Find the top rated birding trails in Berea, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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the last 4.8 miles are being prepared for paving! Active construction was seen and good progress being made. When it is complete, it will be over 12 miles of smooth, new pavement.
We rode the trail from Taft Road south to The end next to the bowling alley on Cleveland. Very nice trail. Lots of great little shops and cafes in Travelers Rest. Hard to get the wife away from the stores and shops. I would rate it five stars except for lots of "root humps" between Travelers Rest and Greenville. They would be rough for road bikes. Also, needs more signage as you come into Greenville. The trail can be confusing unless you look at Google Maps.
In an attempt to depart from electronics, with much protest, I rented bikes for myself and 9 year old grandson. It was a new adventure to us both. We began our journey downtown and made it to the Swamp Rabbit Cafe to stop for a rest and enjoyed popsicles sold there. We then headed towards Traveler’s Rest. It was perfect weather that morning for a ride and I suggest doing that as opposed to an afternoon ride during summer months. The child who was “forced” to do this, ended our trip with his approval who exclaimed it was the “Best Day Ever”.
Crushed gravel surface from Forest City to Spindale to Ruth with asphalt pavers on the trail today laying down a new 12 ft wide asphalt surface! Nice snowcone stop on the trail at Serendipity Snowcones in Spindale. We parked at the library/gym.
It may only be 7 miles long, but it is mostly ups and downs most of the way. I was in 2nd gear for a couple of the hills. Wide path in good condition. New parking area and restrooms in Easley with plans for a new terminal area in Pickens. Shaded for much of the way. Worth the drive.
We did this trail by chance (bad weather in NC forced to reconsider SC). Our group was two families with teenage boys. We had a great time and travelled approx. 25 miles. We started from downtown (rental shop) and headed north and ended at the river walk area (back downtown Greenville). What a great surprise, a waterfall right in downtown. Fantastic! The course is rather urban but this has advantages. There were some food stops, ice cream stops, and even some brew pub stops. I recommend renting a bike at one of the places just north of downtown. There are a couple. The downtown shop also does Segway tours and you can find the shop closed.
I highly recommend this trail and stay for dinner in Greenville.
From the north end, the trail is relatively flat and an easy ride through downtown Greenville and on to Cleveland Park and the zoo. The biggest issue with the trail is signage. The actual trailhead in Traveler's Rest is not really clear, even though you can see the trail and there is a lot of parking along it. Once you get closer and then through downtown, there are a lot of side trails but they are also marked Swamp Rabbit. Use your GPS and downloaded trail map. Once you leave Cleveland Park, you will start to get into some hills. The southern end of this portion of the trail is even worse to find. It starts at the intersection of South Pleasantburg Dr and Cleveland Street. There's a bowling alley on Cleveland St that may let you park there. Ask for permission!
If you want a real challenge, take Cleveland St past Pleasantburg Dr into neighborhoods to Perkinsmill Rd or East Perkinsmill Rd (much hillier choice) . The two roads will meet up just before going under I85, which is where you pick up the southern end of the Swamp Rabbit Trail. This will take you down to Lake Conestee. Watch for turns marked on the streets. Overall ride is about 24 miles from Traveler's Rest to lake Conestee. This last section is about 6 miles and will give you about 600 feet of elevation gain.
rode northern section then around the lake at Furman University and back. about 14 miles round trip. plenty of places to stop and eat great bike and kayak shop in Travellers Rest
I walk the Park 3 days a week with a group of 10-12 people, we carry garbage bags and pick up litter along the way and enjoy it in every season. One big issue is lack of port-o-potties along the route. Walking stimulates, in many ways. It would be so easy to install and maintain port-o-potties at several locations along the Oklawaha Greenway and make it so much more enjoyable. In particular, I would like to request one at the Berkley parking lot, where there is a picnic table, water fountain, etc., and is at our 1/2 way walking distance. Thank You so much!
I love the trail and looking forward to alot of summer riding.
I have two issues though.
1) the bumps are AWEFUL and make the ride less enjoyable and if going the distance, making it hard to enjoy.
2) we sure could use a bridge or two over the 2 VERY BUSY roads we must cross.
I was visiting the area and while I would not make a special trip just to ride this trail, It was definitely worth my time while I was here to ride it. Since this was closer to where I was staying than the longer Swamp Rabbit Trail, and didn't have much time left in the day to ride before dusk anyway I chose to ride this trail instead and wasn't disappointed. I rode from the new Easley Doodle Park out to the other end and back which was a little over 15 miles. If it weren't almost dark by the time I finished I would have happily ridden it again.
The trail surface is new and smooth. Storms had hit the area the night before so there was still some minor tree debris on the path but nothing that affected my ride. The path otherwise is well maintained and kept clean. Hills are long and very gradual and while they gave me a good workout, they shouldn't pose a problem for someone in good physical condition riding a multi-speed bike (if you don't have a multi-speed bike or are just an occasional cyclist they will pose a challenge). The trail joins two small towns so I encountered only a couple of crossings with any traffic to speak of. Since it adjoins some people's back yards the main things I had to watch out for were PETS! Maybe it was as much due to of the time of day as anything else, but I encountered two tiny kittens playing on the path, three full grown cats, and a small dog.
All and all, however, it was a nice ride and was a great way to finish off my visit to the area.
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