Rock Hill and Glencairn Gardens

2019 Hiking Week 29


Most of the time, people in Columbia take I-77 North to visit Charlotte. Whether it's for a flight, a concert, or just to shop at IKEA, many drive right past the Rock Hill area. Rock Hill is home to Winthrop Univeristy and has become a suburb of Charlotte. I enjoy stopping there on my way in or out of Charlotte, or sometimes we go there just because of the good restaurants and breweries there. 






Recently, we were going to be in the area so I wanted to stop by the Glencairn Gardens. They were featured in the book "Classic Carolina Roadtrips" and I thought of how many times I had been to Rock Hill but hadn't seen these gardens. They are just outside of downtown Rock Hill. Since we visited in the middle of summer, it was pretty green but not a lot of flowers. The park is 11 acres in the middle of an older neighborhood. It has many different sections: lawn, amphitheater, ponds, waterfalls, a "victory garden" and children's garden, and many paths to wander around on. When we were there, we just wandered around looking at the various parts, but I think it would be nice to park and walk around the neighborhood as well as the gardens. You're also not far from Winthrop's campus. I enjoy walking around college campuses and Winthrop's campus is over 100 years old, so there are some neat buildings to explore. 
We think this is supposed to be a caterpillar bush!

 Since we were in Rock Hill, I had previously come through downtown and saw their neat park, Fountain Park. It has an amphitheater space, green space, and a big fountain. I hadn't stopped to check it out before, so I didn't realize that the water fountain puts on a show! It had many different water sprays and it was fun to watch, as well as cooling since we got some spray from it. 

Downtown Rock Hill
There are a few good places I would recommend checking out in Rock Hill. One of our go-to's is Legal Remedy. It's a brewery and restaurant and I recommend both! They have a diverse beer selection as well as a great menu. Our favorite to order is the Southern Poutine and the Pork Schnitzel sandwich. The pork loin is huge and feeds two of us. I also recommend Slow Play Brewing, which is near Winthrop's campus. 


 If you want to make a day of the area, I also recommend checking out Fort Mill. It's not far from Rock Hill, on the east side of I-77. They have a cute downtown area with some good restaurants and Amor Artis Brewing. We went to the Strawberry Festival there this spring. It was a fun festival and free. They also had a pretty good car show at the festival. 

 York County has recently started a "brew trail" for visitors, check it out here.

 Nearby:
Landsford Canal
Charlotte
Chester State Park
Location: Glencairn Garden, 725 Crest St, Rock Hill, SC 29730, USA

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