Start planning your ultimate South Carolina adventure with a free copy of the 2024 Vacation Guide. Request your free copy, view the guide online or download a PDF version below.
Hilton Head Island is justifiably famous for its incredible beaches and world-class golf courses. It's regularly voted one of the best vacation destinations in the world.
And while those sugar sand beaches and soft green golf courses are enough to bring in people from around the globe, there's so much more to Hilton Head.
1. Hilton Head is fewer than 5 miles wide and 12 miles long, but the island has more than 100 miles of bicycle trails. Renting bicycles is a great way to explore the island.
2. Hilton Head has fewer than 40,000 year-round residents, but 2.5 million visitors a year.
3. Before the Civil War, two dozen plantations on the island grew famous Sea Island Cotton. Nowadays, when you hear someone refer to "plantations" on Hilton Head, they are talking about the large resort communities that use the term.
4. Until 1956, the only way to get to and from the island was by boat. Resort development began the same year, when Charles Fraser began planning and building Sea Pines Plantation, the first and best-known resort community on the island.
5. The red and white striped lighthouse in Harbour Town has never been a functioning lighthouse at all. It was built to be a gift shop and tourist attraction. Early doubters called it "Fraser's Folly," after the early developer who built it, but it has become an iconic and beloved symbol of Hilton Head.
6. Ever hear someone mention the toe of Hilton Head Island and wonder what in the world they meant? The island is shaped like a foot. People refer to the heel, toe or ankle of the island when describing locations.
7. There is not a single neon sign on Hilton Head. The island was developed to try to remain in harmony with the natural world, so all the signs are in natural, neutral colors, with definitely no blinking neon.
8. Before the Civil War, two dozen plantations on the island grew famous Sea Island Cotton. Nowadays, when you hear someone refer to "plantations" on Hilton Head, they are talking about the large resort communities that use the term.
9. The first self-governed freedman's town in the United States was founded at Mitchelville on Hilton Head Island during the Civil War by the formerly enslaved people who worked the plantations on the island.
10. Hilton Head is one of the Sea Islands where the Gullah culture developed. Isolated from the mainland, the freedmen of the Sea Islands created their own culture. Learn more about this vibrant and fascinating culture's foods, language, art and more when visiting Hilton Head. The Coastal Discovery Museum is a great place to start your education.
