Ashley Scenic River

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Ashley Scenic River

Project Overview

The Ashley was designated a South Carolina Scenic River in June 1998, making it the first State Scenic River established in the Lowcountry. With this designation, the Ashley gained statewide recognition as an outstanding resource and became the sixth river in South Carolina to achieve this special status.

The Ashley River was nominated for scenic river status by the private, nonprofit Ashley River Conservation Coalition. Resolutions in support of the designation were passed by the local government jurisdictions including the municipalities of Charleston, North Charleston, and Summerville and the counties of Charleston and Dorchester. Support was also received from numerous organizations in the local area.

A 22-mile segment of the Ashley River was designated a State Scenic River extending from Sland's Bridge (US Highway 17-A) near Summerville to the Mark Clark expressway (I-526) bridge in Charleston. Within this segment, a visitor can experience a blackwater swamp, the tides of the Atlantic, and the history of South Carolina.

The purpose of the South Carolina Scenic Rivers Program is to protect unique and outstanding river resources throughout South Carolina. To accomplish this goal, the program employs a voluntary, cooperative community-based process which allows landowners, community interests and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) to work together towards common river conservation goals.

Leadership in the Ashley Scenic River Project comes from the Ashley Scenic River Advisory Council which represents local landowners, river users, community interests, and the SCDNR.

The Ashley Scenic River Management Plan was created by the Ashley Scenic River Advisory Council and the SCDNR over a two-year period from 2000 to 2002. The plan was developed through an open, public process. Local citizens identified the river issues of concern, opportunities for improvements, and goals and recommendations for better management and conservation of the river’s resources. The plan specifies four management goals and 30 recommendations that address:

  1. Water quality
  2. Recreational use and access
  3. Preservation and conservation
  4. Land management and development
  5. Plan implementation.

Copies of the plan are available from the SCDNR.

Advisory Council

Members:

  • Howard Bridgman: Dorchester Boat Club
  • Meta Carter: residential landowner
  • Helmut/Ellen Fiedler: residential landowner
  • Jack Keeter: Ashley Point landowner representative
  • Robert H. Knight (CDR USN Ret), Drayton Athletic Assoc
  • Lindsay Fairchilds: SCDNR staff
  • George McDaniel: Drayton Hall
  • George Neil: at-large community representative
  • Purnell Orvig: residential landowner
  • Stan / Karen Whiteman: residential landowner
  • Sue Wehman: residential landowner

Ex officio Members:

  • Ashley Chapman: Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site
  • Charlie Cuzzell: Summerville Commission of Public Works
  • James Hackett: Office of Coastal Resource Mgt, SCDHEC
  • Christopher Morgan: City of Charleston, Senior Planner
  • John Tarkany: Design Works (landscape architects)
  • April Turner: S.C. Sea Grant Consortium
  • Anna Nygaard : Lowcountry Open Land Trust

Mission Statement and Goals

The mission of the Ashley Scenic River Advisory Council is to promote ongoing stewardship of the Ashley River to protect and enhance its natural, cultural, and scenic qualities for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.

The goals of the advisory council (presented in a sequential order) are to:

  • Promote mutual respect for public and private interests in the river among river users, property owners, and others.
  • Increase public awareness and appreciation of the Ashley by continually educating ourselves and the community about the river's resources, and promote an ethic of stewardship for the river among property owners, river users, and the public.
  • Encourage and facilitate public involvement in all our planning and decision making, and build public support for the Ashley Scenic River management plan.
  • Establish partnerships with other groups and agencies to accomplish our mission and goals for better management of the Ashley River.
  • Create and implement a management plan, with full public involvement, that will focus the community on priority actions for improving protection and use of the river and its natural, cultural, and scenic qualities.
  • Protect and improve the river's water quality conditions, fish and wildlife habitats, scenic views and aesthetic qualities, cultural resources, and recreational benefits.

River Access and Attractions

Access to the Ashley Scenic River is available through both private and public facilities. The private facilities (Drayton Hall, Magnolia Gardens, and Middleton Place) require admission fees. See contact information below:

Four (4) public boat landings provide access to the Ashley River:

  • Jessen Landing: on upper east Ashley, Summerville, off Dorchester Road;
  • Wando Woods Landing: on lower east Ashley, North Charleston, at end of Flynn Street;
  • County Farm Landing: on lower east Ashley, North Charleston, at end of Bridge View Drive;
  • Pierpont Landing: on Bulls Creek, lower west Ashley, Charleston, at end of Pierpont Avenue.

Ashley River Resources

The Ashley River, named after one of the Lord's Proprietors granted charter to the Carolina Colony, flows about 36 miles from Cypress Swamp to Charleston Harbor. Despite its short length, the Ashley River includes a diversity of natural habitats and numerous historic sites of regional and national significance. The Ashley River is perhaps unparralled in its unique combination of historical significance and natural resource value as a relatively undisturbed tidal ecosystem.

The Ashley River area contains 26 separate sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can readily observe a variety of historic structures such as antebellum plantations, gardens, outbuildings, and water control structures for the rice fields.

One of the earliest settlements in South Carolina is on the Ashley River at Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site. This townsite (ca. 1697) includes the remains of two wharves, a shipyard, church, school, town square, and forty homes, in addition to perhaps the best preserved tabby wall fortification in the U.S.

During the early 18th Century, a new aristocracy developed along the Ashley River as a result of indigo, rice, naval stores and timber production. The Ashley provided the means of transportation and communication to nearby Charleston for these early settlers.

Left as a legacy and preserved by the river itself, the Ashley is lined with shipwrecks tracing the settlement, trade, economic and technological advances in vessels over the past two hundred years. The upper section of the Ashley, near Colonial Dorchester Historic Site, is part of a recreational canoe trail of underwater archaeological sites, recognized as part of the South Carolina Heritage Corridor.

Owned and operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Drayton Hall (ca. 1738), is the only plantation house left on the Ashley which survived the Revolutionary and Civil wars intact. Drayton Hall is considered one of the finest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture in America.

Adjoining Drayton Hall Plantation is Magnolia Gardens. This 300-year-old plantation has been in the same family since the arrival of Thomas Drayton from Barbados in 1671. Magnolia includes one of the country's oldest gardens planted for year-round color.

America's oldest landscaped gardens, laid out in 1741, can be seen at Middleton Place. This property was the home of four distinguished South Carolinians, including: a President of the First Continental Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Governor of South Carolina and Minister to Russia, and a signer of the Ordinances of Session.

The Ashley River is a tidal river. Its character changes with each hour of the day, as the saltwater flows in and out of Charleston Harbor. This creates a dynamic ecosystem where saltwater and freshwater organisms reside within a few miles of each other. Wildlife and vegetation patterns shift longitudinally reflecting the influence of the saltwater wedge.

The freshwater zone of the river supports forested wetlands dominated by stands of bald cypress, tupelo, sweet gum, red maple, and willows. Downstream of Bacon's Bridge (SC Highway 165), the Ashley gradually makes the transition from a freshwater tidal to a saltwater tidal river. Species associated with the freshwater environment become less common downstream, dropping out of the community as the river becomes more brackish. The bottomland forest undergoes a gradual transition to riparian marshland, dominated by pickerel weed, bull rushes and cattails. Further downstream the brackish water turns saline and the marsh vegetation changes from pickerel weed and cattails to black needlerush and finally, smooth cordgrass.

Animal species commonly seen in and along the river include:

  • Kingfishers,
  • Wood ducks,
  • Red-winged blackbirds,
  • Ospreys,
  • Anhingas,
  • Herons and other wading birds,
  • Turtles,
  • Snakes,
  • Alligators
  • Crabs.

2005 Year in Review Ashley Scenic River Advisory Council

Contacts

For more information about the Ashley Scenic River Project contact:

Lindsay Fairchilds
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Soil and Water Conservation Districts
2730 Savannah Highway
Charleston, South Carolina 29414
Telephone: (843) 834-3254

Local contacts for Ashley River information:

Try these contacts plus others listed above under Access and Attractions.

 


South Carolina Department of Natural Resources - Phone Numbers | Accessibility
Rembert C. Dennis Building, 1000 Assembly Street, Columbia, SC 29201
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