South Carolina Hiking Tour 2019

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 sections that you can do for free.
And the best thing about South Carolina? You can get anywhere in the state from Columbia on a day trip. Some places are further than others but that's one thing I love about living in Columbia. We can explore the state and not have to stay overnight!

Since the weather the first weekend of 2019 was so beautiful, it was a great weekend to start. I really wanted to hit a trail but since it had been raining so much the past few weeks, we decided to try the Palmetto Trail through Columbia. It starts at the river and meanders to Fort Jackson. Recently they added the Canal section of the Columbia Riverwalk to the trail. We'd already done that many times, so we started in the parking lot of the Riverwalk on Laurel Street.
Section #1 - Walking up Laurel Street, you cross over one of our biking/walking trails, pass the Governor's Mansion in Arsenal Hill and see a great view of the city over Finlay Park. Then you turn down Main Street and walk past all the new businesses and renovated buildings downtown. We went Saturday morning so we walked through the Soda City Market which is always fun. You circle the State House which was full of people enjoying the sunny day, then head down Sumter Street past the USC Horseshoe. This is where we left the trail and wandered around USC to enjoy how empty it was before the students come back. Then we met back up with the trail on Wheat Street. I love running down this section when I can, since it has a nice sidewalk and you usually see a lot of students around.
Wheat Street goes past Five Points in the Hollywood/Rose Hill neighborhood which is worth another side trip to see the beautiful old homes, but we decided to go down into Five Points, where we could get a snack and hop on the Soda Cap Connector bus. This is a free bus route that Columbia offers that runs from Five Points, through downtown and the Vista, to the State Museum/Edventure parking lot. Sometimes you have to wait a little bit for the bus but they usually have 2 running so we didn't wait too long. From the State Museum, we walked back over to the Riverwalk and our car. Hopefully, one day, they'll be able to fix the canal and connect the Riverwalk to the State Museum section. But the 2015 flood did a number on that canal.
Section #2 - Since we live not far from the next section of the Palmetto Trail, and Five Points, we walked back to Five Points to do the second section. We had lunch in Five Points then rejoined the trail on Wheat Street. This section goes through Shandon neighborhood which is really pretty with the older homes and trees lining the street. Then you turn down Ott (which runs by a few stores where you can grab a bite or bottle of water) and meet up with Devereaux Road. Devereaux Road goes through another nice Columbia neighborhood, Heathwood, but we'll join up with that section later.

Next weekend - Hoping to get to hike a section of the Peak to Prosperity passage of the Palmetto Trail, now that the ground is getting a chance to dry out. I got some new hiking boots (I haven't had any in years) and I need to break them in!