Donnelley Wildlife Management Area (WMA) 2022, SC

Located in Green Pond SC, Donnelley WMA consists of 8,047 acres of wetland, upland, old rice fields, and long leaf pine forests. It is named in honor of Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley who contributed greatly to conservation efforts of the Ace Basin Project. The WMA is currently owned and managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SC DNR).

This beautiful lowcountry area has been on my list for a couple of years. It seems like every time I planned to go it happened to be closed for a hunt. Should you be interested in visiting this beautiful section of the ACE Basin make sure to check out the DNR’s web page for scheduled events.

Our visit took place on Saturday 3/26/2022. My husband and I covered the 11-mile driving-tour stopping occasionally to photograph wildlife. We hiked the 2.2mile Boynton trail where we captured photos of the Boynton family house, an abandoned Victorian style house. We saw a number of alligators sunning on the banks. There must be hundreds of them living there. We observed a variety of birds: egrets, cormorants, pelicans, spoonbills, moorhens among others and marveled at beautiful live oaks draped with Spanish moss.

References SC DNR Web Site, SC Picture Project, Discover SC