FAIRFIELD COUNTY, S.C. — Fairfield County is moving forward with a plan to expand a major trail into the county.
More than 100 acres of land have been acquired for the project, and construction is expected to begin this summer.
Last month, the Alston Trailhead received new paving, a short boardwalk and a kayak ramp. Repairs to the boardwalk on the former train bridge are expected to be finished soon.
The upgrades are part of the larger Palmetto Trail project, which will eventually stretch 500 miles across South Carolina.
Now, a master plan has been adopted to take the project even further. The Palmetto Trail recently acquired 109 acres in Fairfield County for what will be known as the Road River Conservation and Education Preserve.
Mary Roe, executive director of the Palmetto Trail, said the preserve is expected to cost $8 million.
“There’s so much on this 109 acres to really enhance. We have just undergone a prescribed burn. Our hope is to bring back the native grass and really take out the invasives … and really begin to showcase what would have been here a hundred years ago,” Roe said.
She said visitors will begin to see changes this year.
“In 2026 we will have built a mile of a nature-based trail. We will have, sooner than later, a kiosk here highlighting our Blueway Trail, and hopefully we will also establish a picnic pavilion,” she said.
Funding for the trail on the preserve has already been secured and is expected to be completed around October. However, officials expect the land to open for visitors to explore by mid-summer.
Westy Martin, who has been hiking in the area for 30 to 40 years, said he looks forward to having more to explore.
“I think that would be wonderful. There’s stuff that they will see and find in there that people have never seen before, even if it is something simple like a salamander. They’re there and people don’t see them, but there are a lot of things in there that would be new to a lot of people,” Martin said.
Other planned attractions include additional boardwalks, an observation tower, a wildflower meadow, an open-air pavilion and education building, and a train depot that is already in the works to be turned into a museum and education center highlighting the area’s railway roots.
Fairfield County has provided funding for the trailhead through hospitality tax dollars.
Gene Stephens, public information officer for Fairfield County, said most of the county’s tourism is nature-based.
“So when we are supporting these projects, we are enhancing the experiences for people. When they come to Fairfield County, they might come for the Palmetto Trail just to get a few pictures, but then on the way out of town they might go eat at one of our restaurants or shop at one of our stores,” Stephens said.
