Fossil Collecting at Edisto Island SC.
Fossils can be found by walking northward from Edisto Beach State Park up to Jeremey Cay (this is the first small inlet). It is about a mile walk from the state park to the inlet and the best collecting is at the inlet during low tide. You can pick up fossils and shells along the way, but the highest concentration of fossils is at the inlet. It is recommended to arrive at the inlet several hours prior to low tide. There is a shallow "delta" that forms as the tide recedes. At low tide, the water is a few inches to a foot or so deep in some places and any bones and teeth contrast nicely from the sand and shells. If you cross the inlet to Eddingsville Beach, be sure to come back before the tide comes in as the inlet gets a very strong current ripping through it. The inlet is constantly changing and the strong currents wash the shell base around each tide cycle and expose the collecting area. During cold weather months I highly recommend boots for wading in the creek/inlet and a tool to reach down in the cold water to retrieve with. This site has been well known for many years and gets picked over pretty good so results will vary. I have had best results while wading the inlet during low tide
The paleontological fossil site at the north end of Edisto Island at Jeremy Cay has yielded a rich assortment of Pliocene and Pleistocene fossils (1.9 million years to 10,000 years ago). These include both land, fresh water and marine creatures. The land animals include mammoth, mastodon, giant sloth, bison, horse, camel, llama, capybara, armadillo, glyptodon, deer, elk, large cats, various freshwater turtles, alligators and numerous small mammals. The marine animals include whales, dolphins, manatees, saltwater turtles, many species of Miocene sharks, rays, drum fish and numerous others. Most of the fossils are black but some are brown in color. I have found clear to amber colored calcite crystal formations inside fossil shell conglomerates - the crystals form inside the whelks, oysters and olive shells, etc.
http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/regional_review/vol3-3b.htm
Eddingsville Beach refers to the colonial town of Eddingsville, a seaside resort used by local plantation owners that was actually several hundred yards out from where Jeremy's inlet presently lies. The town was destroyed by hurricanes in the late 1800's and the barrier island wiped out. It is possible to find broken porcelain, brick, oyster shell tabby, old coins, nails, broken bottle shards and even some colonial pottery shards from the late 1700's through late 19th century there. If you are lucky, it is also possible to find Indian pottery and stone projectile points. There are so many shells and Indian pottery in the Jeremy Cay area that I suspect that there may have been a Native American shell midden at this spot.
Eddingsville (South Carolina's Atlantis): http://artsandsciences.sc.edu/sciaa/mrd/node/539
Savannah River Style Stemmed Point
Worm Colony
Limestone w/oysters & Brick
Shells
Bones and Fossils (quarter for size)
Directions:
From Columbia SC (distance 131 miles):
Traveling down I-26 East toward Charleston SC, take Exit 169A onto I-95 South.
Take Walterboro Exit 57 onto SC-64 (this becomes a loop that goes through the town
and heads back to the second Walterboro exit on I-95).
Midway on the loop through Walterboro, take a left at the Edisto Beach sign onto highway SC-64 E (Hampton St) and go to Jacksonboro, SC (appx 15 miles)
At Jacksonboro, SC-64 E becomes US-17 E. Turn left on US-17 E and go (appx 7 miles) toward Charleston SC.
Turn right at the Edisto Beach sign onto SC-174 and go appx 3 miles to Adams Run. Turn right to stay on SC-174 and go (appx 15 miles) to Edisto Island. When the road meets the beach/pier, you will see the state park/beach on the left. There is a $8.00 entry fee per person. Edisto Beach State Park has two camping areas - beachside camping or Live Oak Campground. Live Oak Campground (and sign-in for both camping areas) is on the right side of (SC-174). Beachside camping is on the left, near the collecting area.
Local sites to visit:
A popular place to crab and fish is Steamboat Landing. It is located at the end of Steamboat Landing Rd. which is a left turn off (SC-174) 6.2 miles after you cross the big bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway.
Botany Bay Plantation WMA (Wildlife Management Area) is located at the end of Botany Bay Rd, which is on the left side of the main road (SC-174) 8.6 miles after you cross the big bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. There is a free drive thru tour of the plantation ruins and the beach can be accessed by using the causeway over the marsh (1/2 mile walk). There is no shell, fossil or artifact collecting allowed on this property but bring a camera or fishing rod along.
Edisto Beach State Park has an Interpretive Center (museum), boat landing and Indian shell mound located on the park property. There is a sign (which directs you there) on the right side of the main road (SC-174) 11.1 miles after you cross the big bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway. The Interpretive Center features a video about the ACE Basin and natural attractions. It also has displays of local shells, fossils, artifacts and marine/wildlife displays. Just past the Interpretive Center is the boat landing where you can launch a boat to crab or fish. Located on the left side of the landing parking lot is a trail with directions to the creek and Indian Shell Mound. No collecting is allowed around the shell mound.
Note (2017): The boardwalk in front of the Indian shell mound was destroyed by recent hurricanes and is now closed. Archeologists have excavated what's remaining of the mound to save artifacts and the shell mound will not be saved. It will be reclaimed by the sea as it erodes into the creek.
Shell mound as it was slowly eroding back into the sea
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Edisto Island SC (Read 807 times)
