Guide to Getting Away from the Sunnyside Traveler

2020 Hiking Post 3 Outside of Greenville, near the town of Mauldin, there is a wilderness oasis in the suburbs. I had heard about Lake Conestee Nature Park and driven by it before but I didn't realize it was so large (400 acres) with so many trails. The Swamp Rabbit Trail has a 4 mile section through this park which runs north, past the park, to connect with the section of the trail on Cleveland Street. (Be advised, there is a section that is not complete on the trail where you have to go along side traffic on Parkins Mill Rd.) This nature park has miles of paved and unpaved trails (about 12 miles) that take you around the Reedy River and Lake Conestee. Lake Conestee was a man-made lake on the river that was built for the Conestee Mill in the early 1800s. The dam and mill are still there but everything is gated off. Looks like there is talk of renovation but we'll see if that takes off. It would be a great location. Conestee Mill When we visited, on a Sunda...

2020 Hiking Post 2 I mentioned previously that even though we've been to all of the South Carolina State Parks, there were a few that we wanted to return to. One of these was Woods Bay State Park . This small park is near the town of Olanta, east of Sumter and just east of I-95. The park is surrounding what is called a Carolina Bay. Carolina bays are elliptical depressions in the coastal area of the Mid-Atlantic. Local author Tom Poland has a new book out about the Carolina Bays that I'm excited to check out. From the description of his book: " The best definition of these features are "temporary, isolated freshwater wetlands," variously described as "high or flatwater ponds, wet weather lakes, or vernal pools," often identified more accurately as "pocosins," and they are ecological wonders, full of all manner of amphibians and reptiles, insects and birds, wildlife and plants--many of them exotic and rare. What also defines them is th...

South Carolina State Parks Looking back over this past year and the many different state parks, it’s hard to say which park would be my favorite. There are a total of 47 state parks in South Carolina. The parks are so varied, I thought it would be best to do a list of superlatives instead. First, its probably helpful to talk about the different types of state parks we have. There are the beach parks that have beach access, camping, and they preserve the area as close as they can to its natural state. Then there are the mountain parks, which provide hiking, camping, and access to the mountains of the state. There are also many state parks that seem like their primary purpose is to provide a natural park for residents in the area to hike, camp, picnic, and have access to a lake or other body of water. Many of these parks have gathering spaces for the community to use. Finally, there are parks that preserve some part of the history of South Carolina. Many are plantation homes or sit...

2020 Hiking #1 Happy New Year! We started off the new year with a new hike. It was a nice day here in South Carolina, clear and cool, so we decided to try a new section of the Palmetto Trail. I have wanted to hike the Wateree Passage since it's close to Columbia and crosses the Wateree River. The Wateree Passage is a little over 11 miles. It connects Highway 601 to Poinsett State Park where the High Hills of Santee Passage begins. We decided to start at the western end of the trail. It starts near Eastover on Highway 601, travels south along the highway for about 2.5 miles, then turns east and joins up with an old railroad bed to cross the Wateree River and the surrounding lowlands. Trailhead at Hwy. 601 The trail is pretty flat the whole way that we hiked. We crossed the Wateree River and hiked to the suspension bridge, which was about 4.25 miles. Our total hike was about 8.5 miles round trip. The section along 601 followed the highway but was in the trees. Some pa...