Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

2019 Hiking Week 23 Brookwood Park Trail Section Hi all! Sorry I'm a bit behind on my posting. We haven't been doing many adventures since the weather is hot and buggy. This past weekend, to escape the heat, we traveled to the upstate and visited a small section of the Palmetto Trail that goes through Landrum. Downtown Landrum Landrum is a small town off of I-26 near the North Carolina state line. It's not far from Tryon, North Carolina, and the area is known for the horse farms. Two sections of the Palmetto Trail meet in Landrum. One is the Blue Wall Passage , which goes around Lake Lanier and other natural areas. The other is the Peach Country Passage , which follows back-roads from Inman to Landrum. From what I can tell, both of these passages have large sections that are on roads and highways. They mention that they are best for cycling along. But at the place where the two passages meet, Brookwood Park in Landrum, has a nice trail loop. From that park, i...

2019 Hiking Week 22 One of my favorite back roads drives in South Carolina is Highway 321, from Columbia to Hardeeville. We take this highway whenever we go to Savannah. Even though I've grown up in a time when interstates are ubiquitous and everyone wants to get where they're going as soon as possible, there were times when my parents took me on back roads drives and weekend explorations. I remember some Sundays, after church, driving out to have lunch in Prosperity and exploring the towns around Lake Murray. These days, we turn to the highways of South Carolina whenever we can, especially when we expect traffic to be heavy on the interstates. Lately, I have enjoyed seeing these small towns that I usually only see as names on a map or an exit sign. You'll remember when we visited Lake Wateree, we also went through the town of Great Falls. Now I have a picture of the town when I see that name. Years ago, when travelling to Savannah, we started getting off the inter...

2019 Hiking Week 21 Downtown Columbia from the Saluda This week I wanted to feature a great way to cool off in the South Carolina summer. Columbia has three rivers - the Saluda, and the Broad rivers which merge to form the Congaree River. When the summer heat is too hot to handle, the Saluda River is my favorite place to cool off. The water in the river comes from the bottom of Lake Murray which keeps it pretty cold even in the hottest days. There are many ways to access the river and cool off. The easiest is to visit Saluda Shoals Park and either kayak or tube through them. It's easy to rent the kayaks or tubes and they'll set you up with all you need. You put in at the west side of the park and then they will come pick you up at the east side of the park. It's not a far distance but it's a nice section to float down. The time will depend on how fast the water is flowing. If you want to create your own trip, there are a few boat ramps along the river that...