In the Francis Marion This Fall, the Hunt Calendar Sets the Trail Calendar

Through New Year's Day, whether a Saturday walk out of Huger is quiet depends less on weather or mosquitoes than on a table in the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources hunting guide. Most trail users never open it, and it is different for each tract of the forest.

Until Jan. 1, the southern Francis Marion National Forest runs two schedules at once. The trails stay open to hikers and mountain bikers. The Wildlife Management Areas around them are in still-gun deer season, with dog-drive hunts set for specific days. The Forest Service ties at least one trail closure directly to those dog-drive dates. For anyone in Wando, Cainhoy or Huger who treats the forest as a backyard, a good November outing starts by matching the trailhead to the tract and the tract to its date.

Three Tracts, Three Different Dates

The 2026–27 Game Zone 3 table on eRegulations, last updated Aug. 7, 2026, covers Berkeley and Charleston counties. It lists still-gun deer season on the Wambaw, Northampton and Santee WMAs from Oct. 12 through Jan. 1, with no still hunting on scheduled dog-drive days. So the season runs continuously, and the dog drives are the days that stand out.

Here are the dog-drive and youth dog-hunt dates left after this post goes up, sorted by calendar day rather than by tract:

Two dates in the table land on holiday weekends. Northampton's drive falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, and its youth hunt is the next morning. Dec. 12 is the only date this season when all three tracts hold a dog drive on the same day, and it is a Saturday.

Sundays are free of dog drives. The Francis Marion Hunt Unit entry bars deer hunting with dogs on Sundays, and it bars still and archery hunting on scheduled dog-drive days. In Wambaw, the table adds that there is no deer dog hunting east of Hwy 17.

Which tract a trailhead sits in is the step that takes some homework. Each WMA has its own page on the SCDNR public lands hub, and those maps are the place to match a specific trail segment to a specific hunt schedule.

The Forest Service Already Plans Around These Dates

If the dog-drive table seems like something only hunters need, the Wambaw Cycle Trail shows otherwise. Under Forest Order 08-12-05-25-02, the trail's North Loop closes on Wambaw WMA dog-drive days and its South Loop closes on Northampton WMA dog-drive days. Riding is prohibited on closed days. The order runs from April 2025 to April 2027, and it uses the dates SCDNR publishes. That puts the Wambaw rows of the table above onto the North Loop calendar, and the Northampton rows onto the South Loop.

Wambaw Cycle Trail is a motorcycle and OHV trail. Vehicles under 50 inches are allowed and larger 4x4s are not, and the Forest Service tells riders to check its hotline for closures announced on short notice. Even if you only hike, it shows how directly the agency ties public trail access to the hunt schedule.

What the Rules Say About Trail Users

Two lines in the state regulations apply to people on foot or on a bike.

First, the orange rule. On its managed lands regulations page, SCDNR quotes South Carolina Code 50-11-365 this way: "All users except hunters for dove, ducks, geese, and other migratory birds including crows must wear a hat, coat, or vest of solid international orange during any deer hunting season." Berkeley and Charleston counties are in Game Zone 3. The 2026–27 SCDNR guide lists Zone 3's private-land deer season as Aug. 15 through Jan. 1.

Second, the trail itself. The same guide says that during any deer or hog hunt there is no open season for hunting on any designated recreational trail on U.S. Forest Service property. The Palmetto Trail's Swamp Fox Passage page still notes that the passage runs through hunting grounds. The Forest Service tells trail users to be mindful of big-game seasons.

The Palmetto Conservation Foundation's Oct. 1 hunting-season post also asks hikers to wear blaze orange and to look up closures for whatever area they plan to hike. Read past the first section with care. The closure dates and the Oct. 11 to Jan. 1 orange window further down that post fall under its Midlands section, which links to the Wateree River Heritage Preserve WMA. They are not a Francis Marion schedule.

This is general information, not legal advice. For your own outing, the SCDNR guide and the agencies that manage the land are the final word.

The Trailheads Closest to Home

With the dates in hand, the next question is where to go. The sites nearest Cainhoy and Huger are spread across several miles of forest, and each one gives you something different.

Huger Recreation Area. This day-use site on SC 402 near Huger Creek is open year-round and has picnic tables, a shelter and grills. The Forest Service lists nonmotorized boating and stream fishing. There is no potable water, and camping is prohibited. Its Forest Service page was updated Sept. 8, 2026. For a lunch outing that stays off the long trails, it is the closest choice.

Swamp Fox Passage. The Palmetto Trail lists the passage at 47.6 miles of natural surface, open to hiking and biking, with camping allowed and horses limited to designated areas. The Forest Service puts its eastern trailhead in Awendaw on US 17, just beyond Steed Creek Road. To reach the central trailhead from the Wando side, the Forest Service directions run from SC 41 to SC 402, then to Copperhead Road and Witherbee Road.

Bring your own water. The Palmetto Trail notices say there is no water at the Witherbee or Halfway Creek trailheads. The only water source the trail lists is the ranger station off Steed Creek Road, about 1.2 miles west of where the trail crosses Steed Creek Road between mile markers 13 and 14. The same page warns that low sections can be wet or underwater after rain, and that the Cane Gully campsite is closed until further notice.

Halfway Creek. This primitive Palmetto Trail access point sits off Halfway Creek Road, SC Route 98-S. The parking area is a trailhead, not a designated camp. Dispersed camping requires a permit and set distances from water, trails, roads and parking. The Forest Service page was last updated in July 2025, so check the live alerts before you head out.

I'On Swamp Interpretive Trail. This is a self-guided, day-use walk along the embankments of historic rice fields, open year-round. Camping is not allowed. Its page dates from December 2025, so the same live-alert check applies here.

Buck Hall's Window Is Closing

Buck Hall runs on the shrimp-baiting calendar. On Sept. 10, 2026, the Forest Service announced that Buck Hall Recreation Area had reopened its campground and would keep it open until shrimp-baiting season ends in November. After that comes a major renovation. During construction the whole recreation area will close, including the campground, dump station, day-use area, boat ramp and floating docks, roads, utilities and seawall. The agency says it will post a full construction timeline once the contract is awarded.

Buck Hall is about six miles southeast of McClellanville on the Intracoastal Waterway. The Forest Service calls it the best access point to Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and Bulls Bay. If launching there or walking the Palmetto Trail segment that starts at Buck Hall is on your fall list, November may be your last chance before the gates close for construction.

Checking the Woods Before You Leave the Driveway

Prescribed fire runs on its own schedule too. The Forest Service's 2026 burn notice says burn areas may close for several days. It links to maps of planned and completed 2026 burns and to real-time fire notifications. Here is a short pre-trip routine that covers both the hunt schedule and the burn schedule:

1. Find your trailhead's WMA on the SCDNR public lands maps, then look up its row in the dog-drive table above.
2. Check the Francis Marion alerts page, or call the Forest Service's "Call Before You Haul" line at 803-561-4025 for current trail status.
3. Look at the 2026 prescribed-burn maps linked from the Forest Service notice.
4. Pack water for any Swamp Fox outing that starts at Witherbee or Halfway Creek.
5. Reread the orange-clothing language on the SCDNR regulations page.

If your route runs out toward US 17, two Awendaw stops make it easy to stay longer. Sewee Outpost on Hwy 17 sells fuel, bait, hunting and fishing supplies, marine hardware and prepared food. See Wee Restaurant is at 4808 N Hwy 17. If you are heading home after the Dec. 12 drives wrap up, either one is an easy place to stop.

If you live near the Francis Marion and want to talk about what the forest's seasons mean for life on the Wando side, Ellen O'Neil is glad to share what she knows about this corner of the Lowcountry. Let's Connect.