waterfowl. The Ashley River offers a wonderful trail of 18th- and 19th-century shipwrecks that can be viewed by canoe.

Wherever you visit in the region, wildlife is only a forest away. We ask our visitors to respect the beauty of these special areas and to be conservation-minded while you visit our paradise. Private guides are available to take you by boat and view the lowcountry's natural resources.

Lowcountry cuisine and crafts
Traditional dishes of the lowcountry always include rice as a staple. Many of the original recipes -- or receipts -- include dishes influenced by West African and later African American cooks. Red rice, fried okra, and fried chicken are examples.

Because of the lowcountry's proximity to the coast, receipts using shrimp, crab, and oysters are plentiful.

Sweetgrass basketry is a lowcountry tradition that served many functional purposes in plantation society. Today, sweetgrass basketmakers are prized for their craftsmanship of this traditional West African art. On the Coastal Trail and the African American Coastal Trail, sweetgrass baskets can be found in many gift shops and at stands along highways. Mt. Pleasant boasts a large group of weavers who continue this tradition that was brought from West Africa over two centuries ago.