Audubon Swamp Garden — Attraction in Hanahan

We've been coming to the Audubon Swamp Garden at Magnolia Plantation since 1996. It was one of our favorite places for bird (and other critter) watching in the southeast. We've always paid just the Swamp Garden fee as all we wanted to do was visit the swamp, not the plantation. That was $8 per person. The website lists the individual prices for each attraction and the swamp is still $8. So we drove 90 minutes to visit and learned that we had to pay $20 per person + $8 each to tour the swamp too. Dang! But hey, it's vacation and what's $56?

Well, the Swamp Garden was pretty sad. Maintenance is no longer a priority. What used to be a fair amount of water has reverted to meadow. The whimsical statues are gone. There were few birds or critters and now there's buses driving around with a guy on a speaker giving a spiel about the "wildlife". And other guys driving around in ATVs. It's very sad... I don't think we will be back.

The plantation was nice enough, but the nature walk is closed with yellow tape across it and no warning so you walk out only to come upon dangling "danger" tape and find the path all torn up. Clearly the wildlife part of this once beautiful and somewhat wild place has taken a backseat to pretty flowers...

This place is pretty cool. I didn't learn about the entrance fee until after visiting and reading reviews. I just parked and walked around. Oops.

It is roughly about 20-25 minutes from Charleston. The Magnolia Plantation is just up the road from the swamp. Easy to get to and the parking lot was decently sized. There's also a restroom, it was clean and well kept. The swamp is pretty big and full of wildlife. Birds, turtles, snakes, alligators, etc. There are a few walking trails around the swamp as well, it's not all just bridges. Some of the trails connect to the plantation, so you can easily spend a few hours here.

The alligators were out and about. There was one smack down in the middle of the trail, made me jump for a second. Please use caution, these are wild animals that will attack. Some people were walking their dogs. I personally think that is a terrible idea for extremely obvious reasons. But what do I know?

If you're a nature lover, you will enjoy this place. I...

My first and last visit. CAUTION! It's not clear one must pay a $30 add-on fee to the plantation owner in addition the $10 ticket to see the swamp. I am an amateur bird photographer. For the best chance at good photos, one must be up early with the sun, but the plantation doesn't open until nine - at least two hours after sunrise during spring, summer and fall.. If you don't get the first place in the very long and glacially slow ticket line, it will be even later before one sees the first bird. To be fair, the boardwalk through the swamp is in top condition and the trails very-well maintained. The staff is polite and enthusiastic, but either new or untrained; or both. The maps provided are not all all to scale and thus, confusing. None of this seems to bother anyone as the plantation parking lot was packed during a weekday...