US-21 Scenic Highway 21
US-21 Scenic Highway is a State Scenic Byway in South Carolina. Within South Carolina it covers roughly 15 miles. The map below shows its route. Use “Plan a drive” to open it in the Road Sorties route planner — already routing along US-21 Scenic Highway with scenic roads turned on, ready to add your own stops.
US-21 Scenic Highway, also called the Sea Island Scenic Highway, threads through South Carolina's Gullah Country from Hunting Island toward Yemassee. The route begins near Hunting Island State Park on the Atlantic coast, then bypasses the historic city of Beaufort to the south, passing through the smaller communities of Port Royal, Shell Point, and Burton. For about seven miles it runs concurrently with US 17 before splitting off and continuing north as a rural two-lane road toward Yemassee, where it meets US 17 Alternate. The corridor passes through the heart of the South Carolina Lowcountry's Gullah Geechee communities, descendants of formerly enslaved West Africans who have preserved a distinct language and culture on the Sea Islands for generations. Marsh, tidal creek, and maritime forest line much of the drive, with barrier island beaches at one end and inland farmland at the other, giving the route a broader cross-section of Lowcountry landscape than most of the state's shorter designated byways.
- Sea Island Scenic Highway
- Hunting Island State Park to Yemassee
- Beaufort, Port Royal, Shell Point, Burton
- Gullah Geechee culture
- ~7-mile US 17 concurrency
- Lowcountry marsh and maritime forest
Plan a drive on US-21 Scenic Highway →
What is a State Scenic Byway?
State Scenic Byways are roads a state has formally recognized for their scenic, natural, historic or cultural value — each state's own curated collection of drives worth taking slowly.
Where to Stay along US-21 Scenic Highway
No campgrounds are listed close to US-21 Scenic Highway yet, but there are rooms near the route.
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