South Litchfield

Local Opinion

Verdict: South Litchfield offers the fun and sun of Pawleys, but in a smaller setting (and without incorporation!)

In many ways, driving into South Litchfield feels like driving into Pawleys Island proper: you drive across a causeway that cuts through the salt marsh. There are often folks fishing from the bridge.

Once you’re there, you realize things are little bit different. The houses on South Litchfield are organized around canals that were dug in the salt marsh many years ago, canals that follow the straight rows of houses. Sportsman’s Canal is a straight shot to a dead end at the causeway, while its brother curves back around and links up into the network of creeks that tie into the neighborhood to the north, Litchfield By The Sea. The first row of houses you come to sits between these two creeks, and the rest sit east of Sportsman’s Canal. These creeks, and all of the creeks in South Litchfield, and great for fishing, boating, paddling, floating, and anything else you might want to do on the water, though many do go quite dry at low tide, so be careful not to be caught out or you might be walking back!

On the topic of creeks, South Litchfield does have its own landing, located near the end of Sundial Drive. The landing is technically for homeowners in the Litchfield Beach POA, but plenty of other folks use it. Do note that there is very little parking. And please please please, DO NOT PARK IN THE LANDING, as it will prevent others from putting their boats, or worse - taking them out.

At the end of your drive in, you’ll see the landmark of South Litchfield, the Litchfield Inn. This hotel is unique in that it’s the only public oceanfront high-rise in all of the greater Pawleys Island area, and it’s been here for quite a while. It offers not only rooms to let but also condos for sale. There is a restaurant and a cabana bar on site that are open to the public, a great place to stop for a drink on a hot day.

South Litchfield has public walkways, but they do not have integrated parking. You can find them on the ocean side of Norris Drive, beginning just south of the Litchfield Inn and continuing all the way to Inlet Point, where the road becomes private. In the summer, parking is at a premium. Make sure you park with all four wheels off the road, or else you may come back with a sunburn and a ticket.

The beach itself is amazing: warm water, soft white sand, and categorically fewer people than Pawleys Island. Though peak season sees plenty of beachgoers, the only place you may run into a crowd on an average day is near the Litchfield Inn.

One neat feature of the beach is that it links up several sections of beach into a continuous walk, run, or bike ride. You can head south to Midway Inlet, the inlet between Pawleys Island and South Litchfield, where you might find folks swimming from a parked boat. You can head north past the Inn to Litchfield By The Sea, then to North Litchfield, and finally to Huntington Beach State Park. If you keep going, you’ll wind up at the jetties marking the south side of Murrells Inlet. Keep in mind, you do have to make it back. I have run from inlet to inlet back in my marathon days, and it’s a long way!