Waccamaw River Preserve

The Waccamaw River stretches 129 miles, 96 of which are in South Carolina. The uniqueness of the river is due to how it developed in ancient times. The river formed about 75,000 years ago when a shift in the Cape Fear fault divided an extensive drainage that had its headwaters in the Piedmont of North Carolina. The newly formed Waccamaw River now originates in a lake (Lake Waccamaw) in the coastal plain of North Carolina. Today, the Waccamaw is considered to be a blackwater river because of organic soils which result in tea-stained waters. However, many formations typical of brownwater rivers are also present, due to the river's ancient connection with the Piedmont. These include well-developed levees, active sloughs, and active and relict swales and ridges.

The preserve focuses on 650 acres in Horry County, the majority of which are tidal cypress-gum swamp. There are 2.4 miles of frontage on the river proper and 1.8 miles on the Intracoastal Waterway. Several dredge spoil areas on the waterway harbor naturally regenerated loblolly pine forest.

Several fish species are found only in Lake Waccamaw and nowhere else in the world. Of the 62 fish species in the Waccamaw basin, two are extremely rare: The pygmy sunfish (Elassoma boehlkei), endemic to the Waccamaw basin, and the shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum), federal endangered. The basin is also an extremely important corridor for the black bear. Several species of rare bats that depend on swamp forest are also known to frequent this corridor.

At least 28 rare plant species are found in the Waccamaw basin. Seventeen of these are associated with the pine-dominated uplands, with the remaining occurring in the river floodplain. Dwarf fimbry (Fimbristylis perpusilla), is one of the rare river floodplain plants. It is an annual species that grow on sandbars and riverbanks. Due to its annual life history and the dynamic nature of its river habitat, it will appear in abundance one year and then completely disappear from that location in subsequent years, only to reoccur in a nearby location. The natural flooding regimes of the river are necessary for the trees of the flood plain forest, dwarf fimbry, and the fish that feed in these swamp forests.

Location: The Waccamaw River Preserve is located where the river joins the Intracoastal Waterway 2 miles north of Bucksport. The closest ramps to this preserve are at Enterprise landing off County Road 926 and Peachtree landing off County Road 611. Because the Waccamaw River is mostly swampland, there is no overland access.