Francis Marion South Carolina

[DawnsDK]

Hi everyone,
Iv'e ruled my road trip down to visiting Francis Marion state park in South Carolina for a few days. My primary goals are to observer inverts. Have any of you been to this state park? If so, would you say the environment/biodiversity justify a 12 hour drive(each way) for three days of exploring?
any ideas/suggestions would be more than appreciated...im especially interested in looking for centipedes (it looks like I could find H. marginata, and S. viridis in this area)

 

[hemingway]

Sorry I can't speak to invertebrates in the area, but the place is amazing. When I was in grad school my wife and I went down there for spring break every year (similar drive) to photograph herps. The diversity of snake species we saw was just great, and we love the whole low country region. In close proximity, you might check out Edisto Island -- we camped at the seashore there.

Kris

 

[GartenSpinnen]

Vaejovis carolinianus (spelling?) may be found in this area also....

Make sure to check in around rotting wood pieces on the ground, and bark on low lying trees. Also, plan on seeing some Latro's they are EVERYWHERE around there, especially in the sandy areas in the rocks and dry wood. Good luck!

 

[UrbanJungles]

Yes, definitely worth the trip...I did it from Jersey and it wasn't bad.
Great diversity there, you will find lots of cool herps and inverts, the only negative was that alot of the places I visited where overrun with fire ants.

 

[DawnsDK]

AWESOME! thanks for the feedback guys!!!! Now Im so excited to go!

 

[DawnsDK]

I guess while we're at it...can anyone suggest a good campground? based on what Ive read, the elmwood area sounds cool...

 

[Shrike]

Yes, definitely worth the trip...I did it from Jersey and it wasn't bad.
Great diversity there, you will find lots of cool herps and inverts, the only negative was that alot of the places I visited where overrun with fire ants.

I'll second the fire ant warning. I had a bad fire ant experience in SC when I was a kid--stopped my bike in the wrong place and learned about them the hard way. Still, it should be a great trip.

 

[CWall2001]

Watch out for the ants like everyone said, and don't kill any of our state birds while down here (mosquitoes). Really, fireants and mosquitos will drive you crazy down here in SC, but if you can get past them, there are all kinds of really cool inverts and herps down here. Tons of lizards down here, anoles and skinks I believe.