A self-guided route you drive or walk, in your own car, on your own day.
Out of Beaufort on the Sea Island Parkway to Hunting Island, where Forrest Gump found its Vietnam and Outer Banks its Redfield Lighthouse and its Boneyard. Four stops; the last three are inside Hunting Island State Park, which charges admission at the gate.
All of them, free to read.
4 stops
Cantbeatpie at English Wikipedia, Public domain01Forrest Gump
The scene
US 21 crosses the Beaufort River here on a girdered swing bridge, and it is where the press finally get a question in during the run. The production hung a sign on it calling the water the Mississippi. The county library, Visit Beaufort, Explore Beaufort and Local Life all name it. The bridge is still the way onto Lady's Island and still swings for boat traffic; the drive goes over it and on out the Sea Island Parkway.
US-21 at the Beaufort River, Beaufort, SC
Bill Fitzpatrick, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons02Outer BanksAdmission
The Week
This walk is free, and stays free. A route puts them in order, tells you what was filmed at each and how to get round them, and comes as an app for the day itself.
$4.99 for 7 days · One payment, nothing renews.
Your seven days start in town, when you press Start the day on a paid route or arrive at one of its stops.
Get the Week in the app, $4.99Beaufort, South Carolina Lowcountry
The Sea Island Drive
Sorted by distance on the day
It starts at Woods Memorial Bridge, US-21 at the Beaufort River, Beaufort, SC and ends at Hunting Island lagoon, Nature Center Scenic Trail, Hunting Island State Park, SC. The stops are ordered so the route does not double back.
40 min driving between 4 stops, covering 21 miles. That is the measured travel alone. How long you stay at each stop is up to you.
Not all of them are walk-ups. Hunting Island Lighthouse needs a ticket; Hunting Island Boneyard needs a ticket; Hunting Island lagoon needs a ticket. The rest are public and free to stand at.
Forrest Gump, Outer Banks, across 4 locations in and around Beaufort.
The scene
In the second episode of Outer Banks, John B and Kiara walk up to the Redfield Lighthouse to ask about the Royal Merchant, and the keeper grows suspicious and calls the police. Netflix's own location guide puts the Redfield here, on Hunting Island. Travel sites often say the Morris Island Lighthouse off Folly Beach instead, but that one stands in the water and nobody can walk up to it. The Island Packet reported the crew back at this lighthouse for two days in April 2024, for season four.
2555 Sea Island Pkwy, Hunting Island State Park, SC
bobistraveling, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons03Outer BanksAdmission
The scene
The pilot's Boneyard party, and John B's fight with Topper, were filmed on Hunting Island's north beach, where the sea has taken the forest and left the trees standing dead on the sand. Netflix's location guide names the park, and the Island Packet places the pilot's brawl in the maritime forest here and the season four crews on a north-end beach. The driftwood moves with every storm and has been cleared in places since, so the beach will not match the episode tree for tree.
Hunting Island State Park, St Helena Island, SC
Inside
Parking
bobistraveling, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons04Forrest GumpAdmission
The scene
Forrest Gump's Vietnam is the Lowcountry: Hunting Island and Fripp Island stood in for it. Local Life, Visit Beaufort and Explore Beaufort all name this lagoon as where Forrest sets down the wounded he has carried out of the jungle, and the Friends of Hunting Island caption a picture of it "Forrest Gump scenes shot here". The rice paddy is somewhere else; the county library puts it in Colleton County. The Nature Center Scenic Trail crosses the lagoon on a footbridge, which is the pin. G.I. Jane built its prisoner camp beside the same water, the county library records.
Nature Center Scenic Trail, Hunting Island State Park, SC