By Local Opinion
Hagley Landing is the southernmost public access to the Waccamaw River in Pawleys Island. As the name suggests, it’s in the Hagley neighborhood, at the western end of Hagley Road. The ramp itself is very gradual, which is great if you, like me, have a vehicle that is underpowered for the boat you want to put in and/or lacks four-wheel drive. The ramp is wide enough for two lanes, but in my experience unless you go at the worst possible times it’s rare to need to split the ramp.
Parking can be challenging on the weekends, as there is no designated parking for Hagley Landing. Instead, you must park along the road. Obviously, avoid blocking driveways, but also if you’re new to the area: please please please do not park in the turnaround either with a trailer or just your car. Parking in the turnaround (the wide area in front of the ramp) makes the ramp inaccessible to folks needing to launch or retrieve their boat. This is a problem in the evenings, as people who don’t know better park all over the turnaround (or worse, the ramp itself) to look at the sunset. To their credit, the sunset is lovely across the river, but don’t be like them. Instead, find parking along the road further up.
Since my childhood, the county added a new generous aluminum floating dock to park at while dealing with your trailer. Both sides of the dock have cleats, so if you are waiting on someone, consider moving your boat to the outside of the dock to make more room for folks putting in.
One more interesting tidbit: though it’s harder to get down to now, the small sandy beach to the right of the ramp is a great spot to look for Native American artifacts. It is extremely common to find shards of pottery down there at low tide. Riding my bike to the landing in the evening to add to my collection of pottery was one of my favorite pastimes as a child who desperately wanted to become an archaeologist. Spoiler: I didn’t end up becoming one.