I've gone on this trail with my dogs multiple times a week for years. I normally park at Cypress Park, one of the areas the trail crosses the road. Some days I do a mile or two, other days the full loop.

There is a section I almost always have to wade through, but I wear waterproof boots and my dogs enjoy splashing through it. There are several road crossings and a detour by a factory.

While there are more scenic, remote trails in South Carolina, this has the advantage of being in town, a 5 minute drive from my house. Being accessible, even after a busy work day, is why I still rate it at 5 stars.

For the most part, this was a nice, easy 6-mile ride through woods, trails and fire breaks. I found it was marked decent and fairly easy to follow. However, there was one portion where I had to cross a few hundreds meters of 1/2 foot deep swamp over the trail. I made it but fully muddy below the knees. That part is not for the faint-hearted. There is also a spot where the trail is closed on the east side due to construction at Becton Dickinson; that part was pretty easy to detour around about 200 meters East. Overall, I enjoyed most of it except for the swamp part, and I don’t think I’ll submit myself to that part again. Good luck!

First, this is a nice paved path.
For the majority of the trail, there is a sand path on the side.
It mostly level with only a couple small hills.
Nice scenary while in between the river and the canal, especially the spillway and the locks at the top end.
Enjoyed seeing a Great Blue Heron and a couple Cormorants, but no alligators. Just seeing one on the other side of the canal would be cool.
Second, the trail is marked every 1/4 mile, but only 2.5 miles long?
Not sure where the 8+ miles are as on the website. Made 2 passes to make up for the shortness.


So if in the area, as always, and looking to get a couple miles in, give this trail a try. You should enjoy it.

Rode my bike along the Cypress trial. It is well maintained. I only rode from Dillion park to Cypress park. I find the ride quite enjoyable. I ride with my husband and our dogs ride in their doggy trailer. We get to take a pit stop at the Bark park for our fur babies. Only issue is the beginning of the trial is not marked by the green official trial sign. The trial sign is on the opposite side that ends at Wise Dr

Good ride, had alot of fun. Went there yesterday before the river walk.

Very good ride. Went from the gervais st bridge to the lylees st entrance. I plan to ride the whole thing but I was on a time crunch. Great for roadbikes but Its also fun for mountain bikes. Has a few features you can take offroad, over some roots & dirt, sand, rock. You can skip some of the windy turns if you want or you can take them, up to you. A fair amount of people can be on the trail though so be careful. Great views overall and its a beautiful ride.

The trail is only 8 feet wide and often has a lot of pedestrian traffic, many of whom do not know how to share a trail. I have had to stop and walk my bike several times. Do not recommend for riding.

As of April 2018, much of the trail is still closed with no obvious signage explaining how to access the open sections. We could not find a printed trail map in Columbia, and those found online are deceiving and do not accurately reflect the closed sections. We walked the full 2.5 miles that was open north/upstream of Laurel Street to the top of the canal. Great parking, clean restrooms at each end, very interesting history, and great views of the river. The trail south/downstream from Laurel Street was gated, and also closed at the south end except for a few hundred feet. Too many walkers and too short to be a suitable bike ride, but recommended as a walk. The plan to expand the path and connect the various sections looks wonderful, but not suitable for a bike outing yet.

trail in need of repair as there are a few places that are barricaded off and so impossible to ride the trail. Please post this on site for future trail riders who will not be frustrated and disappointed with their attempt to ride the full 8plus miles. Thanks