How big is Hilton Head? In land mass a little more than 29,000 acres, approximately forty-two square miles, while its maximum reach is twelve miles long and five miles wide. If you notice, that doesn't quite come out evenly, because we must obviously allow for a lot of creeks, marshes, lagoons and, depending on the time of day, the tides. Of course, no deduction for golf courses, of which there are twenty-four at last count, plus several small variations on the theme.
Averaging 150 acres per course, not counting clubhouses, roadways, support areas or facilities, the golf establishment accounts for about 4000 acres, a lot less than you probably expected.
Hilton Head is often described as boot-like in shape, a great convenience when stating the location of some point or other. For examples, Hilton Head Plantation is at the ankle, Port Royal the heel, Palmetto Dunes and Shipyard Plantations are at the sole, and Sea Pines occupies the entire toe. The "boot" seems to be standing on tiptoe. All the island's beaches on the Atlantic Ocean - twelve miles of them - lie along the sole of the boot. The Intracoastal Waterway, that magical water-highway-of-dreams which separates Hilton Head from the mainland, provides water access and sunset beauty for Spanish Wells and Windmill Harbour, across from the mouth of the May River.
The string that laces these parts together is William Hilton Parkway - U.S. 278. The distance, for example, from the bridge to, let's say, Sea Pines Circle is about twelve miles. From there to Harbour Town is about another four miles. Run a line from Palmetto Bay Marina, at Broad Creek, along Palmetto Bay Road, through Sea Pines Circle, down Pope Avenue to Coligny Circle at the Atlantic and the distance is 2.8 miles. Because the Parkway's route is somewhat curvy and meandering, one may not realize the island's diagonal orientation to the compass. The South Carolina coast runs roughly from northeast to southwest and Hilton Head nestles right up against it. On a map the island boot seems to be standing on tiptoe.
It's a known fact: when a community is laid out on a diagonal hardly anybody can tell where they're going. That's when the sun, which comes up out of the ocean every morning, seems to stop and stand straight overhead at noon: it's trying to figure out which way is west.
A geographic feature not to be forgotten is Broad Creek, slashing across the instep of the boot, almost dividing Hilton Head into two separate islands. At its headwaters less than half a mile from the Atlantic Ocean and the beach, Broad Creek quickly spreads out and flows generally westward toward Calibogue Sound, providing water access - and incredible sunsets - for Shelter Cove, and Long Cove, Wexford and Indigo Run Plantations.
It takes a lot of water to hold a big island like Hilton Head together. Fortunately, we have some significant bodies of water to do the job. Coming across the bridge, that's Skull Creek to your left, with several island marinas and working shrimp docks. Most of the water flows from the confluence of the Colleton, Chechessee and Broad Rivers and eventually into Port Royal Sound. The shorelines of Hilton Head Plantation and part of Port Royal Plantation overlook that body of water. Sea Pines is blessed with Calibogue Sound and a beautiful view of Daufuskie Island, plus at least three miles of Atlantic beach.
The commingling of all these sources, both freshwater and saltwater, lends teeming life to the estuarial marsh between the island and the mainland to give the South Carolina coast some of the richest fishing grounds on the eastern seaboard.
