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Guided trail rides through 605 acres of forest preserve, plus an animal farm that costs nothing to wander round.
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Lawton Stables sits on Greenwood Drive inside Sea Pines, at the edge of the 605-acre Sea Pines Forest Preserve, and it is the only place on Hilton Head Island where you can ride a horse through woods rather than along a road. That distinction is the whole appeal. The guided trail rides go out into the preserve itself — pine and live oak, lagoons, boardwalk crossings and open meadow — on trails that motor traffic never touches.
Rides are guided, western-style and about an hour long, walking pace, with a minimum age that has been set at eight years old. Guides talk as they ride, about the preserve, the island's ecology and what you are looking at. Groups are small enough that it does not feel like a conveyor. No previous riding experience is needed, and horses are matched to riders at the yard. Expect to pay in the region of eighty dollars a head, and book ahead — trail rides fill days out in spring, summer and around holidays.
For children under the age threshold there are pony rides in the ring, aimed at the seven-and-under bracket and charged at a small per-ride price.
The part that catches people by surprise is the animal farm, which is free to walk around whether or not anyone in your group is riding. It is small and genuinely hands-on: goats, miniature donkeys, pot-bellied pigs, alpacas, chickens, cattle and a miniature horse, in paddocks you can lean on. For a family with a toddler and an eight-year-old, it solves the problem of what the toddler does for an hour.
Two costs, as everywhere in Sea Pines: the ride itself, and the gate pass charged per vehicle to get into the community at all. The animal farm is free but you still pay at the gate to reach it.
Opening has generally been Monday to Saturday, daytime hours. Confirm before you drive over.
Enter Sea Pines at the Greenwood Gate on Greenwood Drive, off the Sea Pines Circle, and pay the per-vehicle day pass. The stables are a short way inside on Greenwood Drive, at the edge of the Sea Pines Forest Preserve, with their own signposted entrance and free parking on site.
Allow about ten minutes from the Sea Pines Circle and five more from Coligny. If you are staying inside Sea Pines you can ride the leisure trails here. Day visitors cannot enter the community on a bicycle, so bring the car.
You check in at the yard, they ask about height, weight and experience, and they assign you a horse. Helmets are provided and — with children especially — are not optional. The ride leaves in a group behind a guide, at a walk, and stays at a walk. Nobody is going to canter you through the woods, which is exactly right for a mixed-ability group of holidaymakers.
The route goes into the Sea Pines Forest Preserve: slash pine, live oak, palmetto understorey, a couple of lagoons and open grassland. Alligators live in those lagoons and you will often see one from the saddle, which is a very different experience from seeing one from a path. Deer are common. In spring and early summer the wildflower meadow is worth the ride on its own.
Practical points: long trousers and closed shoes are required, not suggested. A ride in shorts on a hot day will chafe and a ride in flip-flops will not be allowed. Bring water and repellent between May and October. Rides are cancelled for lightning, which in a Lowcountry summer means afternoon slots are the ones at risk — book the morning if you can.
Minimum age has been eight for the trail ride, with weight limits applied at the yard. Ring and ask if anyone in your group is near a limit rather than finding out on the day.
You do not need to be riding, and there is no admission. The farm is a compact set of paddocks and pens around the yard, and its residents have included goats, miniature donkeys, pot-bellied pigs, alpacas, chickens, cattle and a miniature horse.
Why it works better than it should:
It is a stables yard rather than a petting zoo built for visitors, so it smells like one and the ground is what you would expect. Closed shoes for everyone, and wash hands afterwards — there is no soap dispenser fairy.
Book the trail ride in advance. Slots are limited by the number of horses and guides, and in spring, summer and school holidays they go days ahead. Walk-up availability exists in the quiet months and is a gamble the rest of the year.
Cost bands, all of which move and all of which should be confirmed when you book:
If you are also doing Harbour Town, the lighthouse or the Forest Preserve on the same day, the gate pass is doing more work and the maths improves. A special trip in and straight back out for a pony ride is an expensive pony ride.
Hours have generally run Monday to Saturday during daylight. The yard closes in severe weather.
Operators run these trips past Lawton Stables, or stop there as part of a longer route. We list what the booking data supports — not everything that mentions the name.
These bookings run through Viator, who pay us a commission. Your price does not change, and neither does the order they appear in.
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Six hundred and five acres of trails, lagoons and a 4,000-year-old shell ring — free to walk, once you have paid the Sea Pines gate.
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The guided trail rides have been open to riders aged eight and over, with weight limits applied at the yard. Children seven and under can do pony rides in the ring instead, at a small per-ride charge. If anyone in your group is close to an age or weight limit, ring and check when you book rather than finding out at the mounting block.
Roughly eighty dollars per person for a guided ride of about an hour, though prices move — confirm when booking. Remember the second charge: Sea Pines takes a day pass per two-axle vehicle at the gate, recently around ten dollars, before you reach the stables at all. Pony rides are a small separate charge, and the animal farm is free.
No. The rides are western-style, at a walk throughout, in a small guided group, and horses are matched to riders at the yard. Helmets are provided. What is required is long trousers and closed shoes — a ride in shorts will chafe and flip-flops will not be allowed on a horse.
Yes. You can walk round the paddocks and pens without booking or riding anything, and there is no admission. Residents have included goats, miniature donkeys, pot-bellied pigs, alpacas, chickens, cattle and a miniature horse. Feed is usually available to buy for a small amount. You do still pay the Sea Pines gate pass to be inside the community.
Into the Sea Pines Forest Preserve — 605 acres of pine and live oak, lagoons, boardwalks and open meadow, with no motor traffic. Alligators live in those lagoons and are frequently visible from the saddle, deer are common, and in spring the wildflower meadow is the highlight. It is the only place on the island where you can ride through woodland rather than beside a road.