Fort Jackson Palmetto Trail Passage
2019 Hiking week 8
This past Saturday was another dreary, wet day. It was not the kind of day you want to spend lots of time outside. But since the weather forecasters weren't calling for rain, just clouds and mist, we decided to get outside and get our hike in. Sunday would have been ideal since it was beautiful Sunday afternoon but other plans were filling the day up. Saturday we decided to try the Fort Jackson Passage of the Palmetto Trail. We wanted to do the first section through the fort. It is about 5 miles and we were planning to drop one car off at the end and start at the other side. Unfortunately, after we tried a couple of the gates at the fort, we were told that civilians weren't allowed on the base without a "sponsor". We were pretty frustrated by this. I'm not up to date with what's going on with military bases but we had no idea that they had closed the base to all civilians. We finally went back to where our other car was and decided to do the other section that is "outside" of the base.
This trail is a little confusing. Starting on Leesburg Road, you can hike the 10+ miles that follow Leesburg Road without going through a gate on the fort. But, while we were on the trail, we ended up
on the other side of an old gate that is part of the fort. I guess since Fort Jackson is so large and has so much empty woods, they don't try and man it all. They just focus on the important sections. But the trail was not a bad pick for the day. Since the ground is mostly sand, it wasn't too muddy for us. The trail is usually within sight of Leesburg Road, so there is a lot of noise from the car traffic. Most of these woods are pine trees though we did come across some oaks and other hardwoods. Some of the area had been recently cut, so we had to keep an eye on the trail markers (the yellow "i") and watch where we walked because of limbs and debris on the trail. The trail is pretty flat but as we got further east, we came across some hills. We decided to hike an hour out and then turn around and head back, which worked out to a little less than 2 1/2 miles one way. Only once or twice did the mist turn into a light drizzle but we were prepared with lots of layers of clothes and our rain jackets. I decided a baseball cap is a good choice for that kind of weather, since it keeps the rain out of your eyes without making you too hot.
We saw a lot of Carolina Jasmine along the trail. Also, there were mosses, lichen, and many yucca plants around the area. One thing that was neat was the many spider webs that were visible because of the rain. They were all over the leaves and other plants. Also, near the trail, we saw an old family cemetery. It must have pre-dated the fort. We imagine that area of the property had been a family home at one point.
Being out in the rain wasn't the most fun but we enjoyed the hike and seeing a new part of Columbia. There are some other sections of this trail that we might explore but we'll have to work out some logistics. It looks like the terrain might change some as we go further east.
We're hoping to find a way that we can get on the fort to do the other section. We'll have to ask around and see what is recommended. Hope you can find some time to get outside and explore! Even if the weather isn't perfect, there are still neat things to see!
If you're looking for places in the area, you're not far from Garner's Ferry Road (Hwy 378), I mentioned some places in my previous post. Also, you could combine this trail with visiting Cottle Strawberry Farm on Trotter Road.
This past Saturday was another dreary, wet day. It was not the kind of day you want to spend lots of time outside. But since the weather forecasters weren't calling for rain, just clouds and mist, we decided to get outside and get our hike in. Sunday would have been ideal since it was beautiful Sunday afternoon but other plans were filling the day up. Saturday we decided to try the Fort Jackson Passage of the Palmetto Trail. We wanted to do the first section through the fort. It is about 5 miles and we were planning to drop one car off at the end and start at the other side. Unfortunately, after we tried a couple of the gates at the fort, we were told that civilians weren't allowed on the base without a "sponsor". We were pretty frustrated by this. I'm not up to date with what's going on with military bases but we had no idea that they had closed the base to all civilians. We finally went back to where our other car was and decided to do the other section that is "outside" of the base.
This trail is a little confusing. Starting on Leesburg Road, you can hike the 10+ miles that follow Leesburg Road without going through a gate on the fort. But, while we were on the trail, we ended up
 |
| Former fort road. See the razor wire? |
We saw a lot of Carolina Jasmine along the trail. Also, there were mosses, lichen, and many yucca plants around the area. One thing that was neat was the many spider webs that were visible because of the rain. They were all over the leaves and other plants. Also, near the trail, we saw an old family cemetery. It must have pre-dated the fort. We imagine that area of the property had been a family home at one point.
Being out in the rain wasn't the most fun but we enjoyed the hike and seeing a new part of Columbia. There are some other sections of this trail that we might explore but we'll have to work out some logistics. It looks like the terrain might change some as we go further east.
We're hoping to find a way that we can get on the fort to do the other section. We'll have to ask around and see what is recommended. Hope you can find some time to get outside and explore! Even if the weather isn't perfect, there are still neat things to see!
If you're looking for places in the area, you're not far from Garner's Ferry Road (Hwy 378), I mentioned some places in my previous post. Also, you could combine this trail with visiting Cottle Strawberry Farm on Trotter Road.
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| Clear cut area along the trail. |
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