Did you come to the Island with some kids and a dog that really need to run free?  People and pets can find plenty of freedom at family-friendly parks all around the Island.

    Years ago, the Town of Hilton Head instituted an aggressive land-buying program for purposes of preserving as much of the Island’s green space as possible and, at the same time, safeguarding this Island’s love for fun. Over the years, the Town has developed 20 permanent community parks (with more planned for the future), all of which serve a variety of recreational purposes, from playgrounds and beaches to sports fields and historical nature trails.

    For children as well as adults, the Island Recreation Association best represents the Island’s recreational obsession.  The Island Recreation Center (843-681-7273) is located at 20 Wilborn Road on the North End off Gum Tree Road at School and Wilborn Roads, next to the Hilton Head Public Schools.  Their associated facility, the S.H.A.R.E. Center for Active Adults (843-785-6444), is located at 6 Office Way, off Pope Avenue near Sea Pines Circle.  From annual community events to first-rate facilities, the Recreation Association offers something for everyone.

    The pool at the Rec Center is open year around.  Trained professional lifeguards teach swim lessons and other aquatic activities.  In addition, they have a wide range of youth and adult programs that encompass special interests from athletics to art.

    Between mid-June and mid-August, spend Tuesday nights at Shelter Cove Community Park for Summer Jams.  The concerts begin at 7:00 p.m. and last to 10:00 p.m.  The evening is highlighted by a free fireworks display over Shelter Cove Harbour.

    The Rec Center is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.  The S.H.A.R.E. Center for Active Adults is open Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  Contact them year around for more information about camps, classes, and special events.

    Of particular interest to children and youth, the Bristol Sports Arena at Crossings Park, near the south end of the Cross Island Parkway, is the place to take your roller blades and boards.  It has a variety of ramps and rails, a roller hockey rink, and basketball court. The rest of Crossings Park offers baseball and soccer fields, a large meadow for throwing a Frisbee or picnicking, and a playground with a jungle-gym complex of slides, tunnels, and climbing apparatus.  The entry to Bristol Arena is off Arrow Road, and the Crossings entry is off Helmsman Way.

    The Island’s newest park is located at the corner of Pope Avenue and New Orleans Road.  Compass Rose Park, designed to honor Sea Pines and its founder, Charles Fraser, comprises 3.3 acres and has a rotating compass rose sculpture, terraced plazas with benches and tables, chair swings, waterfalls, and a gazebo that overlooks  Boggy Gut, once the largest freshwater wetland on the Island. 

    Chaplin Community Park gives your dog a place to frolic off the leash in Best Friends Dog Park.  There’s ample parking, beach access, rest rooms, athletic fields, tennis courts, and picnic facilities.  There are also paved paths for walking and biking.  Chaplin Park is located mid-Island between Burke’s Beach and Singleton Roads.

    In the Sea Pines Resort at Harbour Town, your children will delight at the Gregg Russell Playground, a large sandy area underneath shady trees.  There’s a tree house surrounding a huge oak, a wooden bridge, swings, slides, and benches where watchful parents can rest. 

    Shelter Cove Harbour has another good playground near the gazebo.  It has swings, slides, and climbing structures.  Nearby at Shelter Cove Community Park, behind the Mall at Shelter Cove, there are picnic tables and benches overlooking Broad Creek.  This picturesque park is also the location of the new Veterans Memorial, a beautiful grass-covered amphitheater overlooking a lagoon and the marshes of Broad Creek. 

    For history lovers, Honey Horn, located at 70 Honey Horn Drive on the north end of the Cross Island Parkway just across from Jarvis Creek Park, is a former working plantation (around 1805) that is now being leased and preserved by the Coastal Discovery Museum.  Its name is rumored to be a mispronunciation of “Hanahan,” one of the plantation’s former owners. This 68-acre site is now used as a venue for concerts and community events, and contains the only original plantation house on the Island that is still standing today. 

    The two-acre Green’s Shell Park is located on the North End on Squire Pope Road, is of particular historic interest.  Today it consists of a playground, picnic pavilion, basketball court, and bathrooms as well as an interpretive nature trail.  However, the original use of the land dates back to the 14th Century when Native Americans built a ring of oyster shells next to Skull Creek. This two-acre embankment mainly functioned for farming purposes, but the shell ring was used for ceremonies and the shell themselves were used for tools and jewelry You can still see the remnants of the Indian village as well as a cemetery containing about 50 graves dating from the 19th and 20th Centuries (and it is still in use today).

    Fish Haul Park is located on the North End, near the historic site of Mitchelville at the end of Beach City Road.  This park, first opened in 2005, is a landmark of nature with one of the last maritime forests on the Island.  It has nature trails, beach access, a picnic pavilion, restroom, and an observation gazebo over the marshes of Fish Haul Creek.  Due to its thriving ecosystem, it is also considered one of the best bird watching spots for wintering birds on the East Coast. 

    If you need additional information about amenities at Hilton Head’s various parks, call the Town of Hilton Head at 843-341-4600, or see our Ad Directory under Recreation Centers.

    Also see “Things To Do” #6, #9, #14, #18, #43, and #62.

Photo by Sansing McPherson