Trails in Myrtle Beach: Cox Ferry Lake Rec
Cox Ferry Lake Recreation Area is in Conway and offers 355 acres to explore! We recently wandered around a few of the trails and we’re sharing our top tips for making it a smooth outing with kids. Here are is our good-to-know info for exploring these cool trails in Myrtle Beach area.
ADDRESS | Gray Lake Blvd, Conway. It’s hard to find an exact address. It’s off Hwy 544, turn left at McAlister’s Deli and you’ll see signs. There is another entrance from W Cox Ferry Road but you won’t have quick or easy access to the best trails for kids so I’d suggest using the Gray Lake Blvd entrance.
MUST KNOW | There are no stinking bathrooms (no pun intended). Not a porta-potty in sight.
This still boggles me. We had to get back in the car and drive to McDonalds halfway through our trip so please note this major drawback and plan accordingly.
good to know info & suggested routes
PARK AT THE FIRST PARKING LOT | After the road becomes dirt/gravel you’ll quickly see the entrance sign and a parking area to the left. That is where you want to be.
TRAILS ARE WIDE AND EASY | All the trails we explored were wide and easy to navigate. There are some raised roots in some spots that might be tripping hazards for kids but would be easy for a joggling stroller.
TRAILS ARE EASY & MARKED WELL | The trails are also well-marked and many of them intersect at various points to help you make your excursion as short or long as you’d like.
WHAT IS AT THE FARTHEST PARKING LOT | If you want to drive up to the last parking lot then there is another fishing pier and the “red trail”. It’s nice too but most of the cooler stuff (and the boardwalk) are accessed from the other parking area.
NOT MANY SEATING AREAS | We didn’t see any benches along any of the trails. There are two picnic areas. One is at the last parking lot and it is uncovered. The larger, nicer, and covered one is at the opposite end of the blue trail (at the entrance that I told you not to go to) so I wouldn’t count on using it unless you are planning for a 1-2 mile round trip hike.
what we did & recommend
If you really want to keep it simple then just take the blue trail –– it’s a straight shot to the real highlight of this place –– the long boardwalk. It’ll connect with the yellow and orange trail too so you can take either one of those back for a change of scenery. Here are the trail distances:
BLUE TRAIL • 1.3 miles || YELLOW TRAIL • .7 miles || ORANGE TRAIL • .4 miles
BIKE TRAIL • .9 miles || This is open to walking too but it is more narrow and makes a few more turns. If you need more details about any of the trails then read this.
ROUTE SUGGESTION | We started out on blue (you have to) then picked up the yellow trail and once it intersected with blue again we took a left to head back toward the parking area. That way we had the excitement and cool-factor of the boardwalk to energize the kids in case they were starting to lose motivation on this back half of the trip. That probably made it a 1.5-1.75 mile round trip.
check out other trails & nature areas
We live for this stuff.. We’ve got a lot covered right here!