Two nature trails begin as one near cottage 11, then split into two loops, each with its own distinct natural environment. A spur trail off one trail leads into marsh. Both coastal and woodland species of birds may be observed on the trails. From the trailhead, hikers walk through a mixed oak community with palmetto, bracken ferns, and wax myrtle. A sign pointing to the left marks the Sempervirens Trail, which leads into a mature live oak maritime forest, with Spanish moss, palmetto, wax myrtle, and muscadine .
Large magnolias are evident, as well as occasional hickory, sweet gum, and pine.
During summer, painted buntings and Eastern blue birds are seen in this subtropical broadleaf forest. A spur off this loop leads to the Spartina coastal marsh, where marsh and wading birds such as clapper rails, blue herons, and great egrets may be observed on the ground, and gulls, terns, and osprey are spotted in the air. Deer, squirrels, and armadillos are the most common mammals, but quiet observers may spot a feral hog, bobcat, or fox. The second nature trail, the Palmetto Trail, loops off the first and winds back to the trailhead, exposing hikers to a second type of coastal forest comprising southern pine and palmetto. Longleaf pine forests once covered the Coastal Plain of the southeastern U.S., but logging and fire suppression removed this predominant, fire-dependent ecosystem, which today is found only in a few relictual patches.