The Home Depot — Hilton Head

Technically located in Bluffton rather than on Hilton Head Island itself, this Home Depot sits at 20 Gateway Village Road near the US-278/SC-170 corridor. This sprawling shopping center setting provides plenty of paved real estate - with the trick here being to simply put some distance between yourself and the store entrance, contractor traffic and loading areas. Once Home Depot closes at 10 p.m., the customer traffic drops almost immediately, making this a perfectly functional overnight when you’re looking for convenience and solitude rather than scenery and easy access.

While my review from a few years ago provides a ton of detail, I thought I would follow up that review with a topline of HIGHS and LOWS along with a smattering of new photos.

HIGHLIGHTS: (1) Large paved lot offers plenty of room for vans and RVs without squeezing into standard customer spaces; (2) The surrounding Gateway Village commercial area keeps the location active enough to feel comfortable without the all-night truck traffic of a travel center; (3) US-278 provides straightforward access when traveling toward Hilton Head or back toward I-95; (4) Home Depot itself is handy for propane exchange, picking up supplies and those inevitable little RV repairs; (5) Once the store closes, things settle down nicely for such a developed commercial location; (6) The best spot to park in this Home Depot can be found by driving behind the store and to the west, where there's like a secret parking area surrounded by shrubbery; and (7) The mobile hot dog stand here is truly one of the best food trucks I've ever eaten at any Home Depot parking lot (and I've been in more than a few).

LOWLIGHTS: (1) Morning comes early here with this Home Depot opening at 6am Monday through Saturday, bringing contractor traffic with it; (2) The lot is somewhat apart from the perimeter next to the main road, with little meaningful shade or privacy; and; (3) Parking closer to the building means dealing with carts, headlights, deliveries and early-morning activity, so location within the lot makes a substantial difference.

Happy Overnighting!

Hands down, this is likely the best Home Depot I’ve ever been to. Why? Well, there’s a handful of reasons. First, this entire Home Depot is completely surrounded by a very thick forest complete with low lying brush, so even though you will have arrived here by a 4-lane highway, as soon as you turn into this orange home fixer-upper, you immediately feel as though you’ve been swallowed up by the surrounding forest. 

Second, unlike like most Home Depots that feel, well, like a wide open depot, this is a medium-sized parking lot completely outfitted with smaller parking areas that feel more intimate, private and cozy (which I must admit, feels weird saying about a parking lot, but hey, it was the vibe I was feeling) wherein there’s quite few spots that are completely surrounded by their own set of trees and bushes giving up a great feeling of privacy and seclusion, plus that same overgrown greenery is also eating up all of that highway traffic noise creating a real sense of peace& quiet. 

Lastly, this place - from the pavement to the store - itself feels and looks nearly brand new or at least incredibly well-maintained. Add to this there’s a proper hot dog food truck shilling out some pretty mean, piping-hot sausages and you just can’t go wrong here. The entire parking lot is incredibly level, with freshly painted parking space lines, but the best part is that this place isn’t ever all that busy. 

Quick little insider’s tip is that while the southwestern perimeter feels like the best place to lay-up, there’s a sublime piece of pavement in this retailer’s northeastern corner, which is completely surrounded by such thick foliage you will quickly forget you’re even a Home Depot parking lot. 

While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience (EZ on- and off-access), safety & security, quality (of facilities), peace & quiet and amenities (either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot: 

Convenience: 4 

Safety & Security: 5 

Quality: 5 

Peace & Quiet: 5 

Amenities: 4 

Overall, I scored this location a 5. 

Happy Overnighting!