Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina

Palmetto Bluff is in Bluffton, SC, on the south side of the May River, southwest of Old Town across the water. It is inside the town limits (Bluffton annexed it in 1998), so every address reads Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, SC 29910, but the land runs on for miles: about 20,000 acres of pine and live oak forest, marsh and lagoons, with some 32 miles of riverfront. The main gate is at 302 Old Palmetto Bluff Road, and Wilson Village, the oldest of the villages and home of the Montage, is about 5.4 miles in from the entrance.

Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton is often filed under Hilton Head, but it sits on the mainland: from the island, cross the bridges on US 278 and head south through Bluffton. Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport is about 35 minutes away. The map below marks the main gate; inside, the roads link the villages, the marina and the golf clubhouses, and the trail network runs beside them.

Wilson Village is the heart of the place: brick lanes, a village green on the river framed by the ruins of the Wilson mansion, the Montage inn and its cottages, a small white chapel, Wilson Landing Marina, and the shops and cafés most visitors come for (Buffalos, Melt for ice cream, and the Pedego bike shop on Boat House Street). Many of the Palmetto Bluff cottages Montage rents to guests are here, beside the lagoons.

Moreland Village is the quieter second village, home to the Canteen café and the Moreland Landing event venue. It is mostly homes, and the Montage also rents larger houses there. Anson Village is the newest, planned by the owners who bought Palmetto Bluff in 2021 along with Anson Point, the Coore and Crenshaw golf course.

Most of what there is to do here is outdoors. About 20 miles of paved and hard-sand trails wind through the forest and along the river; the River Road Trail (also called the Moreland Trail) runs about six miles from Wilson Village to Barge Landing. Bikes are the way to cover it: Montage guests get bicycles, Pedego Electric Bikes has an e-bike shop on Boat House Street, and Outside, the outfitter, runs the Palmetto Bluff bike rentals, Pedego tours, nature walks in the Moreland preserve, kayak trips and May River cruises in the booking cards above.

For sport, the Wilson Lawn & Racquet Club has eight tennis courts, six pickleball courts and two croquet lawns, so Palmetto Bluff tennis and pickleball are for members and Montage guests. The club also runs Longfield Stables for riding and The Sporting Life for shooting and field sports. The Palmetto Bluff spa is Spa Montage, inside the resort. For the river itself, and the town’s public landings, see our Bluffton guide.

Montage Palmetto Bluff is the resort: a Forbes Five-Star hotel of about 200 rooms, suites and cottages in Wilson Village, with Spa Montage, three pools and the River House restaurant. It was The Inn at Palmetto Bluff until Montage took it over and renamed it in 2016. Our Montage Palmetto Bluff page covers the rooms, rates, reviews and what guests can use.

The golf is three courses: May River by Jack Nicklaus, Crossroads by King-Collins and Anson Point by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw. There are no public tee times; hotel guests can play May River. Our Palmetto Bluff golf page explains who can play where.

Visitors can eat here without staying. The community’s own dining list names six places open to the public: Buffalos, the riverside café in Wilson Village with weekend brunch; Canteen in Moreland Village for coffee, breakfast sandwiches and lunch; Melt for ice cream; Flame for wood-fired Neapolitan pizza; Buzz for coffee and pastries; and RT’s Market, the village store with gas, groceries and wine. The Canoe Club, Cole’s, the May River Grill and Crossroads belong to the members’ club, and River House, Octagon, Fore & Aft and the Hush speakeasy are the Montage’s.

Palmetto Bluff weddings are mostly Montage weddings. The resort has two chapels: the large Somerset Chapel, which seats up to 185 and is where Justin and Hailey Bieber married in 2019, and the small white community chapel in Wilson Village. Receptions go on the Village Green, beside the Wilson mansion ruins, or in the resort’s ballroom.

For a Palmetto Bluff wedding, start with the Montage’s weddings team, which books the chapels and the lawns. The wider list of Lowcountry venues is in our Hilton Head weddings guide.

The Palmetto Bluff Club is the members’ side of the community: the three golf courses, the racquet club, fitness, the pools, The Farm, the stables, the shooting grounds, the marina and the members’ restaurants. Palmetto Bluff membership is sold alongside the homes: the community’s Discovery Visit, two nights at the Montage with the Club’s dining and amenities, is how prospective buyers try it first. There is no day pass to buy: a non-member’s way in is a Montage stay, a guided trip with Outside, or lunch at one of the public cafés.

Most of Palmetto Bluff is private homes, from village cottages to large riverfront houses. Houses for sale and for rent get their own pages here as they go up (the cards below), and Montage rents cottages and whole homes in the villages to hotel guests. For the rest of the town, see Bluffton, SC.