In the woods at 273 Squire Pope Road there is a pair of rings made of hundreds of thousands of oyster, clam and mussel shells mixed with animal bones. People living on this edge of the island piled them up about 4,000 years ago.
Since October 16 the public can walk to them. Town and county leaders cut the ribbon on Ford's Shell Ring Park that Friday, WSAV reported. That made it the island's newest park and gave Squire Pope Road a second public shell site. The other one, Green's Shell Enclosure, sits off the same road by Skull Creek. People built the two sites more than three thousand years apart.
What Opened on October 16
The park is 6.8 acres of woods on the water. It is a passive park, meaning there are no ball fields or playground, just a place to walk. The Town's park page shows a welcome sign, a trail sign at the start of a wooded mulch path, a bench facing a large old tree at the water's edge, and two interpretive panels. One covers Archaic shell rings and the other covers historic Gullah communities.
The construction plan the Town announced in March called for earth trails and earthen drives, split-rail fencing, vehicle gates, accessible parking spaces and a pervious parking area. The crews used low-impact methods to keep digging and clearing to a minimum. The opening ceremony had no on-site parking and ran a shuttle from 133 Squire Pope Road. That arrangement was only for the event. The Town's parks directory now lists Ford's Shell Ring Park with free parking.
Mayor Alan Perry told WSAV that the park lets people "not only learn but actually take a moment of reprieve and to relax and just to enjoy the surroundings that we have."
The Figure Eight in the Woods
Ford's is a pair of rings, which is what sets it apart. According to the Archaeological Society of South Carolina, the smaller ring went up about 300 years before the larger one, and the larger ring partly sits on top of it. Together they form a figure eight. Beaufort County says Ford's was the first site anyone found with two shell rings joined together. The site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The County's announcement explains that shell rings come from the Late Archaic period. A shell midden is a loose heap of discarded shell. A shell ring is laid out in a deliberate round shape. Archaeologists still disagree about what the rings were for. The Town's March release gives two theories. In one, they were round villages where people tossed the shells from daily meals to the edge. In the other, they were gathering places and the shell is what was left after large communal feasts.
The research may not be finished. David Gordon, president of the Archaeological Society's Hilton Head Island chapter, told WSAV, "There's much more that can be explored in this site," and said he hopes other archaeologists will come do more work there.
Down the Road, a Site From Another Age
Green's Shell Enclosure Heritage Preserve sits at the edge of a marsh beside Skull Creek, also off Squire Pope Road. The Town calls it one of the island's three shell ring sites. The site itself comes from a much later period. The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources describes a shell embankment a little over a meter high and about 10 meters across. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the site gave a date of roughly 1335 CE. That falls in the Irene phase of the Mississippian period.
Ford's rings are about 4,000 years old. Green's dates to the 1300s CE, roughly seven centuries ago. That puts more than three thousand years between two sites on the same short road. The finds at Green's also differ from what the Ford's signs describe. Excavators turned up stone flakes from toolmaking, deer bone worn into the shape of a needle, and pottery decorated with paddle-stamped, incised and appliqued designs. SCDNR says that based on other Irene-phase sites, the embankment probably protected a village behind walls, palisades and ditches.
Green's is small and has few amenities. SCDNR lists a small parking area and daylight-only hours. The preserve rules prohibit vehicles, bikes and the gathering of artifacts or plants. Its National Register listing dates to 1974. SCDNR's Heritage Trust Program and the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism acquired the three acres in 1991, and the Town and SCDNR now share ownership.
The Island's Three Shell Sites Side by Side
The third site is inside Sea Pines. The Sea Pines Forest Preserve has a 4,000-year-old shell ring on its self-guided trails, between Lake Joe and Lake Thomas. It is also on the National Register. The Archaeological Society says the older of the two Ford's rings is about the same age as the Sea Pines ring. The Society adds that the people at the two sites "no doubt" socialized and traded with each other.
| Site | Where | Approximate age | What's there | Getting in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ford's Shell Ring Park | 273 Squire Pope Road | About 4,000 years | Two Late Archaic rings in a figure eight, mulch trails, interpretive signs | Town directory lists free parking |
| Green's Shell Enclosure Heritage Preserve | Off Squire Pope Road, beside Skull Creek | About 1335 CE | Mississippian-era shell embankment, about 10 meters across | Small parking area, daylight hours only |
| Sea Pines Shell Ring | Sea Pines Forest Preserve, between Lake Joe and Lake Thomas | About 4,000 years | Shell ring on self-guided nature trails | Visitors without Sea Pines access need a gate pass, $10 per vehicle per day as of 2026 |
Two of the three sites now sit on Squire Pope Road, outside any gate. Before October, the 4,000-year-old ring visitors could walk up to was in Sea Pines. The Sea Pines visitor page lists casual daily vehicle passes at $10, good from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Ford's now puts a ring of the same age on a public road on the Skull Creek side of the island.
Twenty-Three Years From Purchase to Trailhead
The land at Ford's was protected long before anyone could walk it.
- 2003: The Town of Hilton Head Island and Beaufort County paid $3.95 million for the 6.8-acre lot to keep it from being developed. The Archaeological Society says the purchase went through Beaufort County's Rural and Critical Land Preservation Project and also names Heritage Trust as a partner. The site is named for its last private owner, Henry Ford.
- Council approval: Beaufort County Council voted unanimously to build a passive park around the rings, with the goal of protecting them while letting the public see them.
- March 2026: Construction began. The site closed to the public during the work, and crews were scheduled to finish by the end of July.
- October 16, 2026: Beaufort County, the Town and the Hilton Head chapter of the Archaeological Society held the opening, and a docent-led tour followed the ceremony.
The Town's March announcement notes that the rings are protected under Town municipal codes, which make it illegal to damage or disturb historic and archaeological sites. The split-rail fencing keeps foot traffic on the trails and off the rings.
The Road Itself Carries a Third Layer
The Ford's signs cover Gullah Geechee heritage along with Indigenous history. That history runs along the same road. The Town's historic neighborhood pages describe Squire Pope as a Gullah neighborhood covering Squire Pope, Gumtree and Wild Horse roads. They also place Little Stoney along Squire Pope Road. One short drive passes Archaic rings, a Mississippian-era embankment and Gullah communities that still carry their historic names.
A North-End Morning on Squire Pope
All of the stops below are on one road, and every Town park on the list has free parking.
- Hilton Head Island Fishing Cooperative Park, 133 Squire Pope Road. This is the lot the opening-day shuttle ran from. It has a pier, a dock, a kayak launch, a picnic pavilion, a playground and public art.
- Ford's Shell Ring Park, 273 Squire Pope Road. Walk the mulch trail to the rings, read both panels and sit on the bench by the water.
- Green's Shell Enclosure Heritage Preserve, beside Skull Creek. The preserve is small, so a visit is short. Go in daylight and leave the bikes in the car.
- Green's Shell Park, 99 Squire Pope Road. This Town park has an observation deck, a basketball court, a picnic pavilion and a playground.
For questions about hours or group visits, Beaufort County's Land Preservation department lists a ranger line at 843-255-2150. Both shell sites sit in shaded woods at the edge of the marsh, so bring bug spray even on cool days.
When friends or family visit, Lorie Sauer often points them to small places like Squire Pope Road, where the island's history sits a short walk from the water. If you'd like to know which parts of the north end put these trails and landings closest to home, Lorie Sauer can walk you through it on the ground. Schedule a Showing.