Caw Caw Interpretive Center
Set on a historic rice plantation, the Ravenel Caw Caw Interpretive Center offers groups an in-depth, personal look at the goings-on of historical plantation property. Visitors will journey from the past to the present and heritage to habitat as the area is rich in natural, cultural, and historical resources. Caw Caw was once part of several rice plantations and also stood as home to enslaved Africans who applied technology and skills in agriculture to carve the series of rice fields out of the Cyprus swamps.
The visit should begin at the Interpretive Center where group members will learn more about the area through interesting exhibits. Group members can participate in a variety of activities such as explore six miles of hiking trails, check out interpretive exhibits, displays, and programs, or watch the variety of birds which call South Carolina home. You can also examine thousands of naturalized tea plants from a 20th-century tea farm. The park has areas that are managed for wildlife where group members can observe waterfowl, songbirds, otters, and deer. There are also favored habitats for rare wildlife which include American alligators, swallow-tailed kites, bald eagles, and many others.
Each of the hiking trails at the Caw Caw Interpretive Center is unique. The team will hike through the remnants of rice fields, earthen dikes, canals, and water control devices which were constructed by slaves during the late 1700s and early 1800s. One of the trails is known as the Swamp Sanctuary, is 0.4 miles in length and leads your group through gorgeous and historically significant scenery. At the end of the trail, the group will have the opportunity to check out the Laurel Hill Slave Settlement site. Another trail is the Waterfowl Trail which is where visitors may encounter bald eagles and osprey.