ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge

The Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge protects the estuarine landscape formed where the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto rivers meet the South Carolina coast — one of the largest undeveloped estuaries on the US Atlantic seaboard. Established in 1990, the refuge encompasses salt marshes, freshwater wetlands, and bottomland hardwood forest that provide critical habitat for bald eagles, migratory shorebirds, and wading species. Visitors can hike trail systems, paddle by canoe, or fish the tidal creeks, experiencing a rare stretch of South Carolina's Lowcountry coast that remains largely free of development.