“Finish the Trail” funding for Oconee and Pickens

Two new sections of the Palmetto Trail in the Upstate are recommended for funding through the Recreational Trails Program. The Palmetto Conservation Foundation (PCF) announced two construction projects in Oconee and Pickens Counties are part of its “Finish the Trail” campaign. SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism administers the state’s Recreational Trails Program for the Federal Highway Administration. RTP grants are distributed through a competitive application process.

“We were thrilled to learn these two important Palmetto Trail projects were recommended for funding,” PCF Executive Director Natalie Britt said. “We are incredibly grateful for the overwhelming support for Trail development in the region. The City of Walhalla, Oconee County, and Pickens County have been exceptional partners in moving the mission of the Palmetto Trail forward.” In Oconee County, the new section of Palmetto Trail is part of a 16-mile extension from Oconee Station State Historic Site into downtown Walhalla, the Trail’s western terminus. The 1.5-mile section will accommodate mountain biking and hiking, and will anchor an extensive mountain biking trail system planned for Walhalla city property on Stumphouse Mountain. Stumphouse Tunnel and Issaqueena Falls are adjacent to the site.  The PCF is working with Walhalla’s Mayor and City Council, Chamber of Commerce, Upstate Forever, and Partners for Progress to create the mountain biking park for beginner through advanced riders. For Walhalla, the Palmetto Trail is seen as an opportunity to increase tourism, stimulate economic development, and provide a fun recreational venue with potential impact on local public health. In Pickens County, the new section of Palmetto Trail will follow the lower reach of Eastatoe Creek through Jocassee Gorges from the fishing access on Roy F. Jones Highway to Keowee-Toxaway State Park (SP). This section is part of the larger plan for the Palmetto Trail to connect state parks in the Upstate: Croft, Jones Gap, Caesars Head, Table Rock, Keowee-Toxaway, Devil’s Fork, Oconee, and Oconee Station. This new section of the Trail will add approximately four miles toward completing the link between Keowee-Toxaway SP and Table Rock SP. PCF is partnering with the Department of Natural Resources, Naturaland Trust, and Keowee-Toxaway SP to create this Trail section. The Palmetto Trail is the longest trail and the largest trail construction project in South Carolina, with approximately 360 miles completed and another 140 miles planned. From the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Intracoastal Waterway, the Trail winds through 14 counties—Oconee, Pickens, Greenville, Spartanburg, Union, Laurens, Newberry, Fairfield, Richland, Sumter, Clarendon, Orangeburg, Berkeley and Charleston. As it meanders, the Trail connects state parks, national forests, Revolutionary War battlefields, county recreation areas, and historic military posts.