Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

2019 SC Hiking Week 4 Poinsett State Park CCC Spillway and historic mill ruins. To celebrate a weekend where we had no rain, we traveled to Poinsett State Park , outside of Sumter. Only about an hour’s drive from Columbia. I was looking forward to visiting this park since I had seen some of the pictures on the website and it looked pretty. They also call this area “the mountains of the midlands” which I wanted to see if it lived up to that. I have to say that it was a really nice park. Bonus was that there was also a section of the Palmetto Trail that joined other trails in this park. And they have no entrance fees!  Driving out to the park, it was neat to see all the older large homes on Hwy 261. I find it fascinating that 150+ years ago, this area was a place where influential South Carolina families built large plantations and homes. Last year we were able to visit Kensington Mansion with Historic Columbia where we learned a lot about the history of the area....

Palmetto Trail Columbia Part 3 2019 Hiking week 3 Because of the threat of rain and colder temperatures this weekend, we decided to finish up the Capital City passage of the Palmetto Trail. This section was from the intersection of Devereaux Street and Adger Street to Fort Jackson. As I mentioned before, Devereaux goes through the Heathwood neighborhood with many old, large houses. It has a nice sidewalk on the side of the road and it slopes gently downward as you head towards Kilbourne Road. Once you cross Beltline Boulevard, you will pass Brennan Elementary school, which was pretty busy with pick up since we went by on a weekday. Gills Creek Once you reach the end of Devereaux, you cut over to Kilbourne Road. This section of Columbia was affected by the 2015 flood . You’ll see a few newer homes that have replaced the older, flood damaged homes. On Kilbourne Road, you cross over Gills Creek which was one of the creeks that flooded its banks. I like this section of the tra...

SC Tour - 2018 Highlight As I was thinking about this series of blog postings and what kind of places I want to share, I remembered a place we visited after Christmas in 2018. We were in Charleston for a night and on our way back, we stopped at the Audubon's Frances Biedler Forest, outside of Summerville. The forest is a little bit difficult to find, but you can follow the signs from I-26 and they will get you there. You feel like you're driving to someone's home. But the forest is part of an 18,000 acre bird and wildlife sanctuary! When you visit, you're only seeing a small fraction of the land, but it is beautiful. It reminded me of Congaree National Forest. There is a raised boardwalk that takes you less than 2 miles around and it has many interesting info signs along the way. I was particularly interested in the effects that the 2015 flood and Hurricane Hugo had on the area. The park staff were very friendly and informative. They also had some exhibits inside the...

Week 2 - 2019 Hiking Peak to Prosperity - Pomaria section  Palmetto Trail Trail with marker. Previously, a few years ago, we were able to hike a section of the Peak to Prosperity section of the Palmetto Trail . We had started at the southern Peak (Alston) parking area and hiked to Hope Station and back. This time, we started at the town of Pomaria and hiked back to Hope Station (basically there’s a road crossing called Hope Station Road that was our marker). This section has less creeks and bridges but it’s flat and wide. One thing to note, there are lots of rocks paving the trail so be sure to wear good shoes that support your ankle. Even in my boots, it was hard on my ankles and knees. There is also a nice section where you can camp overnight, about a 30 minute hike from Pomaria. Our total hike was about 6 miles (out and back). The water was still high in the area from previous rains but the trail wasn’t too muddy.  There is another section to this trail th...

In 2019 I decided I wanted to up our amount of hiking and being outdoors. I'm always inspired this time of year to get outside. There's something about hiking when it's cold and dry and the trees are bare of leaves. I think it comes from hiking with my parents often in the winter. They usually do a Christmas Day hike which I'd love to join them for one year. I've thought about getting park passes, like the South Carolina State Parks Pass, but before I commit the money to that, I thought we'd see how much we might need it. Most parks are pretty cheap to get in ($5 or less) and there are many of places we can go for free. I also got one of the SC Park Passports where you get it stamped at each park and when you get them all stamped, you are an Ultimate Outsider. Fun. Besides SC State Parks, I love that we have the Palmetto Trail . One day it will go from Oconee to the beach. It comes right through Columbia. It's not 100% complete now but there are a lot of ...