When to go: The Little Pee Dee Heritage Preserve is open from dawn to dusk, seven days a week. Spring and fall are the best times to see birds. Floodplain forests and oxbow lakes characterize the four tracts of this SC Department of Natural Resources preserve, which protects about 9,000 acres of forestland and beautiful blackwater river scenery. What to look for: Otter families play along the river and in the oxbow lakes. Other aquatic creatures to watch for include yellow rat snakes and banded, brown and red-bellied water snakes, all of which are nonpoisonous. Florida and river cooters sun themselves along the banks, as do American alligators. You may also see mink, bobcats, gray foxes and raccoons. Many trees here are 80 to 100 years old and provide excellent nesting sites for songbirds. Look for yellow-billed cuckoos, prothonotary warblers, Acadian flycatchers, northern parula warblers, and red and white-eyed vireos, among others. Upland species such as white-tailed deer, wild turkey and bobwhite quail are common. Several of the preserve's tracts protect the rare sarvis holly. Other rare plants found here include Well's pyxie-moss and Pickering's morning glory. The Ervin Dargan tract provides the best hiking opportunities, and fishing is especially good in the Ervin Dargan and Little Pee Dee tracts.