A pine forest with the sun peeking through the branches
Silver Bluff

Explore Silver Bluff Audubon Center and Sanctuary

Check out everything there is to do at Silver Bluff!
About Us
Our Local Birds
Get Involved
Plan Your Visit
Parking and Directions

People come to Silver Bluff for many reasons. This sanctuary is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna that attracts hikers, outdoor enthusiasts, naturalists and birders. The deep history this land holds has strong cultural significance for the tribes that occupied the region and descendants of enslaved peoples.  Whether natural beauty and solitude or a connection to the past is what brings you to this sanctuary, we have a lot to offer in both aspects. In addition to the cultural history and nature provided here, Silver Bluff is a demonstration site and living classroom hosting land owners to learn about bird friendly forestry practices and forestry techniques. You can read more about this program and our restoration work on the Audubon South Carolina page under "Our Work". If you are a university student looking for research opportunities please reach out through our contact form.

Silver Bluff is open dawn to dusk every day. Trails at the Kathwood Ponds and the main campus are also open dawn to dusk. 

Hiking Trails
Tanager Trail
A boardwalk dead ends to a flooded forest floor

A two-mile loop trail begins at the grassy parking area just inside our main gates. It takes you through both pine and hardwood forests, with a stop halfway along that features a short boardwalk ending at a wet-weather pond.

Hiking Trail
Quail Trail
An aerial view of the Savannah River

The Quail Trail is a three-mile loop that you can follow through the piney woods, into a "prairie" filled with native grasses and flowers, then onto the high bluffs overlooking the Savannah River.

Hiking Trails
Nuthatch Trail
A grassy understory with yellow flowers under tall pine trees

 

The Nuthatch trail is a leisurely 0.75-mile loop trail begins near the butterfly garden. The trail surrounds a mature longleaf pine stand and features interpretive stops along the way.

Horse Trails
Special Event Trails
Two cream colored horses pull a small carriage in a field surrounded by longleaf pine

Only open during carriage ride special events, Silver Bluff has more than 20 miles of maintained horse and carriage trails. 

Kathwood Stork Ponds
An arial view of three rectangular ponds with trails along the edges

The Kathwood Stork Ponds are just a quick jaunt down the road from the main campus of Silver Bluff. A trail circumnavigates the three ponds, and crosses the impoundments separating them, providing full views of the ponds and banks. This area features viewing decks and a bird blind for optimal bird watching opportunities, including an eagle nest!  Once a year the ponds are stocked with fish and the water is lowered to create a bountiful buffet for Wood Storks, egrets, herons, ibis, and shorebirds. To celebrate the wading bird bounty we host an annual viewing event called Storks and Corks in August. Keep an eye out for that event, it sells out every year!