Myrtle Beach State Park
Robin Carter
Directions
From Myrtle Beach drive 3 miles south of downtown Myrtle Beach on US 17 Business 17. Look for the park sign on the left.
Birds to look for
Lesser Scaup (w), Surf Scoter (w), Black Scoter (w), Bufflehead (w), Red-breasted Merganser (w), Red-throated Loon (w), Common Loon (w), Horned Grebe (w), Northern Gannet (w), Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Willet, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper (w), Dunlin (w), Short-billed Dowitcher, Laughing Gull, Bonaparte's Gull (w), Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull (w), Great Black-backed Gull (w), Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern (s), Least Tern (s), Eurasian Collared-Dove, Red-headed Woodpecker, Blue-headed Vireo (w), Veery (spring, fall), Gray-cheeked Thrush (spring, fall), Swainson's Thrush (spring, fall), Orange-crowned Warbler (w), Nashville Warbler (fall), Northern Parula (s), Yellow Warbler (fall), Chestnut-sided Warbler (fall), Magnolia Warbler (fall), Cape May Warbler (spring, fall), Black-throated Blue Warbler (spring, fall), Yellow-rumped Warbler (w), Black-throated Green Warbler (spring, fall), Yellow-throated Warbler (s), Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler (fall), Blackpoll Warbler (spring), Black-and-white Warbler (w), American Restart (spring, fall), Worm-eating Warbler (spring, fall), Ovenbird (spring, fall), Northern Waterthrush (spring, fall), Connecticut Warbler (fall), Hooded Warbler (s), Summer Tanager (s), Scarlet Tanager (spring, fall), Eastern Towhee, Savannah Sparrow (w), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (spring, fall), Painted Bunting (s)
Description
Myrtle Beach State Park has a fishing pier, some beach, dune scrub, and oak-pine forest. While you can see a few common seabirds along the beach or from the fishing pier, the real attraction of this park is its woods. The forest here is an island of wilderness in a great sea of beach-side development. It is one of the better spots along the South Carolina coast for finding passerine migrants, especially during the fall migration. It makes a good companion site to Huntington Beach State Park, about 14 miles to the south.