Nearly a century ago, one couple planted an overgrown cypress preserve with thousands of flowering species—azaleas, camellias, magnolias, and more—and opened it to the public. Today, Cypress Gardens invites visitors on a ramble through a swamp forest in bloom, complete with rowboat rides in its alluring black waters.
The Latest:
This summer, Cypress Gardens will become more family-friendly than ever with the opening of a splash pad beside the large, well-shaded playground. Goose Creek City Council requested the cool addition, explains Berkeley County parks and recreation director Heather McDowell. “We hope it will encourage families to come spend the whole day here.”
For those with green thumbs, there’s a series of monthly classes led by Cypress Gardens horticulturist Michelle Smith and Clemson Extension agent Christopher Burtt. Next in the lineup are an April veggie-growing class, a May course on rose care, and a June exploration of aquatic plants—all free with admission.
If you’re up for a nighttime cruise through the swamp, save the date for May 17, the spring installment of the popular Torch Lit Boat Rides Series. “Nighttime is amazing out here,” says McDowell. “It’s like nature lets out a deep breath and relaxes. You start seeing and hearing so much wildlife—owls, birds, insects, and also alligators.”
The Backstory:
The unique landscape of Cypress Gardens began to take shape upon the 1720s arrival of Alexander Nesbitt, a baronet of Dean, Scotland. He embanked wetlands into water preserves to create rice fields, soon worked by the people whom he enslaved.
After the Civil War, rice farming declined at Dean Hall, and by the turn of the 20th century, a dense cypress forest sprawled through a large water reserve. Benjamin Rufus Kittredge scooped up the place, intending to use it for hunting.
Kittredge and his wife, Elizabeth, became enchanted by the forest and decided to preserve the land as a park. They planted flowering trees, shrubs, and bulbs and carved out miles of walkways, with scenic bridges arching over the blackwater ponds. Cypress Gardens opened in 1932 and was soon visited by the likes of Gertrude Stein, who dubbed it “marvellous.”
Thirty years later, Benjamin Kittredge Jr. sold the 162-acre attraction for $1 to the City of Charleston, who gifted it to Berkeley County in 1996.
Plan a Visit:
Spring is a gorgeous time to visit the gardens: Azaleas and irises brings shocks of pink, purple, and yellow to the cypress forest as you follow 4.5 miles of paths leading around the ponds and over dikes left from rice-growing days.
However, if you’re looking for that romantic landscape captured in The Notebook, visit in summer. “That’s when our native white water lilies shine,” says Cypress Gardens horticulturist Michelle Smith. “They’re most prolific in June but then bloom sporadically until late August.”
Like Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, you can paddle your own boat among the lily pads, following a marked trail, or set out on a guided tour ($5 per person).
For more on the park’s history, check out the Heritage Room, and be sure to visit the Butterfly House, where caterpillars munch on host plants and butterflies wing among colorful flowers. The Swamparium hosts fish, amphibians, and reptiles native to local swamps and waterways.
The Details:
Cypress Gardens
3030 Cypress Gardens Rd., Moncks Corner
Open daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
$10; $6.50 senior/military/first responders; $5 ages six-17; free for child under six
(843) 553-0515
cypressgardens.berkeleycountysc.gov
