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Pinckney Island

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge · Between Bluffton and Hilton Head

Sunset on Skull Creek. The dock on the island's south shore at the end of the day. 41,000 views on Google Maps · Photo taken Jun 2024

Map of Pinckney Island between Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, with the south shore on Skull Creek pinned

Where it is. Pinckney Island sits in the water between Bluffton (left) and Hilton Head (right). The pin is the island's south shore on Skull Creek; the refuge entrance is just off US 278 at the south end. Tap the map to open it in Google Maps. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Location: Off US 278, between Bluffton & Hilton Head Island

Best For: Sunsets, birding, quiet walks

The Archive: 13 photos · 182,623 views on Google Maps

View across Skull Creek toward Hilton Head

Pinckney is the wild island everybody drives past on the way to Hilton Head. Traffic crosses its south end on US 278, but turn off at the refuge entrance and the pavement gives way to gravel — miles of quiet roads through salt marsh, tidal creeks, pine woods and old plantation fields, with nobody around but the birds.

Key Takeaways

A national wildlife refuge of just over 4,000 acres, managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Free to enter, open sunrise to sunset — and past the parking area it's foot and bicycle traffic only.
Come at golden hour: the Skull Creek shore faces the sunset.
There are no restrooms or drinking water out on the island — bring what you need.