Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

2019 Hiking Columbia Spotlight Arboretum entrance on Bloomwood Rd. I thought I would write up an extra post about a special spot in Columbia for you this week. This past Sunday, I was able to visit the University of South Carolina Belser Arboretum . The arboretum is a neat park located in the middle of the Shandon/Sherwood Forest neighborhoods. It is managed by the University of South Carolina and volunteers. Click to see info. There are a few trails in this park. There is a main loop as well as a couple spur trails. Along the trails are informational signs and places to sit and watch. During open houses, they provide some maps with information as well as a couple of people there to answer questions and assist visitors and admission is free. Their standard open house hours are Wednesdays from 8 am - 1 pm and every third Sunday from 1 - 4 pm. But these hours may change. The volunteer I talked with said that there are other times that people are there working and will let vi

2019 Hiking Week 11 Congaree Creek It was a beautiful weekend for getting outside. Of course, that means in South Carolina that the pollen is out as well. We were able to get back over to the Congaree Creek Heritage Preserve , which runs near the Timmerman Trail . Access to the trail is at the end of Old State Road, in Cayce. Online it says that the trail (called the Guignard Clay Quarry Loop Trail) is 2.5 miles, but when we started hiking, there was a map that showed a couple of trail options. There is a large loop which is about 3 miles. I'm assuming the 2.5 mile trail is the section that cuts across midway. We followed the short cut Sunday because it said that the other section is more prone to flooding. Even though it hasn't rained in Columbia in over a week, a lot of the trail was muddy. I guess the ground has just been so saturated recently that it needs more time to dry out. I highly recommend waterproof boots or shoes that you don't mind getting muddy. I th

2019 Hiking Week 10 If you hadn't noticed, we skipped week 9. That weekend was busy for us and the only time I had to go hiking, the weather was so nice I just wanted to sit in the sun and enjoy it. Hope you weren't too disappointed! This weekend was another tough one to go hiking. With rain and dreary weather and the things I had going on, I didn't go very far. But I'm excited to share with you one of my favorite trails in Columbia. The Timmerman Trail is in Cayce, SC and is just across the river from Columbia. It links up with the 12,000 Year History Park , and is connected to the Three Rivers Greenway . The Timmerman Trail opened a few years ago as a donation for SCANA Energy. It's a really nice trail. It's paved the whole way and has some neat bridges that span creeks and streams (look out on the wooden bridges when they're wet, they can be slippery). It also has lights along the path. Many times when I'm out on this trail, I will only see a