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Francis Marion National Forest

Francis Marion National Forest
Palmetto Trail
Location	South Carolina, United States
Nearest city	Charleston, SC
Coordinates	33°10′00″N 79°40′00″W / 33.166667°N 79.666667°W / 33.166667; -79.666667
Area	263,904 acres (1,067.98 km2)[1]
Max. elevation	80 ft. (24 m), 33.3912, -79.9054
Established	July 10, 1936[2]
Governing body	U.S. Forest Service
Website	Francis Marion and Sumter National Forests

The Francis Marion National Forest is located north of Charleston, South Carolina. It is named for revolutionary war hero Francis Marion, who was known to the British as the Swamp Fox. It lies entirely within the Middle Atlantic coastal forests ecoregion.^[3] The park is also entirely in the Subtropical coniferous forest.

This National Forest is contained entirely in the counties of Charleston and Berkeley and is 263,904 acres (1,070 km²) in size. The forest contains the towns of Awendaw, Huger, Jamestown, and McClellanville. Charleston provides emergency services to the southeastern portions of the forest. Forest headquarters are located in Columbia, together with those of Sumter National Forest. There are local ranger district offices located in Cordesville.

In 1989, the forest was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Hugo; only the young growth survived the storm and its aftermath. Today, most trees in the forest do not predate this hurricane.

The forest is a multiple use area. Recreation opportunities include campsites, rifle ranges, boat ramps, and several trails for hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, including the Palmetto Trail, as well as off-road motorcycling and atv riding specifically at the Wambaw Cycle Trailhead. (OHV) The Forest Service also administers wilderness areas, experimental forests, timber production, and protection and management of wildlife and the watershed.

There are four officially designated wilderness areas lying within Francis Marion National Forest that are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.

• Hell Hole Bay Wilderness
• Little Wambaw Swamp Wilderness
• Wambaw Creek Wilderness
• Wambaw Swamp Wilderness

• 
  An image of the forest next to the Santee River in Berkeley County.
• 
  Information in Palmetto Trail.

• Jerman, Patricia (2000). South Carolina Nature Viewing Guide. Charleston: University of South Carolina Press.
• (1941). South Carolina: A Guide to the Palmetto State. New York: Oxford University Press.

Media related to Francis Marion National Forest at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website