Come and view the wild side of Charleston!! Just 50 minutes from downtown Charleston, and 40 minutes from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. This "Nationally Recognized and Designated Trail" is located in the heart of a Protected Wilderness area in the Francis Marion National Forest. The beautiful Blackwater Creek is a tributary to the Santee River and was paddled by the Santee and Coastal Plain Indians for thousands of years. Giant 1000 year old Bald Cypress trees can be seen in the upper section and Water Oak, Ash, Red Maple and Swamp Dogwood shade the banks of its pristine black waters. This relaxing paddle offers spectacular birding and wildlife viewing including Prothonotary warblers, Barred Owls, alligators, turtles and the occasional river otter. Banks of the river reflect geological precedence of the Rice era where Historical earthen dikes give way to a flooded subtropical forest of abandoned rice fields once owned by prosperous Rice Plantations. This is a nature lovers dream.