At the inn, a heated pool and hot tub overlook the waterway, where you can watch anhingas nest on Bird Island, or see bald eagles and ospreys soar through the air. It’s a challenge that can humble an experienced shooter or foster new passion in an aspiring marksperson.Įnjoying the outdoors at Palmetto Bluff doesn’t require constant activity-it is vacation, after all. Quail flush at a shooter’s feet before a rabbit runs across the ground or a dove emerges from the field. The land’s history as a hunting preserve is especially evident at the Shooting Club, where guests and members take aim along a 13-station sporting clay course that mimics the motions of a hunt. Guests can opt to explore on horseback via trail rides departing from Longfield Stables (pony rides are available for kids). Biking and hiking trails crisscross the property, inviting long rides and runs, leisurely family strolls, or a trail ride. Development can only happen with meticulous excavation, and artifacts and interpretative displays appear throughout the resort, including at the Montage Palmetto Bluff’s main inn.Īcross its acreage today, Palmetto Bluff’s ecosystems range from stands of ancient live oaks to bottomland cypress forests to acres of towering longleaf pine. Socci leads tours throughout the resort, including walk throughs of the small cemeteries along the bluff overlooking the river. Sip champagne and watch dolphin surface around you while passing Bull Island, where a hard-packed bank of oyster shells constructed by Native Americans dates back thousands of years. Cast for trout from the floating dock in Moreland Village, or climb aboard the Grace, a 1913 motor yacht that’s been carefully restored to give guests an intimate view of the river and the scenic waterfront town of Bluffton.Īnother option-highly recommended-is a private charter on the Hinckley Picnic Boat, an immaculate wood-and-fiberglass vessel that’s ideal for cruising the creeks. Wilson Village offers multiple docks with soaring views across the salt marsh, whose green and yellow hues come alive over the water at the golden hour. To get the lay of the land, it helps to start out on the water. They’re connected by salt water, via Cauley’s Creek and the May River, and by the Inland Waterway, a meandering freshwater impoundment that winds throughout the resort and its neighborhoods. Palmetto Bluff has two town centers-Wilson Village to the north and Moreland Village four miles south. When you come to Palmetto Bluff, you are totally immersed in nature.” “It all begins with the land,” says Conservancy director Jay Walea. When a fox crosses your path on a bike ride through the pine forest, it’s there because the development around it was planned to leave room for that fox and its food sources, and generations of their offspring. Guests may never hear about that (although they can by taking one of many tours and clinics offered by the Palmetto Bluff Conservancy), but that ethos of conservation quietly underscores the entire place. Likewise, an effort to increase the barn owl population is accompanied by a study of small mammals to ensure the forest’s wild population can support the growing bird numbers. The former hunting preserve is carefully managed to support a thriving population of wild turkey, white-tailed deer, and yes, bats, which are the subject of a research effort to boost their population. Most of Palmetto Bluff’s 20,000 acres-a mix of residential, resort, and recreational space in South Carolina’s Lowcountry-are wild and free. Original oil paintings and gorgeous Lowcountry photographs line the rooms, from the luxury cottages and village homes to the Montage’s main inn.Ĭonsider this two types of sanctuary: one in nature, one of nuture. You’ll immediately be impressed by the courteous service-including staff that radios ahead so you’re constantly greeted by name-and the carefully curated decor across the resort’s properties. During a long weekend at Montage Palmetto Bluff, you might not immediately notice that wildlife abounds.
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