Paddling near Charleston, SC

Set on the Charleston County coast, Charleston sits at the center of the Lowcountry's interconnected network of tidal creeks, blackwater rivers, open estuaries, and barrier-island channels. The South Carolina leg of the Southeast Coast Saltwater Paddling Trail runs 295 miles past the port, while inland the Edisto River — the longest free-flowing blackwater river in North America — and the ACE Basin, one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the US East Coast at roughly 1.1 million acres, give paddlers a salt-marsh and freshwater-wilderness choice within a single day's drive.