Brookgreen Gardens
Credit Brookgreen Gardens
National historic landmark and accredited zoo and museum, Brookgreen Gardens is unusual but equally fascinating complex that blends art, history, and wildlife within the beautiful South Carolina landscape. With tours and trails ranging from the seasonal Butterfly House and pontoon tours to year round Enchanted Storybook Forest tours, there’s an attraction for all ages here at Brookgreen!
The gardens bloom from early summer to late fall. The 9,100-acre property is landscaped with natural looking designs to enhance beauty without seeming artificial or man-made. Visit the Fountain of the Muses Garden to see the beautiful statue or head over to tackle the labyrinth or see 300-year-old oak trees planted in the 18th century at the Live Oak Allee Garden.
The zoo conscientiously houses native and domestic animals as well as an array of fascinating birds in the world’s only aviary built over an existing cypress swamp. The Lowcountry of South Carolina is represented and exemplified with its native creatures like American alligators, bald eagles, river otters, various hawks, and owls, as well as red and gray foxes. The Domestic Animals of the Plantation exhibit features animals now considered rare but were regularly utilized on farms hundreds of years ago. See Marsh Tacky horses, Dominique chickens, Tunis sheep, Red Devon cows, and Spanish goats among the other creatures.
Historic tours of the Oaks Plantation run from March to November and travel through the Alston family property that operated from colonial times through the Civil War and beyond. Tour the family cemetery, the slave village, and archaeological sites led by a highly informed guide.
