Edisto Beach State Park on Edisto Island, about 50 miles south of Charleston, is one of the earliest parks in South Carolina’s state park system, created from land donated in 1935 and developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Its Atlantic shoreline, estuary, and maritime forest give it a distinctive coastal character, while original CCC buildings still connect the park to the New Deal era. The park features South Carolina’s longest system of handicapped-accessible hiking and biking trails, leading through the forest to a Native American shell midden dated to 2000 BC and an 1850 survey monument placed by Alexander Bache. Fishing, boating, birding, picnicking, and exhibits on the ACE Basin add to its importance.